Smart Video School

Video projects often need some background music to help set the tone and mood of the story. Of course, there are dozens of stock music companies that will sell a variety of music tracks from a few dollars to thousands per track or collection. When your budget is tight, there are other options for music. There are creative commons music outlets as well as individuals and companies that are willing to allow you to use their music tracks. Most often the basic tradeoff for using a track from these sources is attribution.  If you choose a creative commons track or a track from an individual, make sure to check out the required agreement or licensing. There is some really good music out there, however, you often get what you pay for. I've discovered that the best free music tracks are used over and over again. Here is just a small sampling of sources of creative commons music. Remember to read the fine print before you incorporate any of these music tracks into your project. ...

What is a Vox Pop? Vox pop is a Latin term for "Voice of the People". You may hear the same concept referred to as a "Man on the Street" (MOS) or "Person on the Street" (POS). Source: https://www.voxpops.com/what-is-a-vox-pop/ The idea is to stop people on the street to ask a question. Stopping people on the street to ask for opinions is not scientific, and the results can't be used to really tell what any particular group, community, or population is thinking. However, there are many reasons to do a Vox Pop. Source: https://c60media.com/how-to-shoot-a-vox-pop Source:  In the Spirit of Thanksgiving Reasons to Use A Vox Pop A Vox Pop allows for opinions from real people in connection to a legitimate study. A reporter can ask people's views about the survey or study results. A Vox Pop can help get a feel for people's thoughts about a specific event or issue. The journalist needs to clarify that this is just a sampling of people w...

One of the most common tasks in video journalism is to shoot an interview with some accompanying b-roll and then edit the two together to make a story. An interview alone can be powerful, but an interview with complementary b-roll that shows or demonstrates what is being said in the interview makes it much more appealing. Tutorial Using Adobe Rush for Interview with Five-Shot Sequence Tutorial Using iMovie for Interview with Five-Shot Sequence   Example of Finished Interview with Five-Shot Sequence Guidelines for Proper Interview Video and Audio Five-Shot Sequence Directions Five-Shot Sequence Example Overview of Interview with Five-Shot Sequence B-Roll Project Time: 25-60 seconds Clips: Interview Sequence: One five-shot sequence  (Links to an external site.) Natural Sound: Include properly balanced natural sound as appropriate to the video. Interview...

Smartphone Gimbal This is part 2 of, " HOW TO MAKE A VIDEO NEWS RELEASE: SEVEN LOW-COST TOOLS TO MAKE IT PROFESSIONAL/PART 1 ". You can click on the title to read part one. During my summer break from teaching college courses, I took on an extended video project that fits into the category of a video news release. The video was posted on the local school district's social media and a regional online news outlet. One of the video's main goals was to give an inside look at a new high school addition and sports complex. Instead of shooting a lot of sequences , I opted to use the DJI Osmo 2 smartphone gimbal. Image Source:  https://www.dji.com/osmo-mobile-2 The DJI Osmo 2 keeps the camera movement smooth as you move, pan and tilt. The controls allow you to rotate the camera horizontally and vertically. If you want to see a demo and learn more about the Osmo, here is a link to the DJI webpage . The Shot List and B-Roll After interviewing multiple people, I ...

People travel from all over the world to visit Yellowstone National Park. I'm fortunate to live about an hour away from this natural treasure. It is one of the most beautiful and unusual places on earth. There is everything from rock basins and bison to geysers and the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Although I enjoy shooting video on my smartphone, on my most recent trip to the park, my video tool of choice was a Panasonic LUMIX 4K ZS60.   Image Source:  https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41M6my4HIbL._AC_.jpg For many situations, shooting on an iPhone with FilMic Pro works wonderfully. However, zooming with your feet to get close-ups of wild animals and spouting geysers isn’t recommended and can be downright dangerous.  Walking along the wood boardwalk near some hot pots, we heard a rustling of branches up a hill in a thicket of trees. We were face-to-face with a bison . . . face to face from about sixty feet, that is. With the help of the 30x op...