#Shorts & #Reels Warning: addictive fun alert!

For those of you who follow me on social media (as @ZenaShapter), you may have noticed a few videos happening lately! It all started at a recent writing retreat, after I photographed some beautiful Australian flowers during my morning walk. I posted them online, then thought they might have made for better viewing as a short video clip. It was time to teach myself something new!

After all, every professional author runs a small business, and every small business needs to continually try new ways to present its core message and values to consumers.

The first video I created was an ‘Instagram reel’. It was relatively easy to upload and edit the short clips I had recorded, then set the montage to music. I had a lot of fun selecting the music! However, I wasn’t always able to then download or share the result on other platforms without affecting the sound or format in some way. So I also started using iMovie, a software program I’ve used before to create horizontal videos. It took a while to figure out how to create vertical videos, which could then be viewed more easily on a smartphone, though I eventually figured that out too, as well as how to then upload my videos to YouTube as ‘shorts’.

My YouTube channel is over here if you’d like to subscribe, whether it’s to watch how I develop my film technique or just for fun. To view my creative ‘shorts’, just click on the heading ‘shorts’.

My brother is a successful film producer in England, so I suppose I could ask him for pointers about film technique and production – but then who wants their brother telling them what to do! He he. I’m sure he’ll tell me anyway of course.

The main difference between an ‘Instagram reel’ and ‘YouTube short’ is the ideal video length, being approximately 15-30 seconds or 60 seconds respectively. I try to keep my videos short either way – I know how busy we all are, and the less time we all spend online, the more time we can spend reading books!

Now I use a combination of Instagram and iMovie to create my videos, some of which I’ve included below – I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed making them! Make sure you turn on the sound! Which is your favourite, and why?

The following video is different to the one above – click it and see!

 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on November 28, 2022 13:25
No comments have been added yet.