My final video

This is my final video. I am very pleased with the outcome of my project I  have worked hard to gather research and produce a video that I am proud to share. One thing I wanted to do differently was add music to the video, although I had found out how to add music the video I couldn't find an appropriate piece of music that I felt fit with the the video,I would rather not have music attached to my video than have something that didn't work well with it. I found it difficult to upload the video onto the blogger as it is so long and therefore is a big file, I have uploaded a small file onto blogger so I realise that the quality is low however along with my sketchbook work I have included a CD containing the large file and better quality video.

Using iMovie to edit the video clips

I have only briefly used iMovie before and have never tried to create a full length movie on it, so it took a while to get to grips with the software, experimenting with things I could do to make my movie better.

The first think I wanted to do was to create an introduction to the project and also the interviewee, by noting some basic information about her (as I thought this information would lack interest in the actual interview).

I used this text button (right) which provides a side box, on the bottom right side of the screen, where it gives you different options of displaying text in the video. I didn't want the video image to be running in the background, as I wanted this to be a separate introduction. I used the scrolling credits option, this option gave me the flexibility of writing as much or as little as I wanted on a blank screen.

To include the scrolling credits I selected the icon and dragged it to the top box, which is where the video is edited or created.

Once here, I can enter text into the upper box on the right-hand side of the page. To make gaps between the lines of text, simply press enter to create a new line.

Once the writing was done I played what I had so far, the text moved very quickly across the screen. I needed to extend the time it was played for in the video. To do this highlight the section in yellow, by clicking on it and then go to
Edit~>Set duration ~> and enter a time in seconds, sufficient enough for the words to slowly appear on screen making it easy to read.

Make sure you select the 'Applies only to selected transition' option as the automatic selection is set to 'Applies to all transitions' (as opposite) which will make all slides play for this length of time.

 Once I had completed the first section it was time to include some of the video footage, to do this you need to go to

File -> Import movies

Then select your movie from where it is stored. The video appears in the bottom box. To edit this footage it needs to be in the top box, highlight the section of video so that a yellow box appears around the edge, then drag this to the top box. A green line will appear in the top box, this is where the video will appear.

To make the video run smoother I needed to add transitions between the clips. To do this you need to select the retangular box that is next to the text button on the right hand side of the screen. There are various different transition options to use in the video however I found that the cross disolve is the most subtle and apropriate for my video. To extend or shorten the length of the transition, set the duration in the same way as we did for the text. Edit -> Set duration and enter a time.

These are the basics for creating the videos. I have added transitions between all clips to make the video run smoothly. The only thing to add is that when a second video clip is imported it goes to the bottom box, as with the first, to add it to the new project you need to select only that video and drag it to the top box because if you drag it all on the top the first video will be repeated.

Once I had become more confident with the software I decided to experiment a little more with different techniques. I had recorded the interviewee talking me through some images that were special to her. I wanted to record her voice speaking over the image. This proved hard as there was no simple button or indication that it was even possible. However I did some research and found that it was possible to add the audio of the video separte from the image. To do this I had to drag the video to the top box like before then I had to drag the same video again to the same point whilst holding down the apple command button and also the shift button. A green + sign can be seen when the audio is being dragged over, this dissapears when the cursor is held over a point where the audio cannot be dropeed. To make the best audio match up with the image of the video it needs to be placed exactly on top of the existing video, if there is a transition before the clip it is best to plcae the audio at the start of the transition, the very first point where the green + appears.

Once the audio appears in the top box a section of the video can be removed without the audio being affected. This means I can delete a middle section of the video and insert an image whilst the audio is still running. To delete a section of the video highlight so a yellow box appears around the section you want to delete (as before), this can be in the middle of the video, take note of the time which is displayed net to the box as this is the time you will need to fill with image, for example 8.5 seconds. Once this is done press the backspace to delete the section.  To insert an image you need to upload the image required into iPhoto. To then add the images to the video you need to select the camera button in the bottom right side of the screen. The images uploaded to iPhoto should appear here automatically. To add the image to the video select  and drag it to the gap that has just been created by deleting the section of video. Then highlight the image and set duration (in the same way as previous) to match the time that was taken out of the video, for example 8.5 seconds.

