This final project is a point-of-view video which also showcases what I've learned about framing, lighting, audio, editing, effective on-screen annotations, and taking risks to try something new! This was the most challenging and stressful video project I have attempted to date, but it also the most fun and rewarding.
This is a point-of-view (POV) video I filmed with a GoPro Hero 9 camera attached to a chest-mount. The concept was to make the viewer feel like they are along for the ride. I wore the camera (and "represented" the viewer in the final product), but I want to give credit to the real heroes of this video: Annie Loe and Clarissa Broughton. Annie and Clarissa are ACCFB employees, and the super-stars who show the viewer around and demonstrate the shopping experience.
One key aspect of what I've learned this video showcases well is the value of getting right into the action versus spending a lot of time at the top of the video setting the viewer up with pre-requisite information. You will notice a brief establishing shot, then we jump right in. Additionally, all the techniques and terminology we have learned in IST 531 gave me the confidence to plan and lead this project and communicate a clear vision to my client. This final video project is part of the Capstone project for Alameda County Community Food Bank (ACCFB). This video gives new shoppers a start-to-finish time-lapsed tour of a 30-minute Community Market shopping appointment. The intended audience is new network partner authorized shoppers. These are individuals who oversee or volunteer for organizations that host food distributions, like pantries or soup kitchens.
I worked closely with ACCFB for all aspects of planning the video shoot, and I got final approval of the video outline before the day of the video shoot. We had a BLAST planning and shooting the video. And, most importantly, we are excited to provide an effective tool to support orientation and onboarding for new ACCFB network members.
Project Output: What to Expect at Your Shopping Appointment (Video)
Get a lot of footage! I got A LOT of footage. For this five-minute video, I captured nearly an hour of GoPro footage as well as several still images and a few shots using more traditional filming methods (my iPad and a stabilizer). This made editing time-consuming; however, getting a lot of footage is essential for this kind of shoot. And, as a bonus, I did not need to go back to re-shoot anything. I had plenty of great material to work with.
Show your hands. I planned ahead to show my hands on-screen and to have two other individuals in the video to help guide the story and keep the viewer focused and engaged. My "hands shots" are the reason I opted to hold and show the shopping list--it gave my hands a helpful reason to be there that furthered the story.
Change it up in final editing. In the final piece, I was mindful to edit the footage to limit each clip to a maximum of five seconds, to keep the viewer engaged.
Think about live audio. The GoPro caught some great "background sounds" audio I chose to use at key places in the video. For the opening establishing shot, I had the stars of our video wear a lapel mic to ensure we got a clear, "Come on in."
It's a lot to edit. I started the editing process by creating a rough cut of all the footage I planned to use. I then wrote my final script (which we had outlined before the video shoot) and recorded all voiceover in Audacity using a Zoom H2N microphone. I uploaded voiceover audio as several individual clips for each segment, rather than one continuous narration, which simplified the editing process.