Video Editing

students watching film projector

Reading Movies

This week we’re moving from audio to video. We’ve been looking at related aspects – photography, sound, design – all along, but now we’re going to look at cinematic camerawork, and how it all comes together.

For starters, watch this …

Wow, so much information packed into that short little piece! We will do a simple exercise with it in the assignments below, but before that, I wanted to share some more from Tony Zhou’s filmmaking series, Every Frame a Painting. It is such an excellent learning resource, I’ve learned a lot myself from watching those videos. Here are some others that are especially worth your consideration:

Assignments:

  • Read Roger Ebert’s How the Read a Movie to get some basics of film analysis.
  • Using the MovieClips channel on YouTube, examine a scene from any favorite film or movie you would like to watch for exactly one minute using a timer. Before viewing the scene, take a guess as to how many edits you will see in the course of a minute and write that number down. As the film plays, keep a count of the camera shot/angle changes. If what the viewer sees changes, count it. If there is a cut, it counts. If there is a camera movement change, count it. What I want you to become aware of is exactly how much editing happens in the films we watch. As described in How Does an Editor Think and Feel, edits are so natural to the viewer that we aren’t consciously aware of them. Write a brief report about what clip you watched, what was your guess on the number of edits and how many edits you actually counted. How well did you guess? Submit this report to Canvas.
  • Create and edit your own video using video editing software. If you have never tried this before, I recommend using CapCut. https://www.capcut.com/  (You may use other software, it’s your choice).
    • Splice several video clips together. You can upload recorded video clips from your phone and upload them or you can use CapCut to capture video from your computer screen.
    • Add a music sound track, audio narration, or both.
    • Save your video and share it to the Canvas assignment. You can export and download a video or you can directly link to it.
  • Write a weekly summary of your video making activity, post to Canvas.

 

 

Sound and Audio

Dog listening to phonograph
His Master’s Voice

Sound is so very critical to the creative process of making digital media. It plays a role in audio productions, but also an important but often unnoticed part of making videos and films as well. Watch the following short documentary on the art of foley, that is the art of creating sound effects.

Watch: The Magic of Making Sound. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO3N_PRIgX0

Foley Artist – Try it: 

There are numerous ways to make digital audio recordings, but by far the simplest is to find a mobile app for your phone to do the job. My favorite mobile app that I use for audio-only recording is Voice Record Pro but unfortunately, it only works reliably on Apple iOS devices. The Android version is buggy, according to the reviews and should be avoided. Perhaps you could try EZ Voice Recorder or another recommended app. Do a little research and find an app that works on your device for sound recording.

Using your sound recording app, record several (8-10) sound effects from nature or sounds from your living or work environment that are naturally occurring or artificially created by you. Take a walk through the park, through your neighborhood. Record sounds from the kitchen when food is being prepared. Or the cafeteria. Show us what it sounds like where you live.

Combine these files into one recording using an audio editor such as Audacity or Adobe Audition. (There might be phone apps for this, but I find it is much easier to edit sound on a computer.) For extra style points, add an audio track of your own voice with the background sounds telling us a short story about your life or your world. Export and save your edited sound file as a .MP3 file.

Publish your sound effects work online. You can publish sound files on Soundcloud. (You can create a free account if you do not have one.) Alternatively, you can publish sounds to YouTube, but they must be uploaded in a video file format, which is a bit more (but not by much) complicated by using a video editing program. Write a blog post on your WordPress website about the audio editing experience. Embed your online sound recording in your post using an embed code for the recording. Share your work on Miro and/or Discord. 

Upload your edited foley sound .MP3 file to Canvas with your weekly summary submission.

Other Audio Assignments

  • Music Mashup – Make a mash up of your favorite songs. Five or so songs should be enough. Do not include the entire song, but share about ten seconds of each song. Put them together with sound editing software. Export the song mashup as a .MP3 file and upload to canvas with your weekly summary.
  • Text to Speech App -You can find various speech to text options online and built in to applications like MS Word and even in some computer operating systems like MacOS and MS Windows. Find a suitable text to speech app and make a MP3 sound recording of a fictional person placing an order at the drive-through window of a fast food restaurant. (For extra credit, use two voices, one of the restaurant employee and one for the customer.) Upload your MP3 with your weekly summary.
  • Movie Quotes – Make a MP3 file that has some of your favorite movie quotes. You can record the movies you watch online through streaming services or YouTube. Again, upload the MP3 with your summary.

