Day 1: Intro to Making a Video

Today we started to learn how to film, upload and edit a video. After about an hour and a half, I learned that I do not have a natural talent for this.

Learning to film is surprisingly easy. In a nutshell, all you have to do is press the red button, focus on what you want to film, and when you're done, re-press the red button. After that, you have a video! However, this is not the hard part. What I had trouble with in class today was what comes after the video - uploading the video, learning how to use the software, learning how to edit, etc.

I don't have a lot of experience with movie software. I made a music video for a class my senior year of high school, and last semester I was one of three who created a video for my Media and Society project. That is the extent of my knowledge and experience. Learning how to upload and converge the video requires a lot of memorization about the different buttons to press, but after a lot of repitition and practice I know that I will get the hang of it. However, what I had a really hard time with today was the editing. Getting the video to start and end at the exact time I want (it shoud be cut at 7:05, NOT 7:07), is so hard! It takes a lot of time, and a lot of testing before you get it to the exact place. There's also so many parts of editing that I know nothing about - transitions, combining videos, splitting cells - that I hope we spend time in class going over. I want to have excellent video skills and knowledge by the time this semester is over, so the more practice the better.

That being said, I love the environment of the classroom. It doesn't feel so much like a professor lecturing students, but rather a community environment where we are all working and learning things together. It's rare to find a class that you look forward to going to rather than dread, but I have a feeling that this is going to be one of them. In the meantime, hopefully my skills will improve with time. After all, this was only day one.