As an avid movie goer, I am always interested in the movie scenes, not just the look of the actors, but the colour of the movie, the background, the setting, the period, the location and a lot of other things beyond the storyline. As I watch any movie or advert, with a friend and especially my husband; I like to make comments and critique, and that's not only the story line, but also the acting, the background, the properties, and all the rest.
I have tried to make a jokey video clip of less than 60 seconds but it's hard.... too many things to be considered; let alone a long and proper movie. However, I had to volunteer to produce a video clip/teaser, as short as 60 seconds or max 5 minutes short video, the idea was to deliver information about a webinar. Good news is, I don't need to create the script, I have many assistants, cameramen...., and I don't need to act in front of the camera, as I am no good at acting, even as an extra. However, I think there are a lot of other drawbacks, as I have to do the rest....
However, there are some drawbacks: as much as I like to play around with my camera, taking nature and wildlife photography, I am still an amateur and only a photography enthusiast, and everything is about trial and error, let alone taking a good shots. Making a video clip means I have to take moving scenes instead of just an image.... The question is "... should I graduate from photography and move on to filmography?"
However, I take the challenge! And I am eager and willing to learn....
Another obstacle is off course the technical issue.... the apps and software and other fancy gadgets to support the editing after the shooting.... they are all in the category of shabby amateur.... well, what do you expect?
The third obstacle was the actors... they are all amateurs, non of them are professional actors (or I should consider this as a blessing in disguise?) except maybe one real actor, and one real professional extra. Some of them are not natural actors (even though all of them like to do selfies with their mobiles, and like to see their own pretty faces in closeup), and.... they all doing this as a volunteering activity, in their spare time, and at their convenience; so if I asked them for a retake.... I might get snapped at... 😦
Or in simple term, I actually need at least a week to complete a video clip after everything and the final cut.
Worst of all, none of them understand the concept of a deadline, which if I have to submit the final editing on -say- Wednesday 5pm, this doesn't mean that they can submit their clip an hour before 5 pm. Or the fact that every 1 minutes of shoot taken, will involve more than an hour editing, or another simple technical issue such as how to hold the camera/mobile phone? or which orientation? or the importance of lighting so that the face will not be too dark, the ambiance noise that could be a noise hazard, the distance between the camera/mobile with the actor, not to mention the intonation when reading the script..... and many other little things that added to the frustrations... and yet this is only a volunteering job like the others, I spent 50 hours on this alone this week, neglecting my chores!
So, forget about the step by step of video making, such as :
- Concept.... well, may be!
- The Script.... thank God we have a script, let alone the modification along the way, up to the end of final production, that make the post production time shortened to after hours work.
- Pre-production concept and planning.... not really planning, more of spontaneous changes all the time, and no room for a creative approach!
- Create a story board.... well, forget about this!
- Plan and schedule the shoot.... too short of time, this is only a volunteering job, the only schedule made was only on spare time, thus location, ambiance, etc, will not be able to be adjusted.
- Shoot the footage! This bit is crucial.... there's no real camera person, no real direction of acting, or no director involved. So there'e no such things like: "Film shoots are best left to the professionals."
- Edit the video... roughly and quickly only.... 😦
- Add graphic and special effect... with my limited knowledge, this is the bit I like, but I am not sure this will be relevant to the final product, the organisation I do the video for would like it, let alone appreciate it.
- Mix music and sound track.... this is a huge area, however, movie making apps such as iMovie might help saving big time....
- Voice over.... what voice over?!
- Formating the video.... by the end of the day, you can't have a big file, this is just to be emailed, uploaded to instagram and youtube!!! Why the fuzz?!!!!
The question is:
Should I graduate from a frozen picture to moving pictures...? broaden my range interest, abilities and maybe expertise? or just stick with photography and sharpen my skill from what I have so far?
If I move on to movie making, should I get serious and invest in more equipment and software and hoping that I get a real commissions? or carry on practising as a new hobby... (as if I am not busy enough doing my photography).
Having said all that, with all the agro and the hassle, will I do it again? definitely NOT, but if I have to do it on my own term, and time.... YES, I will do it again, I like the challenge, especially when I have the room to play around with the creative of the video, aside from watching the actors acting...
And this is my video blooper I made with iMovie, which I love more than the real clip.
What do you think?
Write me your comment...
Anyway, the first webinar was kicked off on the 20th of December 2020 and life with Bristol Indonesian Society Facebook Page; about Indonesian Immigration rules and regulations for Indonesians living abroad and conducted in Indonesian (language). If you are interested, you can watch the replay on YouTube