On my last unit for this class, I have to work with Adobe Premiere Pro to create a video story that relates to my semester topic. As I started this new project, I made sure I first took the time to read the unit’s materials to understand better the task at hand and the different ways to go about it.
My video story is a bit of a promotional video to the Wisconsin Humane Society (WHS). Since my semester topic is Animal Rescue, I thought it would be perfect to visit the WHS and get footage of their building from the outside, inside and of the animals of course. With this video story my hope is to encourage people to visit their local shelters and/or to adopt their next pet.
To film my video I used my iPhone. I made sure to only film and photograph horizontally, since that is what our readings suggested. I also kept in mind the 10-second rule, meaning shooting each shot or angle for at least 10 seconds. Finally, I also made sure to keep in mind the 3×3 Method, which encourages a diverse sequence of shots by filming an angle from a wide, medium, and close-up frame.
After my afternoon of filming, it was time to begin organizing my shots and labeling them to make sure I knew what each shot was before putting the video together. I then created a storyboard, featured below, that outlines step-by-step how my visuals and audio are ordered to tell my story. After this was done, it was time to start putting my video story together!
My video story begins by showing the outside of the WHS, it gives a brief history of when it was founded and their mission. It then moves to point out some accomplishments, and what they provide for the animals. Finally, it encourages people to rescue and visit the WHS or any local shelter.
Within this video I wanted to convey emotion, while also sharing the importance of the work WHS does. To make sure the film and images looked cohesive I turned down the lightness on everything to -30, which also helped give the video an overall emotional and better look.
Storyboard
| Timestamp | Visuals and Effects | Audio |
| 0:00 | Close-up shot of Wisconsin Humane Society sign (Fades from black and white to color)
Text appears after 1 second; “Founded in 1879” |
Background music begins |
| 0:03 | Wide shot of the WHS building and parking lot
Text “The WHS is committed…” |
Music continues |
| 0:06 | Medium shot of the WHS building
Text “protection, shelter, and care…” |
Music continues |
| 0:10 | Close-up shot of reception desk overhead | Music continues |
| 0:14 | Medium shot of door that lead to the dogs | Music continues |
| 0:18 | Medium shot of doors where dogs are kept
Text “There are about 10,000 adoptions…” |
Music continues |
| 0:21 | Close-up shot of sleeping dog
Text appears after 1 second; “Nearly 30 animal…” |
Music continues |
| 0:25 | Medium shot of dog standing looking down then up
Text continues and fades after a second New text appears at 0:28; “Each animal deserves to…” |
Music continues |
| 0:29 | Medium shot of dog laying on blanket
Text continues but fades at 0:32 |
Music continues |
| 0:33 | Close-up shot of dog by glass door | Music continues |
| 0:38 | Medium shot of dog laying on bed looking at me
Text appears after 1 second; “We offer warm bed” |
Music continues |
| 0:43 | Medium shot of two puppies on their bed
Text appears after 2 seconds; “Clean kennels and toys” |
Music continues |
| 0:54 | Close-up shot of dog standing and barking
Text appears after 4 seconds; “Loving staff to…” |
Music continues |
| 0:59 | Close-up shot of dog sleeping
Text continues and faces after 1 second |
Music continues |
| 1:03 | Close-up of dog behind dirty glass
Text “We never euthanize animal for reasons of…” |
Music continues |
| 1:07 | Medium shot of three puppies running around
Text appears after 4 seconds; “Give them a loving…” and fade after 4 seconds |
Music continues |
| 1:23 | Medium shot of man (my husband) by dog
Text “You can find a loving companion here!” |
Music continues |
| 1:27 | Close-up shot of saying on the wall about cats | Music continues |
| 1:30 | Close-up shot of long-haired cat
Text appears after 1 second; “All of these animals…” |
Music continues |
| 1:34 | Medium shot of kitty by glass window
Text continues and fades after 2 seconds |
Music continues |
| 1:38 | Medium shot of kitty eating
Text appears after 1 second; “Visit us today…” |
Music continues |
| 1:43 | Close-up shot of black cat by glass door
Text continues and fades after 2 seconds |
Music continues |
| 1:48 | Close-up shot of sign about adoption
Text “Choose Rescuing” |
Music continues |
| 1:52 | Close-up shot of quote by George Dalton | Music continues |
| 1:56 | Last shot dips to black and credits appear | Music fades out |
I hope you enjoyed this video!
