It feels good to be editing again... First assignment was to upload a cell phone video intro of self. Yuck! I can't look at only me for 20 seconds. Had to edit it. Hard not to get too ambitious. Dang, the effects menu is baffling. Good news, editing from my external drive worked fine. That is what I purchased it for, but it doesn't play well with some applications, such as Word.

Format: Use 1920 by 1080 MP4 as the standard. MP4 with H.264 codec. 1920 by 1080 means the video file size is 1920 pixel wide by 1080 high - this is considered the standard for high definition

Assignment 2: create a 15 second sequence with stills showing increasing amounts of one specific color. So glad Premiere finally made the title tool more user friendly. The old way was really clunky (compared to Avid). I put a couple of short dissolves just because I like them to soften cuts, even if they aren't trendy. It doesn't feel finished without audio, but I'm uninspired...

Videos:Vimeo Video 101: Shooting basics

Rocket (something) Cuts & Transitions 101

Making up for previous laziness by doing a lot of audio editing on the next assignment: 20 second "thematic edit" (what, rather than utterly random?). I shot at home and on a road trip down the coast on a gorgeous day. My iPhone takes better video than my still camera. Super hard to hold it steady though. Amazing how much free audio there is on the web. I forgot how much fun it is to add sound effects. I hope this project comes out good enough to be public. I need recent examples.

And, like any project, this one took longer than expected, and not just because I have to search for functions. The "live" class (I watched it recorded) was super helpful to remind me of how to work with audio. Silly things like making the track bigger can be frustrating. Why can't I have more than 4 channels of audio? Do I have to upgrade? (Ha ha). I'm happy with how it came out. Tried hard to make the shots sync well with the music. Not completely successful with that, but that's why commercials have music made for them. Hope to have 30 seconds or, gasp, an entire minute to work with next time. One thing I'm not happy about is the lighting on my final shot. sigh. I put a color effect on it which helped but it's still blown out. Shooting is tough.

Here is the link: https://vimeo.com/217087345

Had some fun working on the Shot Reverse Shot assignment once I decided to use the knock knock joke footage, but not to tell a knock knock joke. I must stay amused! I'm still confused about which audio transition to use when. I used the Lumetri color correction which was a bit daunting, but cool. I even added a cinematic look to the whole piece with an adjustment layer (so weird you have to create a blank one in your bin in order to add it to your sequence.) I could spend days color correcting these shots...and endlessly tweaking the audio...which is why deadlines were created. Here is a screen grab of my sequence timeline.

the art of the video title:http://www.artofthetitle.com/ and http://www.watchthetitles.com/

I need help with slip, slide, etc. I find myself just using the arrow tool.

https://vimeo.com/218851903 - link to video. Password: adobe

6/1/17 I finally completed my "Cut on the Action" 20 second sequence. I had trouble getting started on this one. Just couldn't think of a good idea for an action scene. Especially with a camera phone, funky tripod and no actors in sight. It seems to me that a lot of the time the action takes place within a shot. Not during a car chase scene, but in more subtile action. Still I found all of the YouTube clips from the course very interesting and worthy. I wish we had more time to focus on how to make awesome titles, or at least better than average titles. Really appreciate the upgraded title tool. Yay. So, I ended up using the provided footage. Did some color correction, which could also be a whole class in itself. Next assignment I will shoot something. I've been watching "Anne with an E" on Netflix. Not only is the story classic and the acting spot on, but the title sequence is absolutely gorgeous. Bet they spent some time on that! And the editing is very interesting. Lots of close ups depicting action. Very modern looking yet it fits in 1890 whatever year the story is set in. Highly recommend it.

Video: https://vimeo.com/219961230 password: Adobe

Here's my final project, the instructional movie, less than 90 sec.

https://vimeo.com/221531593

I went around in circles trying to figure out what to do for the less than 90 seconds long instructional video project. Since it had to have a screen capture "demo" I finally decided to do a demo of how to use advanced image search. I'd never used Quicktime screen capture before. It was relatively easy to start but tougher to get the right portion of the screen and to stop the recording. I ended up making a bunch of captures but just used part of the last two. I tried recording the VO in Premiere but at first I got nothing. Then just feedback. Frustrating! I finally used my iPhone to record my voice and imported that directly from Photos. Added a little music, a title and voila. I'm not super proud of it, but I think it gets the point across. A class on advanced titles would be awesome.

Note: I know it's best not to use other people's images from the internet, but I teach 7th and 8th graders who don't have access to digital cameras to take their own photos.

Final reflection: You gave us a lot to think about, perhaps too much because I feel somewhat overwhelmed. I appreciate the free instruction with deadlines and feedback, because otherwise I would never get around to using Premiere. Editing is complex, there is so much to learn, but, with just a little training, it's possible to create some fun videos. The next time I teach Premiere (I sub for the video teacher sometimes) I will be much better prepared. And I have more ideas about what I can show the students that will allow them to make something cool, without being overwhelmed by technological requirements. I really enjoyed the videos that you included in the course. I hope you'll consider adding additional courses focusing on one aspect of editing. Topics I would love include: advanced titles (maybe using Photoshop and Premiere) Intro to Audition, and color correction 101/102. Thank you!