08 Oct SUMMER ADVENTURES 2015 – A NEW TIME CAPSULE FILM
Putting together a Time Capsule film of our summer is my biggest film project of the year.
It’s a daunting task if I’m honest… because of the amount of footage to sort through initially and then compiling together takes a huge amount of time. Plus, I have to deal with my internal debate of aesthetic quality of footage vs moments worth remembering. Memory always out plays fancy beautiful footage – in an ideal world, you get clips that achieve both – high fives.
I’ve been shooting lots this year, especially with my year long course & all the weekend mini films I’ve been sharing on Instagram. I wanted to mix up all the footage from those films, into one long story of our summer adventures.
I was putting off starting because I knew the hours it would take. Yes, after all these years – the process gets quicker. As the more you do it… you know what footage works and you understand the ins & outs of editing, but experience also teaches you what kinda projects you can bash out and which need a little more tender care.
The summer film should be pulled together with love and tenderness, as this is the story of our blissful sun filled & rainy days – or this year I’ve titled it the “summer of wellies!”
So my film is finished. I love it. All the boys love it. Yes, of course, there are things that could change and ways to improve it. But it’s done. And that makes me happy.
Another Time Capsule film locked up, bursting with sunshine and adventures.
PHEW!
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If you’ve got some summer footage lazing around on your mobile phone or computer and fancy making a summer film – Why don’t you put some clips together? – jump in and do it! Let me nudge you… You’ll be so pleased you did. Just imagine looking back in years to come.
Here’s a few tips to get you started…
IMAGINE A COLLAGE.
You could tell your summer story in the order it happened, but I rather like mixing it up and filling my film with little snippets from all parts of our summer. Think of it as a collage… Lots of layers put next to each other to tell the whole story.
FORM OR FUNCTION?
Beautiful footage or memory evoking clips?. I tend to lean towards the memories… if the footage is slightly off technically – a little shaky or out of focus, but it brings the memory of that moment flooding back – put it in.
ORGANISATION IS KING.
Make time to go through your footage – I find this the longest hardest part. But it’s worth the effort as it makes the edit go smoothly. Creating folders to organise the clips helps me. A folder for chosen clips and one for maybes – bits and pieces I may use to fill the gaps.
VARIETY IS GOOD.
Better to fill your film with a collection of clips sharing different memories of your summer, rather than long segments of similar sequences… keep it interesting to watch. Take the viewer on a journey.
LENGTH OF FILM.
Keep in mind how long your film will run for. My films rarely go over 2 minutes long – I like short films, packed with only the best of the best. But my summer films are longer as there’s often more footage… So this film breaks my rules, as long as I’m still using good footage and not just filling it up, so it runs the length of the song.
GO FOR IT.
Just start. There are always excuses and other things you could be doing… but this film could be a gift to you forever.
NEED MORE SUMMER INSPIRATION?
They are my favourite films! – 2014 :: 2013 :: 2012 – So much has changed, yet there are so many similarities.
Or perhaps you’d like to learn how to create your own Time Capsule films – either a mini one for Instagram or perhaps longer ones like this one – check out my online courses… all the details are HERE>>>>
(Film & photos shot Canon 5DmIII)
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