The fun of making a promo video

I've made a promotional video recently for the class that Uma, Suhita and I are running in September. I used Instagram Reels to put it together as we mostly are promoting this on instagram. And because Instagram has a bunch of things built in - I was able to string together a series of still shots and short videos, add music and text and all of this without special software. It was a lot of fun, a lot of frustration, and I learned a lot. 

This is a post for me to remember the fun and the lessons. I will start with this overview of my table after the video was completed:

I knew that I wanted to give the right feeling for the class that we are running. We are building it around the idea of creating iterations as a way to learn to see and then as a way to make things. We are opening up about some of the processes that we use to get from what we see before us to what you then see on the paper or on your screen. So not a clean and pretty instagram feed - real life mess and making what you have into what works for you. 

Here were the steps for my process (with the lessons in parenthesis):

1. I made a list of things that I will need to say in the video - on a piece of paper. (Type the text at this stage next time)

2. I collected all my materials on the drawing table and started making short videos (having phone fixed in the same spot was a good idea, taking stills between the videos was a good idea)

3. I wrote the text using some of the techniques that we will be doing in the class (next time plan how the text will go on the page before you run out of space and, perhaps use fewer techniques / runs - to save time BUT the play and spontaneity of this part carried me through some of the tedious stuff later - so maybe not). 

 4. I cleaned photos and videos and uploaded them all into one folder with all the portraits, pictures from Asilomar etc. (next time I should select photos in advance - there were way too many gorgeous views of Asilomar and I lost quite some time trying to select "the right one").

5. I uploaded all the videos and photos onto my phone and then put it all together using Instagram. (Next time I will use post-its to plan the sequence so that making changes is easier than copy-pasting in the text file. Having music pre-selected was a great bonus but unfortunately I was not able to download the video with music).  

Here are stills of some bloopers that did not make it to the vinal video :) Just imagine some laughing and cursing :)

Here is the final reel (without the music - which I liked because there was the sound of ocean and a beat). (and a link to the one with the music: https://www.instagram.com/p/CgxqSH6gi2w/)