Turn on the Camera & Record!!!

A group can face struggles while shooting, editing, and posting a video on social media. Struggles while shooting can consist of not having enough time to shoot because of a busy schedule, not having sufficient lighting to shoot the video, or not having sufficient camera in order to shoot. College students are very busy due to school work, jobs, and personal life. It is hard to find time to shoot a video due to a busy schedule. It should not be too difficult to find time to shoot three minutes’ worth of video. A way you can find time to shoot the video is to film part of your routine. The video should be an extension of your life that shows who you are. This can be done by filming your routine, that way you are not spending extra time filming the video. 
When filming, make sure you have good lighting throughout the video or else it will not look professional and put together. Lighting is one of the most important factors to film production and can be the deciding factor on whether or not a video looks professional or amateur. Natural lighting is the best and cheapest lighting there is. Find time to film your video during the day outside or with the curtains open in front of a window. A camera is obviously an essential when shooting a video. Every college student should be able to operate a HD camera, especially if they are majoring in communications. You can find a pretty inexpensive camera at stores like Best Buy, Target, and even online stores like Amazon. If you do not have the funds to buy a new camera, you can rent equipment from your university’s media department.

There also may be some difficulties while editing a video. This is when working with other group members may become challenging. A group member may have different ideas than another group member and that can cause conflict. It is important to have a distinct idea and a plan before you start shooting and editing. Being unclear with your vision can cause delays in your project. Have a clear idea on how you want your video to be edited and share your idea with group members during the beginning of the process. Editing can really make or break a video. It is important to take your time while editing a video. This means you may have to watch and re-watch your video over and over to make sure the content you are creating shows your vision. Remember to make sure you are following certain guidelines like adding filters and transitions. These filters must be strategically placed and be tie in with your story line. Transitions are extremely important in a video. Make sure your transitions are fluid and pleasing to watch. If you feel like you are finally done with editing have another person outside of the group and ask for constructive criticism. Another person may catch something you may have missed. Again, editing will make or break your video so make sure to take your time and do this step thoroughly.

Posting a video on social media takes serious guts and confidence. This video that you have spent so much time on is now on the internet for everyone to see and criticize! Be confident in the content you have created before posting. If you feel something is missing maybe it is time to go back to the editing stage. When posting to YouTube be prepared that it may take some time for your video to upload. It may take between 15 minutes to an hour for a video to be uploaded on to YouTube. After uploading, pour yourself a big glass of wine because you are finally finished.

The public nature of this could affect the subject matter because since this video could offend certain people. This video could offend Buffalo State Police since the video is about the parking tickets Buffalo State Police hand out. Other people this video could offend are people who are sensitive to swearing and curse words. In this video the song “That’s When You Know” by Nico & Vinz is used. In that song they use the word “fucked” multiple times. In this video the actors also mouth curse words when they are being handed tickets. This could offend people that are not comfortable with swearing. More conservative people may not appreciate the constant swearing, but it works well in the video because it is expressing the rage of getting a parking ticket.

Video is a better communication tool than writing or photography. You can tell a story more fluidly with a video than with a photograph. A photograph is a frozen piece of time that shows one clip at a time. A video can be a continuation of a photograph that can go more in detail with a story. Videos are a visual while writing makes you use more imagination. The difference can be compared to a movie being made after a book. The book makes a person use their imagination, while you are reading you are looking at words and in your head you are coming up with a picture of how the story is unfolding. A movie physically shows you the story so you don’t have to use your imagination to see what is happening. This can make a video a better communication tool because it is directly communicating the picture the creator wants to viewer to see.

The self-portrait experience of a video should be the easiest part of the project. A self-portrait is a video done by the videographer filming themselves. There should not be many difficulties when making the self-portrait. It is important to hold your phone horizontally instead of vertically so it fits according to IMovie guidelines. Another important part of the self-portrait is finding where to place the camera so you do not have to hold it like a selfie for the entire video. This makes it more professional and aesthetically pleasing. The self-portrait should be a fun portion of the video that is a reflection of yourself.