family films

FAMILY FILMS, THE NEW BABY, VIDEO PRODUCTION AND EDUCATION

I have been looking forward to this unit since the beginning of the class.  If there is one art form that I really am excited about it would be film.  Like many people, I love movies, T.V. and video.  However, unlike most people I know, I have always liked the design behind the experience.  I have always been at risk of sounding like a film snob by making commentary on a films score, editing and visual effects.  My wife often looks at me like I'm a geek when I dive into the special features on a new DVD or watch a whole film with the directors commentary on.
    Now since I have been looking forward to this unit the most, this of course would be the time for my wife to go into labor a couple of months early.   Because we are talking about making videos here is one of the kiddo.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=10151237688665436

I made this real quick for my other kids so that they could better understand what was going on with their baby brother and why mom and dad have not been home lately.  Hopefully it plays for everyone.  Obviously there was no thought behind the design of this video, yet for some reason, it got a pretty emotional reaction from family members. 

Now here is a video that took me about a day to make, it was a quick job so please forgive the spelling errors.  Unfortunately for me, my family is scattered all over the country. Instead of sending out boring slide shows of the kids each year I try to add a little production quality to the experience.  What follows is a birthday video that I made for my son, it is full of familial inside jokes so don't be worried if you do not understand some of the comments. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLaVjWJOmZ8&context=C311d626ADOEgsToPDskLL8F7SHPnyM1Q0fMd1amIm

Why am I showing this?  As far as the class goes, I think that it is relevant to make some comments as to the effort and consideration that went into making something as simple as a family video.  Editing was very difficult, all of this was shot on a digital camera, there was no a lot of footage to work with, especially for the dance sequence.  The length of each video clip had to be cut down precisely to best fit the beat of the music.  The same font that was used in the movie, 'The Lord of the Rings" had to be found and the color matched up.  There was not too much that I could do about the lighting of the film but I tried to sprinkle some transitions between shots just to smooth out the change from one scene to another.  I tried to include the same components that would be in a large motion picture presentation into my own film, such as: ratings, disclaimers, title sequence, story and credits. 

With out the extra design elements this video would have been a boring experience if shown at my sons birthday party, instead it become something people wanted copies for themselves.  This simple addition of production value also holds true in the teaching environment.  If we made silly little videos about the periodic table or the quadratic formula that were personalized and involved people within the school, would the learning experience be more effective.  Personally I think it would be.