Video Blog

Video

***I'm not sure what quality the embedded video is.  If you can't play it, there's a link to the video just above. ***

To start out, let me tell you that this was one of the most fun assignments I’ve ever done.  And I didn’t expect it to be.  I had missed last class because I tested positive for influenza – and I hate missing class because if I’m not clear on something, I don’t have a chance to ask.  (I also love all the discussions!)

So I emailed Dawn with some questions I had about Animoto and some questions about the assignment.  She assured me that when I got into Animoto, things would make more sense.  And they did!  Except it took some time to get to the Animoto part.

I started out by trying to figure out what I was going to do my video blog about.  Since there isn’t a lot of time due to class being every Wednesday, I needed to be able to do something on Saturday.  So I decided to get up early and make a trip to Willy Street Co-op.  It’s a fun co-op, and you can get some really unusual things there.  I live further away than I used to, so I don’t go as often.  It was nice to go again!  But it was early.

That morning, I sat down before I left and didn’t really do a “storyboard” (mainly because I can’t draw!), but I did write up a rough outline of how I wanted everything to look, and the order that I wanted it to be in.  Then I filled in what pictures I wanted to take so I wouldn’t miss anything.  Since it was loosely based on how early it was and that coffee was going to be at the beginning and end of it, I wanted to make sure that there were good pics of that aspect.  As for the products – I just wanted to walk around and shoot.  There were a couple of shots I really wanted, and then there were others that just looked right.  Unfortunately, you can only do so much with perspective and different angles when photographing products in a store setting. (couldn't set stuff up)

I walked in and asked if I could take pictures while in the store.  The customer service person called in the manager and said that I could as long as there were no people in the photos.  That was going to make it a bit harder, but I was determined to try.  So, as I went about my shopping, I started snapping photos.  Another roadblock that I hadn’t thought about when I first started was that since I was limited to product photos only, the video could be pretty boring.  Yeah, I could put some fun products in, but picture after picture of products and areas of the co-op was going to be “eh”.  Especially since I had wanted to ask employees if I could take pics of them doing their job.  Except, now I couldn’t.  I decided that I would work it out at home afterwards.

Which is what I did.  I decided to break up the products with “selfies” taken in front of my home.   (I never take selfies!)  After I got home, I realized how sunny it was and that the front of the house was in full sun.  The dog would also love being outside, so why not go out and experiment?  I took a bunch of selfies with different expressions on my face and a couple of me with the dog.  I think the neighbors must have thought I was nuts.  Oh, well.

Using Animoto was surprisingly easy, especially after I uploaded photos.  I was really surprised, and had a lot of fun doing this.  I’ve never done anything like it, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.  But I think it turned out well!