Make Your Own Video

Click the image to play the video: (WMV 02:07 6.1MB) We have had a really warm and bright few days, here. Positively Mediterranean weather. This hot spell has coincided with our looking after Margaret s parents two tortoises. The larger one (usually on the right) is Tortie , and is something over 75 years old; The smaller one is Sam , a mere 50-something. These reptiles are really enjoying their vacation in warm Ipswich, and they especially like eating our home-grown dandelions.

Click the image to play the video: (WMV 02:14 6.4MB) Earlier this month, out hamster Maizie died suddenly. Everyone in the family was upset, and it seemed a good idea to get another hamster. This video is a collection of clips of the new hamster Hazel taken on her first day with us, set to music.

A different sort of video this week. I did not shoot or edit this one, but I did perform in it! On Wednesday the company I work for had a team day in Felixstowe. After the all the staff training, discussions and stuff, they organized a karaoke party. This clip is a bit of my daughter Elizabeth and me singing Barbie Girl shot by a colleague with a camera phone (MP4 0:45 15MB).

Click the image to play the video: (WMV 03:05 7.5MB) This is another edit of a video shot in the summer of 2006. This one I started editing back in January this year, but got distracted and have just finished it off for posting this week. The main problem with this one is the sound level. It was very noisy in the small animal house at Dinosaur Adventure Park.

Click the image to play the video: (WMV 1:00 2.3MB) I have not done a lumiere yet, and in the spirit of continuing experimentation which I enjoy so much about the semanal project, this video seemed an ideal candidate to try the form. I shot the footage while on the same beach walk as my week 13 entry. Following the lumiere rules, I have not applied any effects. The distinctive, lush, look of this video is mainly due to the beautiful sky-lighting of an oncoming rainstorm shot on a digital camera at maximum zoom. The shapes in the distance are the rides of the Fantasy Island theme park. Most of the rides seem not to be operating on this damp and chilly Thursday in March, but one small ride bravely struggles on.

Click the image to play the video: (WMV 1:21 1.8MB) Last week we went on holiday to the bracing Lincolnshire coast. The weather was mixed, although sand and wind seemed to be constant phenomena. This video was shot during a walk along the seafront one day. Music is from Breaking the Action by Psychedelic Sun, (cc) by-sa.

Click the image to play the video: (WMV 1:24 1.9MB) All winter my children have been eagerly awaiting some snow to play in, but we didn t have a single flake. Suddenly, on Easter Sunday we get just about enough snow to make a snowman. It began melting almost immediately, but it was fun while it lasted.

Click the image to play the video: (WMV 1:19 1.7MB) At the moment I am very busy studying for a masters degree with The Open University, so I thought I would reflect that in this week s Semanal video. Also I have never made a videoblog with my webcam before, so that seemed like a good game, too. This, somewhat hazy, video is the result. Music is The Pier from 1791 by Mirek Krawczyk, (cc) by-sa.

Click the image to play the video: (WMV 1:42 4.3MB) I had no time to get out and film anything this past week, so this Semanal piece is another edit of some old footage from 2006. When I bought my house about 15 years ago, it came with a cherry tree about as tall as my shoulder. Over the years it has grown, and now gives us a lovely crop of juicy red cherries every spring. By August 2006, though it was a bit wild and overgrown, so we hired two men to come and prune it back for us. This video was partly filmed by me and partly by my daughter Elizabeth. The music is from Instrumental Works by SaReGaMa, released under a (cc) by-nc-sa licence.

Click the image to play the video: (WMV 3:01 4MB) For the first time in my posts for the Semanal project, a traditional piece-to-camera videoblog. In this case, it s about my Nisis DV H-10 flash-memory camera

Click the image to play the video: (WMV 5:32 14MB) This week s video is a collaboration with my daughter Elizabeth. Her class at school were each given a small kit and asked to do some science experiments at home. A fun bit of father-daughter time, and a great opportunity for a video. I m in two minds about the content of the homework, though. On the one hand, it s good to see schools and parents working together in education and any opportunity to get involved in practical science is great. On the other hand, I m very uncomfortable with the insidious nature of the corporate sponsorship and advertising in this pack, especially the way that part of the experiment is really just junk science aimed at convincing children that they need cleaning products. I m sure that any effervescent mixture would produce a rich lather and displace ketchup in the same way. And without leaving half a jar full of undissolved pollutant behind. While you watch this, see how many casual bits of advertising and Proctor Gamble product marketing you can spot, and have a good think about how 10-year-old children are being trained to be good little consumers in the name of science. PS. You think there is a choice of detergents?

