Below you will see a video that I created as a Junior at Lincoln Lutheran High School. This year, I have had the opportunity to partake in a Video Editing class where we are able to create and complete a variety of video projects! For this particular piece, we were able to chose the topic and overall direction that we wanted to take this project! One of the biggest reasons why I took this video in the direction that I did was to capture some time and great memories with my grandma. As my brother and I are getting older and busier, the amount of time that we get to spend with our grandparents has certainly decreased. So, by choosing this topic, I was able to not only spend some time with my grandma, but I was also able to capture her doing one of her favorite things, cooking! Secondly, by filming my grandma and interviewing her, I was able to learn a little bit more about her past and how these particular treats have a history within our family. This was another deciding factor when it came to choosing this particular topic.
There are a couple of aspects in this video that I am the proudest of. To start, I am proud of the overall variety of shots that I captured. I feel that I included a great variety of close ups, medium shots, and wide angle shots, as well as over the shoulder shots, point of view shots, etc. These different angles truly helped to capture the process and details well. Secondly, I am also proud of the overall sound of this piece. I included a couple of songs, voice overs, and ambient noise all within this video. While it certainly took some time and precise effort, I feel that the overall sound is fairly seamless and truly adds to the piece. Lastly, I am most proud of the scenes where the Trix pieces are being poured into the measuring cup. I was able to include a shot from under the box, a medium shot of my grandma filling the cup, and then a closer shot of the Trix being poured into the bowl. I believe that these shots worked very well together and added to this section of the video!
Within this video, I also experienced a couple of challenges. One of the biggest challenges that I faced was uniting the sounds in this piece. Throughout this video, I was able to use two different songs, ambient noise from preparing the dish, a voice over of my grandma giving instructions, and a short interview. Piecing all of these things together so that they were seamless was certainly difficult, but I am very pleased with the outcome. Through this challenge, I was able to learn the importance of using the dial in iMovie to zoom in on each sound so that I could adjust each clip by a fraction of a second. I also learned the importance of being patient, as well as being willing to take extra time and effort to ensure that the sound is precisely edited. Another challenge that I faced was that a couple of my clips were shaky, but I learned and remembered that the stabilize video tool could be used. In all, though, this project went very smoothly and I did not face any other major challenges!
If I were to do this project again, there is not much that I would change! If I were to approach this project again, though, I may have prepared a couple of additional, detailed questions to ask my grandma to create a slightly longer and complete interview. I may also spend a little bit more time going back and watching all of my clips before leaving my grandma’s home. One or two of my clips were a slightly shaky, so by going back and rewatching these clips, I could have filmed them again while I was there and the dish was still being completed. In the end, I am very happy with the overall result!
