Throughout the semester I’ve been blogging about solo travel among females. This last project I’ve decided to do a video story on shark research I helped conduct in the Neptune Islands. What made this adventure unique to me, was not only the expedition I was on but the people I met along the way.
To begin the draft, I sorted through images and video I had collected on my trip. This gave me an idea of what I had in media and narrowed the story to what I wanted to share. After I had collected the media, I created a storyboard. This would allow me to stay focused on my project.
After I had completed the draft, the feedback I received was on the length and lack of narration. I had lost my microphone on the project and so had to upload the draft with only music audio. I purchased a USB headphone set thinking this would really help me. However, the quality was horrendous, and I ended up recording my voice off another device and then sharing it with Premiere. It was a tedious task. I ended up re-recording multiple times then monkeying around trying to fix it and clean it up.
I stuck to the same storyboard idea. I removed many of the images and reduced much video from the draft.
Then came a tragedy. The whole thing corrupted. I’m on satellite internet and it is not the best option to deal with high volume media. I lost all the effort I had put into the draft piece. So, I decided to start fresh and import only the images, audio, and video I was going to use into a new project. I also had to change the time-frame to work around my internet’s bonus time. So, for the last week 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. saw me at my computer working with Premier and the rest of the day was for editing images and recording sound.
Then one night after I got an epiphany. Instead of a narration video, I decided to write an ode to my love of the ocean and its inhabitants. I sat down that night and wrote the poem Salty Breath Kisses. I rarely write versus, whether it was from lack of sleep or remembering that trip. I was inspired to write down my feelings. The ocean is my sanctuary. It is where I feel at home and at peace. I’ve advocated for sharks and the ocean for 28 years. I was an early member of Surf Riders and the California Shark Protection and Conservation Group.
No matter the harm we instill on the ocean, it welcomes us back sharing its nutrients and beauty. I can feel the salt air kissing away my stress and in return the waves move onto the shoreline, never judging, just kneeling before us and asking for little bit of healing too.
Salty Breath Kisses
How do I explain
my love of the sea
salty breath kisses
a comfort to me.
The rolling of waves
courageous and free
strength an amazement
yet sick with debris.
Sparkling blue swirling
ascends the dorsal
sharing its bounty
judgement impartial.
An ancient wisdom
purity of trust
its life and its death
dependent on us.
How can I explain
the faith of the sea
salty breath praying
its belief in me.
I used the audio effects to sound like different than just a normal narrative voice. I wanted a bit of graininess to the sound. Hopefully, I succeeded. I then added ducking to the music to make it fade in and out while I spoke. I incorporated the words to sequences that correlated. I never really realized how much I “ssssss” words. I sound a bit like Cindy Brady on the Brady Bunch. So, I apologize if you can’t understand the words. A reason why I’m posting them in my blog.
I worked on fading in and out on images and video and cutting the video to 2 minutes. It still came out a large file. Mainly because of the video I used. I tried to keep it clear and because much was from a Go Pro, I don’t believe it will fill the YouTube frame. But, all in creative license, right?
Some of the effects I worked with in the final project was mostly in audio and graphics. I also spent quite a bit of time working on timing, audio volume in the audio gain function and transition effects. I kept things simple and continuous as I wanted the images to speak for themselves. I wanted this to become a story about the beauty of the ocean and sharks. And, with all the movement of the videos I didn’t want to add dramatic transitions.
It is always interesting to me how projects can flow into new concepts. Or after a tragedy of losing hours of work developed an inspiration for a different kind of story. I believe I would have enjoyed working with Premiere more if I wasn’t on metered data in the middle of the woods. I did enjoy it taking me back on a trip to the ocean and sharks.
Thank you for checking out my video story and I wish you great travels.
Resources
music: bensound.com
dead sharks image: matadornetwork
Female Flying Solo 