Video Killed the Radio Star

 

A few weeks back, I talked about an amazing app and website called The Storygraph. If you don't remember, click here to go back to that post. But this week, we're going to be diving into Storygraph a little further. Last time we made a brochure, but this time we made a tutorial video.

I've noticed that Blogger has some issues with uploading images or videos and keeping them in good quality. So here is the link to the video on youtube if fuzzy videos drive you crazy. 

The process for making this video tutorial was really interesting. I had a good idea on what I wanted to showcase for the tutorial because I had just recently taught myself how to switch a book in my currently reading pile to the audiobook edition so that I could more accurately track my reading progress. I really hate when I have a print edition on the app, but I'm actually listening to the audio book. So then I have to guess how much of the book I've read. It's the small things like that really annoy me. 

I decided I would also show how you add books to your "currently reading" pile as well because it's super fast and easy. It also seemed like a logical step to include. 

And.....Action!

When it came to finding a program for recording, I decided to try out Awesome Screen Recorder & Screenshot. Adding the extension to Chrome was super easy, and the app itself wasn't difficult to understand at all. Recording the video was easy. I did have to do a few takes. Saying "um" may be the bane of my existence. That's mostly where I think I run into trouble. Of course, I knew exactly how I was going to explain the instructions in the video. But I didn't craft a script that stuck to word-for-word. I never really like doing that, mainly because I feel that it comes across as very stiff and awkward. But at the same time, when you record without a script, the margin for error is so much bigger. 

Cut that out!

Next, I moved on to editing. I tried to use the editing tools within the Awesome Screen Recorder & Screenshot, but I found it lackluster. So I decided to give Kapwing a try, and I found it a lot better. For starters, Kapwing already has copyright-free music that you can drop right into your video. Lowering the volume is always key. The music should enhance your video, not totally take it over. 

I was also able to cut out some of the awkward pauses. I tried my best to get rid of as many "Uh's" and "Um's" as possible. I think one or two pesky ones held on. I also cut out parts of me talking that I just found unbelievably cringey. I think at one point I said the words "winner, winner, winner, Chicken Dinner"... Yeah, that had to go. 

And....Scene!

Overall, filming and editing a video tutorial was what I expected it would be. And that's me saying um a lot and then trying to cut all those out. I managed to shave off about 30 seconds just from editing out my awkward pauses and weird words. In the future, I think I'd be better off if I had a more succinct plan of what to say without it somehow sounding like a script. 

But you let me know what you think!