Technology- Video Editing Project 1- "The Joke"
The Joke (Our First Assignment!) Video Tutorials that you will need to complete this assignment:

Part One, Filming: You will be creating your first edited movie using our video camera, Sony Vegas editing software and some of the camera shots from the Video Language Dictionary. First, become familiar with all of the recording techniques covered in class. Then, find a joke that you can tell on camera and edit. Your joke needs to be school appropriate and at least a paragraph (10-15 seconds reading time, minimum) in length. You will be responsible for shooting YOURSELF telling your joke to the camera. You can shoot this anywhere you wish on campus or at home, if you wish. Make sure to avoid contamination!

You will be responsible for using ALL of the following DISTANCE shot types from the Video Language Dictionary; LONG SHOT (LS), MEDIUM LONG SHOT (MLS), MEDIUM CLOSEUP (MCU) and CLOSEUP (CU.) (You can use more if you wish.) You will need to plan how you will shoot each of these shots, as well as what part of your joke you will say in each shot. You need to shoot your OWN footage, without assistance. When filming these scenes, be creative, be funny, be natural.

DO NOT SHOOT THIS AS ONE CONTINUOUS SHOT. YOU SHOULD FILM (AT A MINIMUM) SIX DIFFERENT PIECES OF FOOTAGE (ONE FOR EACH CAMERA ANGLE.)

Part Two, Editing: Once you have filmed your shots, you will download your clips from the camera to one of your Q: Drive folders:

  • Plug in your USB cords to an Editing Computer (those on the south side of the room, by Mr. B.'s desk).
  • Turn on your camera and touch the USB Connect button on the camera screen (the icon with the cylinder) to connect your camera to the computer.
  • We can import your clips directly from your camera into Vegas, but then if you disconnect your camera in the future, the program can no longer find them. It is best to copy the files to your Q: Drive Folder. Use My Computer to copy the files from the Camera (E: Drive) to your Q: Drive.
Import your clips into Vegas, so that they are ready for editing. Use the Video Tutorials above as a guide for this process. You will be putting together your "Joke" using the different clips that you took while filming. Make sure that your final video of your joke has ALL of the following:
  1. A title screen: “My Joke."
  2. The entire "story" of your joke, including the punchline and a conclusion.
  3. Trim your video clips, as necessary, so that your joke sounds natural in the telling.
  4. To practice using text overlay in your movie, please place "closed captioning" text of the exact words of your joke AS YOU SAY THEM, ONE SENTENCE AT A TIME!
  5. In the upper LEFT CORNER of each of the required Video Language Dictionary shots (Long Shot, Closeup, etc.) please put the name of the shot being filmed in small letters, so that I know you understand the shots.
  6. DO NOT use VIDEO EFFECTS or TRANSITIONS for this assignment. We will have time for those later.
  7. If necessary, take your camera back out to recapture any lines that are not working properly for you.
  8. Include final credits at the end of Visual Guide, listing YOU as the camera person, the actor, the editor, etc.

When you are completely done, watch your movie, make sure that there are no spelling errors, unwanted video or audio, etc. Then, do a FILE>MAKE MOVIE and save your project to your V: Drive folder, call it lastname_the_joke. (See the Video Tutorial regarding Saving Files for assistance with this step!) Copy your Joke Movie from your folder to the Q: Drive DROPBOX for grading.

Part Three, Grading: You will be graded mostly on how well your clips fit together to tell your joke in a natural manner, as well as proper use of title, close captioning and credit effects and your proper use of the required camera angles. Each of these three areas will be worth a total of 50 points towards your final grade on the project. We will watch them in class when everyone is done.