References:
Video Storytelling Fundamentals
Music downloaded on Freesound. Author gtornot4; Song Bittersweet
4 Comments
lauriebowman
This is a very well-done promotional video – great work! The music is perfect for the subject matter and I love the features of the adoptable animals! From a technical standpoint, your video was well executed. The length and transitions of each scene is good, and there is a good mix of perspectives of the animals. I can only think of a couple of tweaks that I think could improve your piece. The first is that there are a lot of animals, but only one shot of a person with an animal. I think the story could benefit from one or two more shots of a person. I also think it could be more visually interesting if you alternated a bit between the cats and dogs. Finally, I think the ending credit scene or right before it would be a good opportunity to add a call to action and a perhaps a website or phone number for people wanting to adopt. Overall, its really strong already and a really great piece! We just adopted a dog a couple months ago and it definitely pulls on the heart strings!
disruptfood
I was just in Wisconsin for Thanksgiving, it’s such a great place with the most fantastic people and cheese. I thought the shots you got of the dogs were so cute. The cats were cute too, but I’m more of a dog person 🙂 The clips you used were just the right amount of time, and impactful. It made me want to adopt a dog from there even though we only have a 1 bedroom apartment…haha.
1 suggestion is the white font you use on the title pages is sometimes hard to read because it blends with the light background, so you might want to make sure it’s readable. My other suggestion is on the clip that says “loving staff to watch over them” (0:58 s) have a shot of one of the staff members (or any person really) lovingly petting a puppy or something.
Overall, great job! The background music was perfect, I liked the still shots of the quotes on the wall, I think this was compelling and you had a great call to action at the end.
sinaisalvarado
I received some great feedback from Ashley and Laurie, I really appreciate their comments and suggestions in regards to my draft. I really enjoyed working on this assignment, as I learned a lot from creating videos and conveying a message with them. Overall, I was very happy with my first draft and the shots I was able to get from the Wisconsin Humane Society. There is room for improvement and I am planning on working to improve my video story. I want to make sure I edit the song to add a fade in and out effect on Adobe Audition and also make sure it sounds smoother. I also want to make sure all the words are legible, as some seem to get lost in the light backgrounds. Finally, I want to double check all the shots I’ve used and see if I should add or remove certain ones to enhance the overall feel and look of the video story. I will also add the website and phone number at the end along with my call to action, as it seems necessary to have.
eatingtodae
Hey Sinais,
First in for most the music immediately got me. It’s the kind of music that draws you in emotionally especially when dealing with any kind of animals, I was already hooked. I also love the fact that you did your video animals a message that everyone can get behind and support. I also enjoyed that you actually took to the animal shelter as opposed to just talking about it. I know it was harder to actually do the research and go to animal shelter but for that reason alone it made the video all that more intriguing and compelled me to watch. I do wish that the video had your voice over the images, as opposed to just reading the bottom of the screen. I feel as though text on the screen is a lot like texting whereas if I can hear your voice I can feel the emotion that you’re trying to convey a little bit better. Not at all saying that you have to get rid of the words completely on the screen, maybe you could have read along. I just fell for something that was to draw out the motion could’ve used an added element to help bring out the emotion within the viewer. Other than that I really like the video, I do feel like it was put together very well and it was impossible for once and not understand what you were trying to get across. So dumb I know I do feel like the only critique I have is just to add some voiceover work and the video would be incredible. You already have so much good work as it is I can’t wait to see the final product best of luck to you.