 

Weekly Summary: Write a weekly summary of this week’s activities. Be sure to also upload the MP3 recordings you made this week. Submit your weekly summary to canvas by next Monday evening at 11:59 pm.

Digital Photography

A lightning bolt strikes behind a combine trying to finish wheat harvest

This week we are going to explore digital photography using whatever digital camera you have available. Hopefully, you at least have a phone equipped with a camera which will do just fine, but if you have something nicer you may also use that. I want you to do some reading and reflection on digital photography.

  1. (Just for fun) Experiment with this online DSLR simulator to see what the controls are like on a digital SLR camera.
  2. Recommended Reading Assignments:
  3. Look at some great photographs in Masters of Photography to see all of the great masters: http://www.masters-of-photography.com/index.html
  4. Make some photographs
    • Make several photographs using some of the photography tips you have been reading about.
    • After spending time reading about photography and experimenting with some of the techniques you have learned about. Write a reflection essay about the experience. Include your photographs you are discussing. Which photographic techniques did you try? Be specific. Mention the reference articles or chapters that you read about and tried. Include the photographs in the essay. Did it work well for you or not? Why or why not? (Submit on Canvas as a MS Word .docx file).
  5. Familiarize yourself with photo editing software such as Photoshop, Pixlr or Gimp.
    • You might have to watch some online videos or read some articles that are beginner tutorials for digital photo editing software. Scott Kelby has some fun tutorials on Photoshop you can watch. If you don’t have access to Photoshop, you will need another digital photo editor. Two popular ones that are free are Gimp and Pixlr. Gimp is widely used but it has a steep learning curve. Pixlr is like a no-frills Photoshop, but it is free and works in most web browsers so you don’t even have to download anything to use it. You should be able to do the same basic photo edits in any of the editing programs.
    • Adobe and others have some great mobile apps you can try. Some Photoshop-like editing is becoming trivial on some mobile apps. You are welcome to try these as well.
    • There is no requirement to use any particular type of camera or software, only that you experiment with manipulating digital images outside of the camera.
    • Create a composite (more than one source photo in the same picture) image. (Submit it to Canvas as a .jpg file).
  6. Read one or two of the below articles that tell stories about using photo editing software for various purposes. You can also do your own searching on this topic.
  7. Write a reflective blog post about how the widespread access to photo manipulation tools is impacting our view of the world around us. (Submit to Canvas as a .docx file).

***Note*** Going forward for the remainder of the semester, we will not be using Miro. Please just submit your completed work to Canvas.

 

Elements of Design

Complete the Following:

Reading Assignments: 

Familiarize yourself with the 10 Elements of Design

  • line, color, shape, space, texture, typography, scale, emphasis, balance, harmony

Next, Read Robin Williams’ Non-Designer’s Design Book (requires a K-State eid login)

Ideally, you should read the entire book because if you do, it will change your life. Seriously. You will have a much deeper understanding of the design world if you’ll invest the time. However, below are some recommended readings to help get you started in the right direction.

Pay particular attention to the Design Principles of:

And also take a look at these sections on:

Apply what you have learned in the readings to complete the following design projects:

Design Project 1)

Complete a Design Blitz: To reinforce your understanding of design principles, undertake a “Design Blitz” this week. Carry your phone or camera around with you and take photos of objects, ads, signs, etc. that illustrate at least six of the ten design elements listed (show a different photo for each element):

  • line, color, shape, space, texture, typography, scale, emphasis, balance, harmony

Design Project 2)

Create a Propaganda Poster for living a good life in the digital age. Choose from the options of editing an existing poster or creating a new one of your own design.

Option 1) Search the internet for examples of historical posters created for propaganda purposes. Download one you like. Use a photo editing tool like Pixlr or Adobe Photoshop to change the poster’s message to one that promotes an activity appropriate for life in the digital age. For example, this poster was a WWII poster that was changed into a Twitter promotional piece.

Option 2) Create an original poster that promotes an idea or concept related to living life in the digital age.

Post all work to Miro for others in the class to see. Also, Upload your work to the Elements of Design assignment on Canvas.

***Note*** Going forward for the remainder of the semester, we will not be using Miro. Please just submit your completed work to Canvas.

Week 4 – Check in with Professor Gx

Dear Digital Literacy students,

I sent an email out earlier this week on Sept. 5 and didn’t hear back from anyone. I’m not sure why. So we’ll be having a catch-up week this week.

You have two assignments this week.

