Lights, Camera, Video!

I was going to say action but…

I wanted a short promotional video for my next novel, as I’m trying to do a lot more to advertise the fact that it’s on the way.

I had a look at all sorts of companies and software that guaranteed me a great product, and then I saw the price, while I don’t mind paying for something good, I wondered if I couldn’t manage it myself.

I guess it’s all connected with my career. Being on a ship, miles from anywhere 40 years ago, if something broke, you had to mend it (or find a way to cope without it). It’s probably the same now, ships might be faster and communications better but crews are smaller. I know of one ship’s officer who had to remove an appendix from a crewman in the middle of the Pacific, no choice there, he did it successfully and all was well. While I never had to be quite so radical (I only ever gave injections and sewed people up), I did develop the ability to make or modify, to keep things running and to innovate where I had too.

Making a video isn’t quite as crucial as some of the things I’ve had to do, but I like to think that I can have a go at most tasks. Maybe not live-action movie making but a ninety-second book trailer ought to be within my capabilities?

Not only that, if I could master the art, I could make as many videos as I wanted, for no extra cost. My only outlay would be the time involved.

I found that I already had most of the things I needed, a graphics programme (Canva), determination and time.

I used a well-known search engine to find Royalty free pictures (Pixabay) and music (Purple-Planet), and a free video production programme called OpenShot.

Now that’s all well and good, of course, you don’t just need the tools, you need the ideas. I spent a while looking at other video trailers for inspiration. As I said before, live action is out of the question, there are alien planet location difficulties! An animation was a no-go. I can’t draw and it would take me too long anyway (I have a life). The most accessible format seemed to be the slideshow, using a music track to synchronise with the slides and produce tension and excitement.

I looked online for advice and made up a storyboard (a list of the points), breaking down the message I wanted to convey into short sentences. I decided on the theme, dark and mysterious and found a great piece of music.

Using Canva, I turned my storyboard ideas into slides. When I had saved them all, I added it all together, listening to the music gave me the placement of the images, for maximum effect. When I had them arranged and all the transitions (fades) sorted out, I simply pressed record. It was as easy as that.

 

The first version was OK, but I could see a few things that could be changed. After a bit of tweaking, this is the current version.

 

 

It’s not Cameron or Speilberg, by any stretch of the imagination. It’s not even the finished article but it’s a start. I’ve used a mock-up of my book cover, which will need to be replaced with the real one when I get it, but I’m pretty happy with how it’s come out. Now I’ve got the video bug, and I know roughly what I’m doing, writing duties may well become secondary for a while as I play with my new toys. I might even make videoes for all my other books as well.

I’ll be back on Thursday with another Showcase, see you then.

The post Lights, Camera, Video! appeared first on Welcome to my Worlds..