Mini-productions for online social media work best with lots of reasonable quality images and audio. They should be fun to watch and make. Because of the COVID19 pandemic and geography, I can’t often gather those visual and audio elements directly, so have to rely on participants to provide them. But not everyone is used to recording their activities, so here’s a tip sheet. Everything suggested here can be done with a mobile phone, a bit of ingenuity, and a spirit of joie-de-vive.
- Take lots of photos of you doing what you do. Get a family member to photograph you at work.
- Zoom in. Get images of your hands, the equipment you use, what it is you’re working on, things that are special to your creative environment and process. Enjoy the moment as you capture it.
- Zoom out. Get panoramas of environments that inspire you. Take pano shots of your studio. Full portraits of yourself.
- Use video. Capture your environment, and yourself performing or creating in video clips. Again, get close and stand back, move around while you’re shooting. (Video, photo and audio files can be sent to me via WeTransfer.com, a free, easy-to-use, web based service). Capture moods in short bursts (say 15 seconds), not long recordings.
- Get rid of the echo. If you’re recording a song or a reading, avoid large, empty rooms. In a pinch, some media folk resort to recording themselves in closets to dampen the echo. Don’t yell, talk as if you were addressing a friend across the table from you.
- Have fun! It’s not visible to the digital eye and ear of your mobile, but it will certainly show up in the final production.
If you want to consult about these tips, or have a suggestion you think should be added to the list, please contact me Let’s bring communities together through the arts!