  1. Complete missing work from previous weeks.
  2. Complete a voice or video call with Professor Genereux to answer questions and address any concerns.
    • Some recommended days/times that typically work for me – Mon,Tue,Wed, & Fri 8 – 11 AM or 7 – 9 PM or Sunday eve 7-9 PM.
    • Send e-mail (billgx@ksu.edu) to suggest 2-3 days/times that will work for you for scheduling a call with me.

 

There is no submission this week since I will be hearing from and talking with each of you soon.

Week 3 – Digital Storytelling

earth

Survival stories. We all have them. Some are much bigger than others. Can you remember a time when you were small and got separated from your parents for a while? This by itself counts as a small story of survival. Maybe you’ve experienced some much more difficult times that you have had to endure. Just getting through each day is an accomplishment. Yet another story of survival.

So how are we all getting along these days on Planet Earth?  This week I would like for you to view the classic video created by our very own K-State professor, Michael Wesch, The Machine is Us/ing Us. Published in 2007, this video now has over 12 million views. Of course the digital interfaces shown and some of the technology discussed seems out of date, but the key principle is still relevant; digital texts are different than printed texts in large part thanks to the hyperlinks and multimedia.

Digital texts have become the new “normal” way of communicating for most people. We are nearly a quarter of a century into the 21st century yet our educational institutions are still firmly planted in the old ways  Sure we use computers, but mostly to do the sort of work that would be completely familiar to our parents and grandparents. We still write a “paper” or read an article from a periodical or  journal. College students did these things before computers. I can remember in the 8th grade, I made a slideshow presentation about our community using a shoebox and a roll of paper on which I drew pictures while I played a prerecorded soundtrack that I recorded with a tape recorder. I basically made a PowerPoint presentation using the tools I had available to me.

The things we are doing now have sped up, but are mostly the same. |

Think about this: how have we as readers and consumers of digital new media texts been affected? What about the content creators and storytellers? How have our lives been changed (have they changed?) now that we can just as easily create and share information as we can find and consume it?

  • I would also like for you to view this video of Kurt Vonnegut and start thinking about the Shapes of Stories.

  • After viewing the Vonnegut video, choose a favorite story that you are familiar with. Ideally, try to think of one that fits with our theme of survival. Vonnegut’s example of Cinderella fits the survival theme, but don’t use his, find your own example. It could be a classic tale that everyone knows or it could simply be a book you have read or a film/movie/show you have seen at some point. Apply the “shapes of stories” described by Vonnegut to your new story. What shape would it be? What techniques are used in the story to gain and hold your attention? Is it a traditional text-based story or is it in another format? Every media format has its own language. It is our job as students of digital literacy to consider what those languages consist of and begin exploring some of those techniques that might be of use to us in the future. Start thinking about storytelling and story structure and how they work in the digital realm. Write up your thoughts in a blog post and title it with something like “Story Analysis”. Share an excerpt of what you wrote with the rest of the class in your Island Space on Miro.com.
  •  If you have not already done so, introduce yourself on Teams to the other castaways on our deserted island (other students in our class) and find out something new about 2-3 others. What are your common interests? Learning and/or career goals? What do you like the best about online learning? What do you like the least? Use the #General Teams channel for this type of conversation.
  • Brainstorming – Think about stories, books, films, music and any other forms of media that relate to our theme of “Survival.” Post your ideas in the Week 3 – Brainstorming thread. Draw from these ideas to complete this week’s assignments from the DS106 Assignment Bank.
  • Explore the Assignment Bank: Use the DS106 Assignment Bank to do at least 8 stars’ worth of assignments from categories of your choice. What categories are the most interesting to you? What type of Digital Media do you want to learn more about using? Tell us about these preferences. There is no right way to complete these, although it is better if you incorporate the surviving theme in some way. But in the end, use this opportunity to express yourself creatively through digital media. Be sure to document your work in blog posts for each assignment. Share your best work on Teams and/or Miro. (Does anyone use Instagram to share? What other platforms might work well for this class?)
  • Form connections This week, use the various media we have set up to connect with others learning about digital media. You can use Teams, comments on Miro, or even a dedicated blog post on your own blog in response to something someone else has posted.
  • Summarize the week. Create a summary post of all activities for the week and post it to the Week 3 assignment on Canvas. Please submit your summary by next Monday evening at 11:59 pm. The weekly summary needs to be a recap of the week’s work that you completed. Use the weekly summary to refer back (link) to each of the other posts you have written and any assignments you have worked on during the week. It should include descriptions of all of the assignments and activities that you have completed.

    You don’t need to rewrite what you’ve written elsewhere, but do summarize those other posts and provide a hyperlink back to them as well. There is a link button in the editor to easily make hyperlinks.

