sun on our toes

Relax.

Hey, you’re on vacation.  It’s time to drift into down time and shuffle around in flips flops.  Easy.

Not so easy.  If you are like me, overwhelmed, underslept and perpetually caffeinated on alarming levels, this is not something accomplished without great effort.

It takes me at least three days to realize I am not needed at mission control.  That the world is perfectly able to carry on without me.  As soon as the first wave of indignant disbelief passes, I am suddenly delighted to be unnecessary, to be nothing more than a speck in the universe.

Still, I am a creature of angst and achievement so I need a strategy, a to-d-nothing list to guide me through my days off.

One of the things on my check off list is:  learning how to tell a story through video.  This is something I spent several days trying to figure out and here are some things I discovered:

• The Flip video camera rocks!  I got excited about  Flip Video Spotlight and immediately applied to be a Participating Partner.  For every camera we buy, they donate one.  We are going to put cameras in the hands of a targeted group of artists who will be documenting their creative and professional process through video over the course of a year.  Their stories will be posted on our website for people to follow.  I am hoping they will serve as compelling role models for their peers who will think, “If they can do it, so can I.”
• Windows Movie Maker is a really simple, basic program that lets you create a finished video piece.  I just finished working on my family reunion video and I can’t wait to start on my next project.
• File organization is crucial.  I am very careful about creating and labeling folders for my video clips, photos, music, etc.  Everything I save has a description and date.  There is nothing more frustrating than losing your place and your momentum because you don’t remember where you put stuff or which was the most recent revision of  your work.  This is avoidable agita, people!

Here’s more info on the power of digital storytelling from Beth Kanter.  This is good stuff.

The other item to explore on my vacation checklist is: how do i create an effective screencast?

I would be glad to share how I did this with all of you and a screencast is a great way to show you.  So, tomorrow I am going to explore jing.com and make a screencast of my video editing tips.

Do you know how to create a screencast that opens with a headshot and intro footage?  Let me know.