MODULE 7 - EDITING WITH iMOVIE + EXERCISE 7.1 FAQ VIDEO

 

MODULE 7 Tutorial: Video editing with IMOVIE

15 Second Film PROJECT (Exercise 7.1) FAQ VIDEO

I've been seeing a few questions asked many times on the discussion boards, so, I wanted to answer them with this video (instead of trying to reply to each post). Below I explain how much narrative we are expecting to see, describe what we would consider a "successful" project, and go over the technical and conceptual requirements.

I also address the one requirement I have regarding the actors you chose to work with, which I also want to explain a bit more in written form. Your actors (including yourself) can play any character from the original film you are re-making. I just don't want people to be using make-up or adopting accents to alter their physical characteristics in order to "look more" or "sound more" like the actors in the original film in terms of racial, cultural and or ethnic presentation. This type of misrepresentation and appropriation occurred a lot in early film (and before that, theater) where white actors would alter their physical appearance in order to play characters of color, and these depictions were based on racist stereotypes that perpetuated their own violent viewpoints. Even if your intentions are totally different, this historical context still heavily complicates this practice, and, therefore it is not allowed for these projects. As always, please email me with any questions about this. Using make-up to alter your physical appearance to play a fantastical character (such as a vampire, wizard, animal, horrifying-clown, zombie, alien, super hero etc) is different and welcome for these projects, as is using hair and make-up to apply other effects (such as blood / bruising, scars etc).

And below, the finished 15-second film example - I never like to open the exercise with this right off the bat because there are so many different ways to approach the challenge, but for folks who are starting to feel panicked and stuck, I feel like this example can help illustrate some options for working with limited resources. I filmed (and "acted" in) all of the un-cut scenes in about 15 minutes in my living room - the most complicated set up was finding a piece of white cardboard large enough to fit the props. I'm showing this just as one possible way - of many - to attempt this challenge, but please don't feel limited by this.

Example 15 Second Film Project

Also, a few reminders of your options with this different video format:

  1. Pop out of Canvas and watch in a new tab if any of the features aren't working

  2. There are fullscreen and CC (Sub-title) options available in the right hand corner. For being YouTube auto-captions, these are pretty clear. I think they must have improved their algorithm. Please email me with any accessibility needs.

  3. If you are feeling pressed for time, but don't want to miss anything, you can watch with audio in 1.5 speed by hitting that little gear icon.