A few things seem to have come together recently which make it somehow easier for me to sit down and edit some video. Part of this is the impetus of the Semanal project, part of it is a recent upgrade to my current editing software of choice, and part of it is my recent purchase of a second DV camcorder (a JVC DR E720EK for only £99!) which I can use as a semi-permanently connected DV drive, leaving the other camcorder (a Sony DCR PC107E) ready for recording with no need to keep swapping tapes. I am also feeling the loss of my favourite little digital camera, which I had been using for nearly three years, stopped working a few months ago - its replacement produces lovely video, but is nowhere near as familiar and friendly for videoblogging. The final component of this is the realisation that after a few years of videoblogging I have actually become relatively comfortable with editing. I know the software pretty well, I have a reasonably powerful and stable PC to edit on, I usually have a fairly clear idea of what I want, and (best of all) I seem to have the skills to get pretty close to what I have in my mind. This is mildly astonishing - I still vividly recall the weeks of clumsy and frustrating effort it took me to turn out even a simple few minutes of edited video when I first started in the early 1990s. The upshot of all of this is that I have started dipping in to the hundreds of hours of tapes I have recorded over the years, and editing some of the raw footage into something a bit more watchable. Of course it s not perfect, but with every one I do, I learn a bit more and get a bit better at it. With all that in mind, here is this weeks video: A fragment of a visit to Shugborough Hall and Historic Estate in August 2006; edited in February 2008. Click the image to play the video: (WMV 4:01 9.9MB) semanal08 semanal08week7

This week I thought I d try some of the Semanal games . This video is part of the following: In the style of another videoblogger (well, I have borrowed ideas from two - can you tell who?) Make your own music (probably the first bit of music I have ever made!) No words Click the image to play the video: (WMV 0:45 1.9MB) semanal08 semanal08week6

Back in October 2005 I took my little digital video camera to the Trafalgar Day 200th Anniversary celebrations at the Lord Nelson pub about a fifteen minute walk from my house. Over two years later, and thanks to semanal, I finally got around to editing it. You can read more about the pub here, here, or here. Click the image to play the video: (WMV 3:32 4.5MB) semanal08 semanal08week5

Every Tuesday lunchtime, a group of my colleagues get together to play five-a-side against a neighbouring company. Click the image to play the video: (WMV 1:27 1.88MB) semanal08 semanal08week4

Click the image to play the video: (WMV 1:06 1.19MB) semanal08 semanal08week3

Click the image to play the video: (WMV 2:00 1.5MB) semanal08

My first semanal post. A short video about our hamster Maizie . Click the image to play the video: (WMV 1:15 1MB) semanal

My first semanal post. A short video about our hamster Maizie . Click the image to play the video: (WMV 1:15 1MB) semanal

On Monday I vlogged my drive to work. As it s Friday, I thought I d vlog my drive home again. This time it s a bit different, though. If you have been paying attention, you might have noticed that on Tuesday I mentioned that Ipswich has many churches. Well, here s an example. My journey home is less than two miles. And on that journey I pass eight (yes, eight) different churches. Here s the proof: Click the image to play the video: (WMV 1:53 6MB) videobloggingweek2006

On Monday I vlogged my drive to work. As it s Friday, I thought I d vlog my drive home again. This time it s a bit different, though. If you have been paying attention, you might have noticed that on Tuesday I mentioned that Ipswich has many churches. Well, here s an example. My journey home is less than two miles. And on that journey I pass eight (yes, eight) different churches. Here s the proof: Click the image to play the video: (WMV 1:53 6MB) videobloggingweek2006

Day Four. More scenery from my lunchtime wanderings. This time it s a short stretch of the river Orwell, the main river which runs through Ipswich. Click the image to play the video: (WMV 1:02 2.7MB) videobloggingweek2006

Here s another neat low-cost idea. Ever got frustrated at the poor quality of your pictures of small objects (things to sell on eBay, stop-motion animation props, etc.)? You might find that a light tent is the answer. With these instructions you can get a smooth, even, light and a plain background to your images for next to no cost. Read more at: Super Simple Light Tent (via DV For Teachers)

