Tips for video production if you have no idea what you’re doing

Anyone who knows me professionally knows that writing is my passion and one of the few things I’m good at. But sometimes I wonder if anyone is actually reading the press releases, blog posts or features that I put together.

One of my objectives for the coming year is to include more rich content in everything I do. So over the past few months, I’ve been filming and putting together short videos for the staff newsletter, press releases and social media using Adobe Premiere Pro.

Before I go any further, I need to point out that I am a complete novice when it comes to video production. Everything I’ve learnt has been down to trial and error. So I thought I would share a few tips for anyone who wants to produce videos but doesn’t know where to start.

I’d also like to give a shout-out to Michael Hann, who has joined the Communications Team as maternity cover. We have worked as a team – Michael has gathered excellent footage which I have then turned into videos. Without his help, this whole process would have been a lot harder, so thank you Michael!

You don’t need expensive equipment

This is the kit we use - you can buy it here

We don’t use a fancy camera – just an iPad. The tech available on smart devices like iPads and iPhones nowadays means you don’t need to spend a fortune on cameras. We recently purchased some equipment, like a tripod which is designed to hold smart devices and a mic, which all cost about £25 from Amazon. You don’t need to spend a fortune.

You don’t need to produce an Oscar-winner
People don’t except Spielberg standard videos, unless they have paid a company to make it of course! Don’t worry too much if your first videos are a bit rough around the edges – at least you’re trying! Also, you’ll find that the more videos you make, the better they will become. You’ll get the knack for what works (and what doesn’t) and the process will get quicker and slicker.

Less is not more!

When gathering footage for your video, get as many different bits of footage from as many angles as you can. That way when it comes to editing you’ll have lots of footage to choose from. Remember you can’t add what you don’t have, but you can always cut what is already there.

When in doubt, YouTube it!
YouTube is full of short tutorials on how to do anything and everything in Premiere Pro. So take advantage of this free resource if you are not sure how to achieve something with your video, like adding a fade or adjusting the volume of the audio.

Below are some examples of what I’ve produced over the last few months. Like I said, I am no expert, but I am proud of what I’ve made and I’m looking forward to making more!

I don't want you to photoshop yourself. Your landscapes, however...

This blog post is kind of a two for the price of one situation. Essentially, I went to New York last week and want to talk about it (a thousand apologies to my colleagues who have heard about it non-stop for the whole week, I swear this will be the last thing). But I also want to make it work-related, so I’m going to tie it in with my role as a member of our newly formed Social Media Team. Therefore, drum roll please…

Tips and tricks for editing Instagram pictures

For the first time in my life I actually have a decent camera (the Canon G7X mark ii for those who care), so have been making extra effort to improve my photography and editing skills. I'm by no means an expert - I only started teaching myself four days ago - but this is what I’ve learnt so far.

Photoshop tricks

1) TIMES SQUARE, NY. As I've said in the title, I really don't encourage 'photoshopping' yourself in any way. However, I do think that sometimes it's allowed. For example, in the picture below I actually had chocolate on my face *rolls eyes*, but it was a really nice picture other than that, so I figured it was excusable. If you have a similar situation, I suggest the Spot Healing Brush or the Clone Stamp tools on Photoshop - which are really useful for getting pieces of fluff off your clothing or just smartening up chocolately faces. Be warned though - they are both 'blurring' tools, so if you use them over a large surface area, people will be able to tell. 

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2) FINANCIAL DISTRICT, LOWER MANHATTAN, NY. If by accident, like me, you've taken a picture at a really nice time of day - dawn or dusk or during a sunset, for example - it can be nice to enhance that. In the image below a couple of useful techniques have been used. First, to straighten out buildings or other subjects, copy a new layer of your image. Then Ctrl T (Transform) and right click and choose Distort. Then you're free to drag the corners/sides of your image to make them straighter. Image > Adjustments > Shadows/Highlights helps to make any buildings or structures stand out, and Ctrl L will bring up a levels menu that can also brighten or darken any shapes (clouds included!). And lastly, to brighten up skies, you can go to Filter > Camera Raw Filter, which gives you loads of options to bring out different saturations of colours, to make them really stand out! 

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Image editing apps

If you don't have access to Photoshop or just can't be bothered to spend that much time on your pictures, there are some pretty good editing apps available nowadays that can improve your images just as easily. Here are some I've found. 

1) BROOKLYN BRIDGE, LOOKING BACK ON MANHATTAN, NY. I used an app called Photofox to edit this picture, which I've found is great if you want to give the illusion that your pictures have been taken on old-fashioned camera reel (like the Olympus Penn or OM-1). If colour distortion and fade is your thing, then this is the app for you! It's free and has a wide range of light overlays that can give your images that vintage feel. See below!

