My final podcast, once again, was a bit of a technological challenge. One day, I will be able to turn on a computer and not have it hate me. Otherwise, everything went smoothly with the filming, editing and production. Especially because I had to edit everything twice.
My biggest problem with this podcast was talking, once again. I have most definitely learned that I need to use and stick to a script. Ad-libbing is not something I should be allowed to do, because I tend to ramble on and on. Some might say it shows that I'm passionate about what I'm discussing, those in my podcast group might say I need to shutup. I'm going to go with the latter.
Either way, I want to say thanks to everyone who suffered through my first three podcasts, and hopefully you will find my last one at least a few minutes shorter.
April 10, 2008
March 13, 2008
Podcast #3-- Beginning to do research
So...this third podcast was quite a bit different for me to put together. Editing was not so bad, but filming was. For whatever reason, it took me forever to get what I had to say on tape. I was keeping track of the number of takes I filmed, and it was getting ridiculous. I tried not to adlib too much, and had written out a script, but somehow, just couldn't read the script. I ended up with about 35 minutes of footage that I to watch and sort through. Not the most enjoyable experience. The upside...as frustrating as it was, I did like having so many options to pick from for each segment. Instead of one or two takes to pick from I had 10 to 12. The downside...I thought that I was more succint than I was. I again, apparently adlibbed more than was necessary. I again apologize for the length of my podcast.
Conversely, I found editing to be much easier. iMovie is no longer the devil, and it's actually fun to put a piece together (minus the awkwardness of watching yourself talk). I hope it shows that I feel more comfortable editing now. I don't many tricks, but I hope the ones I use are getting better.
My overall goal for this podcast was to talk about a few of the interesting authors I have come across so far in my research. Hopefully, I was coherent and didn't bore people to tears.
Conversely, I found editing to be much easier. iMovie is no longer the devil, and it's actually fun to put a piece together (minus the awkwardness of watching yourself talk). I hope it shows that I feel more comfortable editing now. I don't many tricks, but I hope the ones I use are getting better.
My overall goal for this podcast was to talk about a few of the interesting authors I have come across so far in my research. Hopefully, I was coherent and didn't bore people to tears.
February 28, 2008
Podcast #2
The experience I had with this podcast was pretty much the opposite of the last one. Creating and shooting the podcast was much quicker and easier than previously, however, getting technology to cooperate with me this time was not. After the debacle that was saving my podcast to an external drive, editing also fairly quickly. The effects in my podcast are still nothing fancy, but, I think they are a little more cohesive and transition more smoothly than the ones on my first podcast
The lesson I learned from this podcast was that a few minutes of planning saves one a few hours in set up and filmig time. I actually shot 23 minutes worth of tape in a half hour. I was pretty excited about that. My last effort took about 2 hours for 11 minutes of tape. The other thing that helped me more this time was writing a script. It was much easier to organize the material and find natural "scene" breaks. However, I have also learned to stick to a script. I read my script, but then also ad-libbed quite a bit. The ad-libbing was relevant to the topic, but I rambled on way too much. (I would like to take this moment to apologize to those in my podcast group in class. I'm sorry...it's really long.)
Overall, things went better. Next time, fingers crossed, both the production and editing will be easier.
The lesson I learned from this podcast was that a few minutes of planning saves one a few hours in set up and filmig time. I actually shot 23 minutes worth of tape in a half hour. I was pretty excited about that. My last effort took about 2 hours for 11 minutes of tape. The other thing that helped me more this time was writing a script. It was much easier to organize the material and find natural "scene" breaks. However, I have also learned to stick to a script. I read my script, but then also ad-libbed quite a bit. The ad-libbing was relevant to the topic, but I rambled on way too much. (I would like to take this moment to apologize to those in my podcast group in class. I'm sorry...it's really long.)
Overall, things went better. Next time, fingers crossed, both the production and editing will be easier.
February 7, 2008
Reflections on my First Podcast
One of the classes I am taking this semester is Video & New Media. One of the class assignments requires me to create a series of video podcasts. Last week, I successfully produced my first video ever. The video will eventually be used for my first podcast, which, barring further technological catastrophies, will be syndicated and posted shortly. The overall experience was pretty interesting.
I'm not a big fan of being taped, so it took me a minute to get over the fact that I would be broadcasting myself (theoretically) to the world. Likewise, I'm not a technology whiz, so seriously using a camera, and then editing film was also intimidating. Thankfully, two of my classmates and I got together and spent a Saturday afternoon taping and providing emotional support to one another. Ultimately, I learned that being on camera isn't so bad, and that editing is pretty fun. Getting to play around with what I've taped, and morphing it into something that resembles a professional piece was rewarding. I'm looking forward to working on my next three podcasts and refining my admittedly pitiful skills.
Like any new venture, there were problems. My biggest challenge for future projects will be to tape for editing. By that, I mean including things will make editing easier, and also produce a better piece. I will definitely be sure to insert lengthy pauses in between different sections of my discussions. After discussing the experience with a classmate, we agreed that using takes in between scenes or sections of a script would also be beneficial. My other major problem, was learning the editing software and basic editing techniques, like splitting audio and cutting between scences. I anticipate that both of these problems will slowly begin to resolve themselves over the course of each future project.
Finally, the experience was not all bad. I did learn that things are not as difficult as they may seem. Being on camera, setting up shots, and cutting and pasting everything together was not as difficult as I had anticipated. By no means am I remotely efficient or effective at any of this stuff yet, but I do feel more comfortable with the process. Now...if I can just beat RSS and get my podcast going....
I'm not a big fan of being taped, so it took me a minute to get over the fact that I would be broadcasting myself (theoretically) to the world. Likewise, I'm not a technology whiz, so seriously using a camera, and then editing film was also intimidating. Thankfully, two of my classmates and I got together and spent a Saturday afternoon taping and providing emotional support to one another. Ultimately, I learned that being on camera isn't so bad, and that editing is pretty fun. Getting to play around with what I've taped, and morphing it into something that resembles a professional piece was rewarding. I'm looking forward to working on my next three podcasts and refining my admittedly pitiful skills.
Like any new venture, there were problems. My biggest challenge for future projects will be to tape for editing. By that, I mean including things will make editing easier, and also produce a better piece. I will definitely be sure to insert lengthy pauses in between different sections of my discussions. After discussing the experience with a classmate, we agreed that using takes in between scenes or sections of a script would also be beneficial. My other major problem, was learning the editing software and basic editing techniques, like splitting audio and cutting between scences. I anticipate that both of these problems will slowly begin to resolve themselves over the course of each future project.
Finally, the experience was not all bad. I did learn that things are not as difficult as they may seem. Being on camera, setting up shots, and cutting and pasting everything together was not as difficult as I had anticipated. By no means am I remotely efficient or effective at any of this stuff yet, but I do feel more comfortable with the process. Now...if I can just beat RSS and get my podcast going....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)