Our First Film Project
July 16th, 2007 by natalie
This past week, six students and I spent a couple of hours a day together for a summer piano camp at my studio. I decided to try something new this year and purchased the equipment and software so they could produce a documentary on the life of Isaac Watts, the “father of English hymnody.” I wasn’t sure how it would turn out since it was our first attempt at such a project and we had to “speed-learn” how to use the camera (Canon Elura miniDV camcorder) and software (Adobe Premiere Elements).
There’s definitely plenty of room for improvement (feel free to leave specific tips or suggestions - like how to do a better job of equalizing the audio when it is being recorded in increments…), but overall I think they did a great job putting it together in a relatively short amount of time. (For those interested, I’ve included more detail about how we did this and what equipment we used here.)
Very good, Natalie. A fine “first attempt”!
Our family enjoyed seeing you the other day and catching up. Lydia, I’m afraid, has been a little overmuch enjoying the new wheels.
Thanks, Caleb!
I enjoyed visiting with you all too. My car doesn’t look too bad the worse for the wear…I was quite impressed at how quickly Lydia caught on!
Loved the movie! Nora was excited to see Joey on the computer. Also, loved the “Greek for Dummies”. Great job, you will have to tell me more about it when I see you next.
Natalie,
Hi,
I’m hosting a retreat for 12 men in October here in Washington (state) and the topic is Christian History. Isaac Watts is one of our featured topics - along with 9 other Christians from St. Anthony up to William & Catherine Booth (Salvation Army).
Anyway, in searching for video on Isaac Watts I came up with your video on YouTube. I liked the story, the acting, the narration content and especially the ending with the gravestone(s). (By the way I helped setup the video studio at the Christian school and tutored in video production there for several years - isn’t it great what you can do with fairly inexpensive equipment now-a-days…?
I wonder if you would make a trade with me - a dvd of your wonderful Isaac Watts production and I’ll send you a CD of my wife’s first music CD (read/listen to it at http://www.debtalley.info)? What do you say? or any other suggestions? Can you email me back?
What a marvelous idea!!! Your creativity with your piano students amazes me. Very inspiring. Perhaps I can make such a bold attempt someday with my students. =)
Thanks, Tiffany! It’s great to hear from you again. I hope you’re doing well and are enjoying teaching. I’m sure you do all kinds of great things with your students as well. It would be fun to pick each others’ brains a bit someday and share ideas!
~natalie
Ruth and Nora~
Glad you enjoyed it! Hope your move went well. Can’t wait to see your new place!
~natalie