Snap and Scribble

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This week i’ve been learning all about film making and video editing. Well, perhaps not all about it yet, but i will!

I’ve been thinking for a while that i should have a go at video production. I’ve never done any and i feel it’s something i should be able to do. I don’t know why, but having a handle on the whole of the multi media thing seems like a good idea. I guess i’m still feeling my way through developing a new career direction and being able to offer a wide range of IT and multimedia skills seems to be the way to go.

Monday was a public holiday here and my old musician mate Terry was playing an afternoon gig at the Millbeach Hotel. He asked me to go along and film the performance, which seemed like a good opportunity to take my first steps in video making. I haven’t got my own camera, but i managed to borrow an oldish one off my niece, Anna.

It was going to be an outside gig, but we had a lot of rain over the weekend and more was on the way on Monday, so it got moved indoors. That was where my problems started. If it had been outdoors, the light would have been good for videoing – which would have made my first foray into this field considerably easier.

Inside, though, the lighting wasn’t going to make my job easy. The stage lights were at each side of the stage, rather than at the front. So, although the light levels weren’t too bad, if i filmed from the front, the stage lights shining into the lens would fool the camera into thinking there was more light than there was and it would come out too dark. As well as that, there was a big window not far behind the stage, which added to the effect of the stage lights.

In the end, i had to film the whole thing from halfway up some stairs at the side of the stage – which didn’t give the best view of the musicians. But, apart from the poor picture quality from the camera, and a bit of distortion of the sound, caused by too much volume for the built-in microphones, the end result isn’t too bad. For a first attempt, anyway!

Now i’m teaching myself how to edit what i’ve recorded. It’s reasonably easy – although i’ve got a lot to learn about the intricacies of the process. But i’m having trouble getting the end product saved to a format that looks right when you view it. No doubt it will all become clear in the end though!

This morning, i’m off to London for a few hours, to catch up with Sanjar and Sonia – two friends from Kabul.

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