  • Still Confused? Please contact Professor Genereux right away. Teams messaging is preferred. E-mail (billgx@ksu.edu) is also acceptable.

Week 2 – Creativity and Copyright

6EB41672-E748-4FF7-AC63-15A6F40029EF
This week we will focus on:

Creativity & Copyright

All work is due by midnight on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023

Below is a list of what’s to be completed this week.

  • How has the Internet affected society’s views on Copyright? This week, watch one of the two following documentary films Rip! A ReMix Manifesto (run time 87 minutes) featured below:

Or, Everything is a Remix (run time 37 mins).

Both films have a similar themes. Some of these are:

  • Creativity involves borrowing, remixing, and building upon existing ideas
  • Copyright laws protect existing works but may slow or stifle creativity in new works.
  • Knowledge and creativity are improved by freely exchanging ideas.

Considering the above themes, write a reflective blog post on your experiences with making and/or consuming creative works such as books, films, television, and online content. In what ways do copyright laws impact creativity? What questions did the films raise as you were watching? What ideas in the films contradict what you may have previously known? This class encourages using a remix approach to digital storytelling. What considerations should be made when repurposing the work of others? What are some foolproof/safe ways of doing this? What are some more risky approaches? How do you expect to proceed this semester?

  • Read Austin Kleon’s post “10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered: Lessons from my book ‘Show Your Work!’” (requires a free login account) Also have a quick look at his previous “Steal Like an Artist” book. In a nutshell, these books describe the both the way this course works and a value system that can benefit you throughout your professional career. After looking over these materials, pick one idea that resonated with you and write a blog post in response to that idea. Tell us about the idea and how you might incorporate it into your work.
    stealKleon
    For example, as a professor, I think that his idea of “study” vs “skim” is a powerful one in today’s digital climate. No one can take the time for actual study and skimming rules the day. For me, bringing back careful study would be a great improvement in our lives. What Kleon ideas resonated with you?
  • Learn How to Write Assignment Posts: Read How to write up assignments like a blogging champ. I would like to see some excellent posts each week. It is important not only to tell us what you did but how you did it and what you learned from it.
    • The Work Itself
    • Telling the Story Behind the Story
    • Narrating the Process.

    Be sure to write up new posts for each activity you complete, then write a summary post at the end of the week that references each of these posts.

  • Explore the Assignment Bank: Use the DS106 Assignment Bank to do at least 8 stars’ worth of assignments of your choice. Choose assignments from at least 3 different categories (visual, audio, etc). 8 stars could be 8 1-star assignments, or a 4-star and two 2-stars, or any other combination. Try to incorporate our Survival theme into one or two of the assignments you complete using real history or works of fiction and pop culture. There is no right way to complete these, just use this opportunity to express yourself creatively through digital media. Be sure to document your work using the recommendations described in “How to Write Assignment Posts.” Share your best work on your space on Miro’s Island.
  • Begin commenting and interacting with online participants in DigMe256. Share some of the work you have completed and comment on the work of others. This can be done on Miro and/or Teams.
  • Document your week’s work in a single written summary post that includes links to each of these different assignment posts along with a discussion of what was accomplished. The key goal here is to reflect on what you learned and accomplished and document it all in one place. Submit the working link to your weekly summary post to week 2 assignment on Canvas.

Due Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023

Week 1 – Surviving Digital Literacy

Welcome to DigMe 256 Digital Literacy

tomHanksCastaway

Can you imagine what it would be like to be shipwrecked alone on a deserted island? Or adrift at sea? What about surviving a plane crash on a mountain top? Do you ever think about those poor people in war-torn countries huddling underground just to make it? These scenarios have been the subject of many stories and films; sometimes they are true and sometimes they are fiction. But they point to one truth, the resilience of the human spirit.

Hello, I’m Professor Bill Genereux, the instructor for this course. You can find me many places online by searching for the name billgx. We have a lot to do this week!

This digital literacy course will be built around the theme of “Survival” and all that it entails. Stories of surviving, both factual and fictitious, abound. Throughout the semester, be thinking of the stories that you are familiar with or that you encounter along the way and use them to inform your work.

This first week involves some hard work. Surviving always does. While it will be challenging, it lays the groundwork for everything we will be doing together throughout the semester. We will be learning to use many different digital and online tools to communicate, tell our stories and share our ideas. (Once, I almost named this class “Digital Storytelling” and many times I have wished that I had, because that is what we do here.)