Once I had done all of this I added another rolling credits at the end of the video to create a smooth ending. 

The real interview

I am going to ask my questions in three sections. This enables me to move the camera around in the room to get different viewpoints, it will also give both the interviewee and myself a chance for a rest from the camera.

About the subject;

·         Can you describe yourself in three words?

·         Why those words?

·         Who is your biggest inspiration? Why?

·         What would your ideal job be? Why?

·         If there was one thing people could remember you for, what would it be?

About the subject’s heritage;

·         How old were you when you discovered you were adopted?

·         How did that make you feel?

·         Do you think being adopted affected your upbringing/the person you are today?

·         In what way?

·         How do you think your life would have been different if you weren’t adopted?

·         Did you have a close relationship with your adoptive parents?/Birth parents?

Traits/Traditions

·         Do you have any characteristics from your birth parents?

·         How does that make you feel? –are you glad you have a part of them?

·         Do you have any traits passed on from your adoptive parents? –Expand

·         Do you have any family traditions? – Expand

Evaluation of interview

Things that didn’t go to plan;

Once in the subject’s house I set up the camera for the interview in a corner of a small room, I decided not to move the camera around between the sets of questions as the room was too small and a different viewpoint would have included items within the room that I didn’t want to include. I would have been able to choose a different room so that I could move the camera around, however I decided that the small quiet room would give better sound quality and that was more important than viewpoint.

During the interview I also added some unplanned questions, after speaking to the subject some other issues/stories arose that she wanted to share/give her opinion of and I wanted them to be included in her oral history so added the questions on the end of the interview.

I asked the subject to briefly describe some of the items that she had set aside to show me as part of her history, I am thinking of putting these into the video with the explanation sounding behind it.

I am happy with the overall result of my interview. I felt prepared when I met with the subject, I tried to make her feel comfortable, I did this by explaining the interview well, I also let her look through the questions before filming to familiarise herself with them, I also asked if there were any questions she would prefer me not to ask. This gave the subject some confidence in me, it also meant she was openly discussing the agreed questions.

First attempts at making a documentary and oral history film

We were asked to go out and practice using the camera. First I devised some basic interview questions to ask my subject.


I used a Flip Ultra HD camera to record the interview. I have used one of these cameras before, they are very simple and easy to use. It has 4 main controls, on/off, playback, record, delete and a arrow keys pad.
We went to the park to film the interview to give an attractive background.



I started off well by setting up the camera in a quiet location where the subject could be heard, however when I got onto the 5th question the subject began to find it hard to keep a straight face, I stopped recording at this point as I found this funny too and didn't want to spoil the interview by laughing.

Once we had composed ourselves we started again, with where we had got up to in the interview, this meant when it came to putting the interview together I had to use software to connect the two pieces, I used imovie to jell them together. I dragged both pieces to the top box to create a new project and put them next to each other. 

It is clear where the interview jumps between both clips, this is firstly because there is a man walking in the background and secondly as when I began filming for the end of the interview, the interviewee had moved closer to the camera. 

Overall I am pleased with this project, it is an accurate record of history. I would like to either complete this interview again as one piece or become more competent with the editing software so to be able to add images to the video and also get rid of the jumping between the different parts of the interview. I could choose a different location where there is no pathway in the background, there is also a cone in the background which I didn't notice whilst filming but it is very distracting on the eye and I would like to remove it. The video would also be better if the location was quieter giving sole attention to the subject.

Research into documentary and oral history projects

Oral history


Oral history is the collection and study of historical information using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcripts of planned interviews. 


Documentary film


Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record. 






Examples of Documentary and Oral history projects 






I have chosen this video as a good example of an oral history project. There are many reasons why I think this is a good example, one is for it's professionalism. The camera is always steady with smooth transitions between scenes. I like the introduction of interviewee's with their name being displayed on screen.  There is a good balance between still imagery and video interview. The sound quality is good with all speech clearly audible. I like the