News Summary Video Assignment

Due :  ask your teacher

Your assignment is to work in a group to produce a video slideshow like this:

      Cory Montieth   https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/275979/compTech/videos/Cory_Monteith_Video.m4v

      Hudson River Airliner Crash   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZocBHfPPTE 

      Galaxy Gear   https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/275979/compTech/galaxygear.mp4

      Fukushima Earthquake and Tsunami  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1015uv_A-o
        (a good start, but needs more TEXT with more info)

Your video must illustrate a NEWS EVENT that happened in the year 2016/17.

Notes and Suggestions

Your video must illustrate a NEWS EVENT that happened in the year 2016/17.

Videos are easy to watch, but not so easy to make.  The following ideas might help.

- record original video using a digital camera or a video camera
- download videos from a site like YouTube
- capture video by recording your computer screen with CamStudio or QuickTime

Computer and Software

Choose one platform (computer) and use it for the whole project -
don't try to switch between platforms.  You won't have much luck
trying to use both Windows PCs and MacBooks for the same project.

- Mac - use iMovie
- PC - use MovieMaker

If you have other software at home, perhaps Adobe Premiere,
keep in mind that you can only use it on the computer where
you have paid for the license and installed the software.
This is likely to cause a problem for GROUP work.

Editing Clips

After collecting video "footage", you need to

- cut out and keep the good parts
- assemble various clips and put them in the right order

Adding Effects

- add transitions between clips like fade-in or curtains
- apply colorizing effects like "old" appearance or black and white

Adding Sound Tracks

- record or copy sound with something like Audacity
- add pieces of sound, synchronized with the video clips

Create Final Movie

- choose an appropriate format - .FLV, .MP4, .WMV, .MOV
- choose an appropriate size to fit the intended screen (smaller for portable devices)
- export or create the movie

Project Files
- be sure to save the project file and all the original files, in case you need them later

Save all files in a SINGLE FOLDER.  Since 2 or 3 people are collecting files,
you will need to collect them all together into a single folder -
this can happen at the end of the project, but it MUST HAPPEN,
because you must TURN IN ALL YOUR SOURCE FILES
along with the FINISHED VIDEO.

Requirements

Your finished video must present the news story, including both pictures (photos and videos)
and text information.  There should be enough information in your video that someone
who does not remember the event would still understand what happened.  The pictures
and text on the screen must present all the needed information.  The music accompaniment
makes it more entertaining, but it should be meaningful even without sound.

This can be a a slide-show - a collection of photographs - or a sequence of video clips -
PREFERABLY a combination of both - with transition effects and music (for dramatic feeling).
The slide-show "tells a story".  This is aided by the text-slides.  

Your assignment is to make a video story about an important news event.

• You must work in a group of 3 students (or maybe 4).  No, you may not work alone.
• You may use short video clips as well as photographs. 
• The finished video should last 2-5 minutes.
  
• There must be music (or sound effects) accompanying the pictures
• The music / sound effects should "fit" with the pictures.
• You may COPY pictures and/or video clips from the Internet,
  but YOU must cut them together to make an original product
  (don't just download a product)
• Do may keep SOME of the sound from the original YouTube videos -
  but you must also insert OTHER sound files from some other source.
  This could be voice-over (narration) done by you, or background music,
  or preferably both.
• You must also on WRITTEN information appearing as screen text.
• The result must TELL A STORY so that the viewer knows what happened,
  even if they are unfamiliar with the original event.
• The finished product must be a video in some standard, popular video format.
  Could be .FLV, .WMV, .MOV, or MPeg4.  If you want to produce something
  else, get permission from the teacher.
  
• You may use any video editing tool you wish, iMovie is recommended.
  
• You must submit ALL the original materials (photos, music files),
  plus the project file, plus the finished video. Keep all this in ONE FOLDER
  and submit a .ZIP archive of the folder.  You may find that it is VERY LARGE,
  so you may want to give this to the teacher on a USB stick.

Here are a few more examples:

      Year 2006 in review   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8fztDMH64I  
       (very nicely done, but you should concentrate on one story and include videos)

      Health Care Argument   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7N3GOpDgIs  
        (would be fine, but needs music and more interesting videos - and it's too long)

      10 Biggest News Stories of 2011  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ljj9l43dM_Q
       (that's the right idea, but you need to stick to one story and deliver a lot more information)

      Vietnam Protests    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGohja_l-wU  
        (starts well, but needs more text with more information - and it isn't 2012)

      Remember the 80s   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05SII1sV-Pc  
        (a good idea, but the quality of the pictures is poor)

Your group may choose any news event they wish (from 2016/17), but remember that your show must
"tell a story" in some sense.  The following would be INAPPROPRIATE:

• a "music video" with pictures that are "only eye candy" to accompany a rock song
• an uninterrupted 2 minute video of a basketball game
• strictly computer-generated content (a video game screen capture)
  the story must be about something "real", a news story
• FAILS clips

• the viewer doesn't get bored
• the story is understandable 
• the viewer might want to watch it again
• good quality pictures and video
  
• good quality music
• music and pictures fit together sensibly

iMovie Notes - Adding Sound and Text to your Video Clips

Before adding music or sound effects, you probably want to click on 
the little blue editor button and silence the audio that is part of the clip.

Voice Over - Video Tutorial
You can talk into the computer's microphone and record comments about your video clip(s).
To do this, use the [microphone] button.  Then click on a clip to start it playing and
talk into the microphone at the same time.

Music and Other Sound Effects - Video Tutorial
You can download free background music from a site like Last.fm for music,
or sound effects from GRSites .  There are plenty of other sources.

The simple approach is to download an .mp3 file from a web-site,
and save it into the Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Automatically Add to iTunes folder.
Then you can click on the [music] button in iMovie - this has musical notes on it.
Then choose the file you want to add and drag it onto a clip.

Add Text Comments on a Clip - Video Tutorial
Use the [T] tool to add text to a clip.  Choose the appropriate location/format.
Then you must type your text on the Video Preview pane (on the right side).

Add a Pure Text Information Slide - Video Tutorial
There is no good way to do this directly in iMovie.
You need to create your text-slide in another application, like PowerPoint.
Export the side as an image.  If you save it directly into the iPhoto folder,
then you can use the Photo button to find it.  Otherwise, you need to drag
your image into iMovie, into the project folder. 

More Video Tutorials
Here are some more video tutorials.  They might be slightly different
than your version of iMovie, but the basic concepts are still the same.

Editing Audio (like echoes) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZ06TKZg360