EDID6508 ASSIGNMENT 2 GRAPHIC, AUDIO AND VIDEO 1

Designing Instructional Media

By:

Genevieve Cox

A Paper Presented in Partial Fulfilment of

EDID 6508 - Developing Instructional Media

Date of submission: 15 May 2017

Email: genevieve.cox@my.open.uwi.edu

University: University of the West Indies (UWI) Open Campus

Course Coordinator: Dr. Leroy Hill

EDID6508 ASSIGNMENT 2 GRAPHIC, AUDIO AND VIDEO 2

Reflections on the Video Production Process

According to Smaldino, Lowther & Russell ( 2012, p.234), videos can take the learner

almost anywhere and extend students interests beyond the walls of the classroomvideos makes

an educational resource to expand students learning in the four major domains: cognitive,

affective, psychomotor and interpersonal.

I experienced enrichment in my learning environment from viewing video tutorials on video

shooting principles/techniques, video editing, and video exporting/distribution. Having learned the

concepts and techniques of camera use, I was empowered and compelled to retake photo after photo

and video shots to build my storyboard and story line. The activities in video production enhanced

and extended my enjoyment, and engagement in the entire learning process, and took me out of the

classroom in more ways than I had imagined possible.

Planning for the video

The first visit to scope out the Location Fort James video shoot was in the falling shadows of

evening, the second in the early hours of morning, and at midday. I took many pictures to prepare

my shot list, and to decide on a shoot strategy for the video. From a novice perspective, the

resulting shots seem well framed, visible, and in focus.

Shooting the video

The video was taken with a Samsung Note 4 mobile phone camera. In the natural shadow

and sunshine of the day, there was no need for backlighting. The medium, close-ups, wide and

extreme wide shots maintained added interest for the eye to follow in the scenery and the low,

medium and high angles used, appeared to be appropriate for adding variety to the shoot. The

camera movements were reasonably well executed utilising panning, tilting, zooming and tracking

which I think worked rather well for the scenes taken.

EDID6508 ASSIGNMENT 2 GRAPHIC, AUDIO AND VIDEO 3

The Rule of thirds was followed for the most part as far as I am aware. Shots were simple

with the absence of extraneous objects in the scenes. Leading lines were used when appropriate to

pan along the walls of the fort in the footage. Natural frames to balance the composition both

formally and informally in a contextual pattern were used in approach to the entrances and the trees.

Narrative progression using captions to sequence shots in a logical manner were also utilized in the

storytelling. The panning technique was used to control the pacing of the video; the shadow speed

was fast because the bird flying across the raw footage did not seem blurred. The speed of the cuts,

and camera speed appeared normal as well as the movement within the scene to my novice

experience. Except for the bird in the raw footage leaving the scene, there were no other subjects

leaving or re-entering. High and low angle tilt shots were used to capture scenery of the wall,

signage and of the beach below the cliffs.

Editing the video

This segment of the activity was very time consuming and concentration intensive. I spent

countless hours editing and re-editing trying to get it right. The video was edited using Windows

Movie Maker. Transitions were used, and included cuts, dissolves, and wipes, these seemed

appropriate for creating a mood in the movie, to show passing of time from scene to scene and

changing shots and camera angles. (Cinematic- burst left, Cross-fade, Spin-in text effect, text fade

etc.). As much as skillfully possible at this stage, and level of experience, efforts were made to use

transition effects to indicate abrupt changes. This provided impact to cut on action and also on

music, to help maintain movement in screen direction, on graphic elements, as well as, visual

continuity in editing, and on action.

An attempt was made to capture the essence of the historic past, and present of the

location, and to cover breaks in the continuity of the video action, in the absence of audio in the first

editing of the video, music was added to give a sense of suspense in the raw footage. An allusion to
EDID6508 ASSIGNMENT 2 GRAPHIC, AUDIO AND VIDEO 4

experiencing the beginning, middle and end of a day at the location was inferred. The music used to

edit on the beat was meant to enhance an upbeat emotion in the viewer, and a bit of suspense.

