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Magic Beans of Filming: Create Giant Videos

Let’s say you want to make a video. Maybe for your presentation, or something to show at an important event. You don’t know what you need to create videos. So you just went out and vaguely filmed some shots that you think you need. But is it okay to film without having any idea what you are doing? What do you need to know to edit?  Sure, you can learn techniques, but is that all you need?? You don’t even know what you don’t know. So here we have some magic beans you need to plant and perform your own magic.


Stories

Before you start anything, you need a storyboard or a shooting script. Without it, you might lose your way while filming and editing a video. Don’t get intimidated by the term, storyboard. It may seem too professional for you to handle, but it is just a simple outline to keep you on the right track. Your drawings do not have to be perfect. Heck, you don’t even have to draw! Just write detailed sentences describing the scene you want, and there you have it.

Source: Word Storyboard Example from DASHE&THOMSON

Another amazing thing about storyboard is that it shortens the process like A LOT. Spontaneity is good, creative even. But being spontaneous every time can cause you some trouble. You will be shooting stuff you can’t handle, get off-topic, miss some shots, and more. You will have to go through shooting more than once, hence the long process. However, with a good firm shooting script, it won’t happen. You know what you need, and you know what your video will look like.

There is no right way to make a storyboard. Get a piece of paper and a pen, draw what’s in your head, shoot films, go to a stock footage platform if you need anything and ta-da, it’s done. It’s like shopping with a list. Efficient, time-saving, and no mistakes.

Story panels for ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2’

Transitions 

While music changes the mood, transitions are in charge of the scene itself. It smoothly connects one shot to another. Transitions prevent sudden leaps, allowing the audience to enjoy the video pleasantly. One may think that there isn’t enough diversity in transitions to choose from. They might all look the same. However, keep in mind, it can be limitless if you get creative. Just remember to follow certain rules like directions or colors, and you are good to go. 

Source: How to do the CRAZY “Day to Night” Transition by Daniel Schiffer

But it does not mean that you are obligated to use transitions every time. You want to avoid situations where you use too many transitions and make viewers dizzy. Once the viewers notice that there are too many going on, it can cause them to feel nauseated. Good transitions are almost invisible.

So where can you get transition effects? If you are trained enough, you could make your own transition effects. There are many detailed tutorials on how to make a seamless transition effect. But we are all beginners, so let’s not be too hyperbolic. You can always get free transition effects from Youtube, where many friendly Youtubers have uploaded for beginners to use. FILM CRUX, Wahla GFX offers incredible free transitions AND shows you how to use them. Super useful and thorough. Don’t hesitate to take a leaf out of their book and improve your piece of art.

Source: 100 Free Seamless Transitions for Adobe Premiere Pro Free Download


Background Music

Never overlook the influence of background music. Solely with music, you can flip the mood entirely. Background music is what film directors put a lot of effort into to create a certain mood or an image. It can also be a key factor to aid people’s memorability. Certain music brings back the memories of a specific movie character or a scene. In advertisements, music can trigger some customers’ memory and unconsciously lead them to their products.

I assume many of you would know the iconic 3-second sound of Netflix. “Ta-dum” That is all it has to take to remind you of Netflix. When  Netflix decided to make a cinema version with this iconic sound, they hired THE famous Hans Zimmer. Just to make a 16 second long sound! No more words are needed. That is how serious music is in videos.

Source: Hans Zimmer (Netflix Theme) by Anabel Nerina

And don’t forget to use royalty-free music when you are making a video. This is a simple yet overlooked matter by many beginners. Pay attention to the copyrights of the music you want to use. If you “accidentally” use copyrighted songs, it could take you to court. To prevent this mistake, you can go to a royalty-free music licensing platform, buy a membership and download all the music you need. 

Royalty-Free Music Platform

To introduce the top 2 services that provide royalty-free music, Epidemic Sound is The largest music library available. They hold more than 30,000 tracks of music and 60.000 sound effects. On the other hand, Artlist.io is the fastest grown music library. Its growing rate exceeds any other current similar services. The best thing about Artlist is that they offer a more well-organized search option. Thus you will be able to find the right themed music for your video. Otherwise, they both offer fine, professional-quality music that will upgrade your work.

Free Music Platform

If you are not willing to pay for music, you can get free music and sound effects from YouTube Audio Library. Go to the Creator Studio section of your YouTube account, and click on Audio Library to find what you need. However, you should consider that there isn’t as much music to choose from as royalty-free music platforms. You can also download free music from Free Music Archive. They provide diverse genres of music that you can use for your videos. However, they have clearly stated the special conditions that you need to follow when using the music, so be 100% sure to follow the rules. Other than that, you are free to go!


Stock Footage

Music is not the only source you can get through purchasing a license. There are times when you can’t shoot every shot you need. Some are impossible, some are too time-consuming, and some, you don’t know how. This is when you go buy yourself a license to get limitless clips from stock footage platforms. The best thing about stock footage platforms is that you can get more than just footage. You can get access to various different resources such as 3D effects, fonts, and ect. Anything you dream is right there. 

You can get the best quality yet a bit pricey sources from platforms like Shutterstock, Pond5, and 123rf. If you are looking for a decent quality video at a reasonable price, Playstock is always available. In Playstock, we have a big spectrum of videos ready to be used by future creators. They are sophisticated, creative, well-filmed, and useful. With the use of the right footage, you can make your video have a degree of completion.

Accessible & Affordable Stock Footage Marketplace ‘Playstock’

People like to enjoy themselves, thus resulting in a world full of entertainment. We drink from the undried cup of media. Among all these visual entertainments, the audience is looking for something unique and interesting. Their taste and standard are higher than ever. To meet the needs and fulfill their demand, it is high time that you know what you need to create something beautiful. Magic beans to grow magic beanstalk of videos.


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