How To Make a Video Trailer II: Video Clips

My first video trailer was made with photos and no video clips. You can find the steps I used here: https://katepolicani.com/2011/10/24/making-a-trailer/

This time I wanted to use mostly video clips rather than a series of still pictures. Once I had the right clips, filmed by myself and my dad with our cameras, it was almost the same as using pictures! Here is how I did it:

• I used Microsoft Windows Live Movie Maker again, which you can get for for FREE. It’s part of Windows Live Essentials: http://explore.live.com/windows-live-essentials?lc=1033
• It was still disgustingly easy to use and dummy-friendly. Like with photos, you just plunk everything in there with the “Add Videos and Photos” button. You can add effects and text just like with photos, and everything right there. You can export it in multiple file formats.
• It took a little more creativity coming up with scenes I could capture on film. Photo is only limited to what I could find online. Video is harder. You can find royalty-free video online too, but that seemed expensive to me. I didn’t even look because I found ways to take my own video with help from Dad. I used family and friends and local places or places in my home. I bought, scavenged, or borrowed props to use on film. One trick was to take closer shots with the videos. Instead of showing the whole room, I just showed a close-up of the subject with limited background.
• Windows Live Movie Maker has lots of special controls just for video. I had to pay attention to the volume of each clip and I adjusted the length of the clip using the controls (they highlight as soon as you click on a loaded video clip in the top tabs.) Some videos were louder than others and some had inappropriate sounds I had to avoid by starting after them or ending before. Here is a photo:
• For music, I emailed my dad, the composer with a Masters in music again. (You should do that too. It’s really easy and cheap.) But if your dad isn’t a composer, you can contact mine:cdbarker@comcast.net . You can sample some of his work here: http://home.comcast.net/~cdbarker/Music/Music.htm Some of this music is not available for use, legally, so don’t steal it unless you want to get sued by Electronic Arts or somebody like that.
• If you need free music immediately, you impatient thing, go to this beautiful site: http://www.seabreezecomputers.com/tips/freemusic.htm. I particularly liked their link, http://www.soundclick.com/business/license_list.cfm and found a song there in case Dad didn’t have anything. (But he did. Neener.) WARNING: there is a lot of kooky stuff on musopen. Don’t worry, though, your music isn’t one of the kooky ones, user of musopen who is reading this post. It’s all those other people’s music that is kooky.
• Music controls are like the sound controls (see picture) and are pretty flexible and easy to understand. You can time your music to coincide with the video action.

To show you how you can get different effects with the same clips using the video and music controls, here is my trailer spoof: