"Quick Takes" Report Takes to the Road- Literally!

It's not exactly planes, trains and automobiles, but how about roads, cars and bridges???   These are three topics I address in my latest version of "Quick Takes" picture-in-picture project that I have my video production do at South Carolina State University.  Lead (and teach) by example, I always say!

If anyone is interested in the old Ford Thunderbird I showed in this video, get in touch with me and tell you more.  

Above is an image from Adobe Premiere Pro that shows the blending of the different video and audio channels used in producing this video.  

News "Quick Takes" November 2016

"Quick Takes" is a video production and reporting project I have my SC State student do. They are to gather clips on three different topics, preferably timely things in news, sports and/or entertainment. Then, using Adobe Premiere Pro's "picture in picture" (PIP) feature, the students inject reporting or commentary over the three videos.

"Quick Takes" Video Project

Everyone gets to be a commentator with this assignment I give my television production students. The task is to find three video clips- shoot them yourself and "rip" something from YouTube (keepvid.com is a great site for doing this). Select things you are interested in talking about.

Then use Apple iMovie's picture-in-picture tool, insert your commentary over the clips. The Mac computers make the process easier by having a built in camera. Activate that, speak your mind, and the on camera segment goes directly into your iMovie editing project.

iMovie "Picture in Picture" Video "Quick Takes"

This is a neat assignment we are tackling in my Electronic (Digital) Media Production II class. Weeks ago, the students did a green screen project blending photos of themselves with background images under the general theme of "Where Do You Want To Be?"

Now, the stakes and skills have been raised with this new green screen "Quick Takes" project. The idea is to gather three short video clips on three different topics, one of which has to be a timely news or sports story.

Then the students, using their smart phones or other cameras, shoot themselves or have a classmate videotape them against a green screen as they give their comments and thoughts about the video they speak over.

For this project, we are using iMovie, which is available on the Macs in one of our program labs.
Here's what I put together to help give the students a better idea what this assignment involves.

I found iMovie very user friendly for this project. I look forward to seeing what my students produce!

The above video was rendered to QuickTime. The below video is an MPEG4. I'm trying to decide if one looks better than the other.