Technical

Use software and other tools appropriate to the task.

Educational Video about inexpensive video lighting:

REFLECTION

This was a video I created for the EDTEC 700 class, Advanced Digital Video. The video had a dual purpose. One was to teach both high school and middle school students that they did not need to use expensive light kits to get professional-looking lighting in their projects. The other was to provide students and example of an instructional video that they may be able to create.

Lighting is one of the things students struggle with, especially indoors. Often the problem is not just laziness, it is the fact that they lack the equipment. They are often unaware there are low-cost alternatives to professional light-kits. I tried to demonstrate how you can do lighting with inexpensive alternatives using visuals, factual dialog and some humor.

The process that went into the creation of this video included the gathering of information, the creation of a script, a storyboard, and obtaining props. With the help of my family I shot the video and then edited myself. I used music that was provided by iMovie. I also wrote a rough lesson plan.

In the course of making this project I had some difficulties. One was time. In the course of shooting I started to run out of daylight. Another was sound levels. The sound level I recorded in front of the camera and the voiceover were different. With my equipment it was difficult to make them match. Also, I could not do this by myself. I needed a small crew to help me. Luckily I could enlist my son and wife at a minimal cost.

The other thing I learned was the crucial importance of preparation. Pre-production is more than half the battle in video making, especially starting with a good script, storyboard, the needed props and scouted locations. It’s also difficult to strike a balance between entertainment and information.

Lastly, this was the first time I had uploaded a video to YouTube. I had viewed videos there, but did not have an account. Things like YouTube can be great resources for sharing videos online, since you no longer have to store the files, which can be very large, on your own computer and they make it easy to embed the videos on your own Web pages, as seen above. Unfortunately for my high school students, the district now block access to YouTube.