Titles were used, and graphics added at the beginning and end of the video in the form of

still photos to incite appropriate interest, and capture the attention of the viewer to tell the story. The

text on the captions were readable with the font style and colour chosen to blend in with the blue of

the sea, the white sand, and contrast against the background of the blue and white of the clouds in

the sky.

The video was shot on a very windy day, and this necessitated muting of the distracting

background sound of the howling wind to create the ambience and mood desired with the addition

of music. As much as competently possible, attempts were made to edit the program well from a

technical standpoint. I do not know if this was achieved. There is much room for improvement in

the skills learned through much more practice and repetition. Except for the still photos used at the

start and end of the edited version, to begin and end the chapter of a day spent at the location, no

extraneous frames or blank spots are present in the video.

Viewing the venue in the light, and quiet of early dawn was instrumental in firing my

imagination of the combat that had been experienced there in defending the fortunes of the island.

An old chapter in the history of the fortification had ended and a new one begun in its designation

as a popular site for tourists. The site is still maintaining a place in the present economic fortunes of

the island of Antigua as a historical attraction, though now in ruins. Returning at midday, and in the

evening twilight gave me other ideas for a title but, the mood of the chilling calm alone with the

canons at break of morning remained in my thoughts all day. I was haunted by the silence of the

place at daybreak, and in awe that the canons now muted, still stand silently sentinel to tell a story

of a bygone era.
EDID6508 ASSIGNMENT 2 GRAPHIC, AUDIO AND VIDEO 5

If I were to redo the movie, I would choose to approach the shoot sailing in from the sea.

Capturing the waters of the approach to the fort with footage of the steep cliffs, from below where

the canons stand guarding the entry to St. Johns Harbour. This would have added more adventure to

the telling of the story. In addition, I would capture approaching vessels at a close range from the

vantage point of the pointing canons with a better camera. I would love to shoot the scene from a

high angle by climbing up the wall where the signal station still stands. The fort has been signaling

approaching ships since it was built. Shooting from on top the wall would have added an

interesting depth to the panoramic view of the mossy rocks below, and of the cliffs plunging

steeply, to meet the rising timeless waves that crash against the jagged shoreline. Maybe, just

maybe, I would also change the title to A day out of the classroom at Fort James

Distributing

MP4 was the original format of distribution used to encode the video.

AnyVideo Converter was used to then convert, and test the MP4 video

to WMV and to XVID. The results of the testing observations are detailed

in the table below.

Movie: Frame Frame Codec File Audio Final Comments

Silent Size Rate Format Sample File Size

Guns Rate
Test 1 W 1920 29 F/S MPE G4 MP4 48 KHz 384 MB Use more storage

H 1080 resources

Quality of viewing

was best, format

most used for online

sharing of video
Test 2 W 320 30 F/S WMV WMV 48 KHz 36.4 MB Quality of viewing
EDID6508 ASSIGNMENT 2 GRAPHIC, AUDIO AND VIDEO 6

H 240 -V9 was good, but the

Video seemed to

have a little delay.

File size is smaller

and video was a bit

darker
Test 3 W 320 25 F/S XVID AVI 44 KHz 36.9 MB Quality of viewing

H 240 the pictures was

better than wmv, but

less clarity than MP4

After Action Review

This was an activity I enjoyed doing. Although it was very time consuming and involved a

very hands on approach, I learned a tremendous amount of new, interesting and useful information

and skills. I gained new perspective on how I can use videos to be more creative. I enjoyed

expressing ideas through telling a story. The ability to capture and manipulate images and sound to

enhance instruction introduces temporal and spatial perspectives to produce realistic instruction.

Editing the video allowed reducing of the time to view the same event seen in the raw footage in

less time, and to still get a sense of viewing the entire raw footage.

References:

Smaldino, S. E., Lowther, D. L., & Russell, J. D. (2008). Instructional technology and media

for learning.