The key to success in this course is to do the work assigned and document it by writing up a weekly summary of what you accomplished. These will typically be due each week on Monday evenings at 11:59 PM.

For the first week’s assignments, complete the following activities then write a weekly summary and submit it to Canvas by the due date of Monday, August 29, 11:59 pm.

  1. Communication. Follow this link to join us on Discord: https://discord.gg/3JvbeYrq3x  Teams: https://teams.microsoft.com. We will be using Teams, not Discord. We will be having many conversations using Teams this semester. You can use the Teams mobile app or a web browser. You don’t need to use your real name online, you can use anything you like. It’s up to you. (Just help me to connect the dots to your real self if you use something else.) 

    • Converse with me, Dr. Genereux  (pronounced Jen-uh-roo) in real timeThis is easily accomplished using the Teams app and voice or video chat. We just need to arrange a time that works. Let’s try to make this happen using Teams, but if you get stuck, a backup plan is to send me an e-mail or phone text message. (My contact info is on Canvas on the syllabus page.)
    • Introduce yourself to others in the class on Teams. It’s ok to use a nickname or real name, whatever you prefer.
  2. Create a personal website For years, we have recommended using Wordpress.com for web publishing beginners. However, this is a recommendation only; the only course requirement is that you publish your work to the world wide web. We must be able to view your work in a standard web browser online! The video about Geocities shown below provides an introduction to the “do-it-yourself” ethos that existed in the early days of the Internet. We encourage this DIY attitude in the Digital Literacy course. Check out the first 3 minutes or so of the video to see what the Internet was like in the early days. While it looks antiquated to our modern eyes, Geocities was truly one of the first great user-created content websites.

    Here are some options for making a website for this class:

    • Option 1: sign up for a free WordPress.com website
    •  Option 2: create a personalized website (e.g. www.yourname.com) using 3rd party web hosting that supports WordPress. See PC Magazine’s recommended web hosting, or I’ve had good luck with asmallorange.com. There are many hosting options, and I highly recommend registering your own website domain if you are planning to be a digital professional.
    • Option 3: If you already own your own website, fantastic! You may use that for this class if it supports WordPress.
  3. Submit the URL of your website/blog to K-State Online/Canvas. Also, post the same URL in your area The Island in Miro.
  4. Set up some Digital Media Accounts
    This is an online class and we will use freely available online resources to do our work. You should not have to pay for any of these services but the accounts you use need to be publicly visible so we can share our work and see the work of others. If desired, you may create new accounts to be used only for this course and you are never required to reveal your name anywhere online.

    • Teams mentioned earlier. It will be used for non-public communication in this class. Use this link to begin: Microsoft Teams DigLit Group.
    • Soundcloud (audio publishing) http://soundcloud.com/
      Set up an account if you don’t already have one.
    • Youtube (video sharing)  If you have a Gmail account, you are already set with this because Google owns YouTube. If not, create a YouTube account.
    • Vimeo (optional video sharing) http://vimeo.com
      Alternatively, if you don’t want to (or can’t) use a YouTube account, feel free to use Vimeo for publishing your videos.
    • Miro http://miro.com A virtual space for sharing your digital work. Join us on Miro and look around our virtual space.
  5. Introduce yourself to the class, and welcome others.
    Now that you have all your accounts, it’s time to use them to introduce yourself to the class, and welcome the others as well. Use Teams to introduce yourself to the others in the online learning community; be creative. Make a small “About Me” section on your space in The Island on Miro.com. Don’t just broadcast your own messages; be sure to respond to the messages of others. In other words, have conversations!
  6. Start sharing and learning about some survival stories visit the Miro.com DigLit page to share some survival stories you know about and look through what others are sharing there as well.
  7. Write a summary post on your website/blog every week. This week, write a post that shares your reflections on what your completed during the first week. These posts are REALLY important. We use them to grade your work every week, so you need to include reference links to any other posts you have made including your Joy of Painting report, other media you’ve created, and narrate the process of learning that you went through this week. What did you learn? What was harder than you thought it would be? What was easier? What drove you crazy? Why? What did you really enjoy? Why? Please be sure to include your handle(s) in your weekly summary blog post for the various websites & social media that you’ll be using this semester. When your summary is completed, submit a link to it for the Week 1 assignment on K-State Canvas before Sunday, August 29th at 11:59 pm. Don’t Be Late! If you think you might need additional time, it is better to submit a link to a visible, but incomplete page than to submit no link at all. You can always go back and edit the page after it has been submitted, as long as everything is there before it is graded.