As a practice run before I start creating videos for our books, I decided to shoot some footage of the Southsea hovercraft when I went there last week.
There is something incredibly exciting about watching this huge craft as it powers along; almost concealed at times by the cloud of spray it creates. I am a speedboat fan, and in my youth, I was often to be found on one, hanging over the edge of the boat and getting soaked to the skin. My idea of a fun day out!
I love being anywhere near water, although I have never been on a hovercraft. Probably wouldn’t enjoy it though, as they are so noisy! These days I am content to watch from a distance, I think.
Not having used my camera like this before, I tried to hold it as steady as I could, and later when I checked the results, I was reasonable pleased. The day was overcast, so the conditions weren’t idea, but hey, this was a learning curve!
Microsoft’s Movie Maker was recommended to me as it was free to use and relatively easy, both elements that were right up my street. Proof of the pudding and all that, I thought. Depends what my aging brain can do with it, of course.
After much deliberation, I managed to upload the footage from my camera and I was quite impressed by the quality of the recording, even though it was cloudy that day.
It took a lot longer to learn how to insert the title and credits pages, and then I moved on to all the different effects you can use. You can change the colours and the font sizes of the pages; fade in and out of the transitions (scene changes)
One thing that did annoy me, was the inability to have different sized fonts on the one page. No can do, apparently.
Feeling quite full of myself, I played around with the special effects, just to see if I could improve on what was turning out to be a brilliant afternoon’s work. The title page now looked brilliant, if I do say so myself. You can also add a voice over, adjust the volume or add music, but make sure its music you are allowed to use! Not mastered this yet, but I will, for the book videos.
The result was amazing. I loved the layout and the roar of the hovercraft and the shouts of the holidaymakers as they watched with me.
What do you think? Did I do good, or is it a case of back to the drawing board. Please let me know what you think, for I need to start work on the book videos next!
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