Day Four. More scenery from my lunchtime wanderings. This time it s a short stretch of the river Orwell, the main river which runs through Ipswich. Click the image to play the video: (WMV 1:02 2.7MB) videobloggingweek2006

Post three of Videoblogging Week 2006 and still going: Near where I work there is a whole load of demolition and rebuilding going on. This part of Ipswich has been continuously under redevelopment since the middle ages, and the current plans involve knocking down most of the dockside buildings built in the twentieth century or so, leaving some of the older ones, and developing the bits in between into high-rise housing and amenities. With the idea of vlogging dangerously in mind I hoped I might be able to get some dangerous falling stonework and stuff, but I think most of the contractors were on a break (like me, I guess). One time when lining up a shot I nearly backed into the dock, though, so that ll have to pass for dangerous today. Click the image to play the video: (WMV 2:25 7MB) videobloggingweek2006

Post three of Videoblogging Week 2006 and still going: Near where I work there is a whole load of demolition and rebuilding going on. This part of Ipswich has been continuously under redevelopment since the middle ages, and the current plans involve knocking down most of the dockside buildings built in the twentieth century or so, leaving some of the older ones, and developing the bits in between into high-rise housing and amenities. With the idea of vlogging dangerously in mind I hoped I might be able to get some dangerous falling stonework and stuff, but I think most of the contractors were on a break (like me, I guess). One time when lining up a shot I nearly backed into the dock, though, so that ll have to pass for dangerous today. Click the image to play the video: (WMV 2:25 7MB) videobloggingweek2006

Here is my second post of the week: I work about a mile from the town centre, so I thought I d take a walk to the shops and get myself some lunch. I bought a cornish pastie and a bottle of coke from one of the two (!) specialist pastie shops, and sat and ate it on a bench by one of Ipswich s many churches while watching the world go by. Very pleasant. More tomorrow. Click the image to play the video: (WMV 1:45 5MB) videobloggingweek2006

Here is my second post of the week: I work about a mile from the town centre, so I thought I d take a walk to the shops and get myself some lunch. I bought a cornish pastie and a bottle of coke from one of the two (!) specialist pastie shops, and sat and ate it on a bench by one of Ipswich s many churches while watching the world go by. Very pleasant. More tomorrow. Click the image to play the video: (WMV 1:45 5MB) videobloggingweek2006

Videoblogging week 2006 is upon us. Like many others, I foolishly agreed to make and post a video every day for seven days. It s certainly challenging, but I hope it will be fun too. Anyway. Here is my first post of the week: Three weeks ago I quit my old job teaching at Suffolk College, and started a new contract in software development. While I was working at Suffolk College, I vlogged my daily walk from home to work, albeit in a somewhat vomit-inducing speeded-up format. So it made sense to start my week of videoblogs with a video of my journey to my new place of work. The new employment is about twice as far away as the old one, so (for the moment at least) I am driving to work. At some point in the near future, I plan to try cycling, though that would take a slightly different route alongside the docks rather than round the one-way road system. Anyone who actually watched my previous journey to work video might recognize the first part of this one, as the first mile or so is the same. Click the image to play the video: (WMV 6:50 23MB) Oh. The subtitle of videoblogging week 2006 is vlogging dangerously . What was dangerous about this one? Vlogging while driving - a camera in one hand, the steering wheel in the other, and the gearstick in um the third hand You might notice one or two crunchy gear changes videobloggingweek2006

Videoblogging week 2006 is upon us. Like many others, I foolishly agreed to make and post a video every day for seven days. It s certainly challenging, but I hope it will be fun too. Anyway. Here is my first post of the week: Three weeks ago I quit my old job teaching at Suffolk College, and started a new contract in software development. While I was working at Suffolk College, I vlogged my daily walk from home to work, albeit in a somewhat vomit-inducing speeded-up format. So it made sense to start my week of videoblogs with a video of my journey to my new place of work. The new employment is about twice as far away as the old one, so (for the moment at least) I am driving to work. At some point in the near future, I plan to try cycling, though that would take a slightly different route alongside the docks rather than round the one-way road system. Anyone who actually watched my previous journey to work video might recognize the first part of this one, as the first mile or so is the same. Click the image to play the video: (WMV 6:50 23MB) Oh. The subtitle of videoblogging week 2006 is vlogging dangerously . What was dangerous about this one? Vlogging while driving - a camera in one hand, the steering wheel in the other, and the gearstick in um the third hand You might notice one or two crunchy gear changes videobloggingweek2006