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2) CENTRAL PARK, NY. This is probably my favourite photo editing app to use at the minute, and it's called VSCO (although ColorStory comes in at a close second, check both out). It's no different to the filters that Instagram supply you with, other than it has a whole lot more editing options beyond that, and more colour gradients. The app is free and so are a selection of filters, but for more advanced options you do have to pay unfortunately! I like to use it to brighten my pictures and for landscapes, to give them a rustic feel.

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So I hope that helps (and simultaneously lets you know what an amazing time I had in the 'big apple'). I use these techniques on my personal Instagram account, but I don't see why I, and the rest of the team, can't start using them on the University Instagram to make our pictures stand out. So get downloading, social team! 

Hope this is useful, and I'd love to see if anyone tries any of these photo editing options in their own work, so please let me know! 

Until next time. Over and out. 

The art of 'up-skilling'

I'll be honest, I felt a little uninspired when it came to writing my blog post this week. A great deal of the team's time has been taken up with the 2019 Undergraduate Prospectus over the last few weeks, and I think we've all gone a bit crazy and cross-eyed from the proof-reading! It's not quite ready to be revealed yet, so I'll leave that for one of the team to do when it is. 

Instead I thought I'd rather talk to you about some of the new skills Sara and I have been learning thanks to our manager, David. He has previously spent time as a graphic designer, and he has a lot of creative skills that would be incredibly useful to us, so has made it his mission to 'up-skill' us over the next few months. 

Photoshop  -

Although we have a working knowledge of Photoshop, we've recently been exploring some more unique design ideas, including something called 'double exposure'. I don't take to learning slowly, so I said I'd figure it out, and off I went. On my third (!!) attempt I managed to create this...

It's still a work in progress, but I could barely re-size a picture four months ago, let alone layer two separate images over each other! We're looking forward to being able to replicate these kinds of techniques in the campaign work we do over the next few weeks, so watch this space.

Dreamweaver/Coding/HTML (whatever you want to call it) -

The other skill David has been encouraging us to learn, is how to code. We write a fair few emails, and occasionally problems arise with them that can only be fixed by going into the HTML code, and figuring out what's gone awry. Designing them works in a similar way - the software we use has limitations, and knowing how to create tables and change text formats through code comes in quite handy. It's a complicated process and I didn't think I was taking any of it on-board until last week when I 'broke' an email, went into the HTML, and fixed it. Pretty cool, huh? 

I even just went into the code of this blog post to try and figure out why the picture above isn't centered like it should be. Ironically, I can't make any sense of it! But in the words of Hannibal Smith - "Give me a minute, I'm good. Give me an hour, I'm great. Give me six months? I'm unbeatable." So check back in with me in August, okay?! 

Me coding, funnily enough. Caffeine helps. 

And there you have it, as far as the art of 'up-skilling' is going, David's doing a pretty good job. We'll be better than him in no time. But I think that might be the point. 

Until next time. Over and Out. 

Reflecting on the past and looking to the future

Next month I will be celebrating my third anniversary of working within the Marketing department at the University of Bedfordshire. Although at times it doesn’t feel like I’ve been here that long, upon reflection it’s been a busy three years! In that time there’s been a desk move, a few changes to the team, and a change in my job title, and that’s just me getting started! I’ve also worked on five prospectuses, written countless e-zines, and interviewed several of our students and staff for video content and case studies. The team have also won various awards from Heist and CIPR (shameless plug - sorry!).

Whenever people ask me what I love about my job I always answer with the diversity of the role. The great thing about working in a Marketing role is that no two days are ever the same – some days I’m writing copy for our marketing materials, other days I’m briefing our designers on our artwork. You may also find me roaming around campus taking photos and video footage, or even helping the Recruitment team at our Open Days and other recruitment events. There are of course tasks that are more regular, such as promoting our Open Days, or writing content for our monthly e-zines, but other tasks, such as organising photo-shoots, or having the opportunity to sit on tender briefings may only take place once a year. 

The other great thing about my role is that, due to the nature of the marketing industry and the higher education sector, my role is ever changing. Because of this I’m always learning , whether this be through

attending higher education forums, or through in-house training. When I started this role I had limited experience with Photoshop, and though I’m far from an expert, I’ve developed my knowledge throughout my time here. Over the next few months I will be furthering my knowledge of the Adobe package by learning how to properly use InDesign, which will help me when I’m creating various promotional materials within my role. I’m excited to develop my skills in this area and will hopefully be able to share some of my work with you soon!

Sara