Friday, December 7, 2012

YouTube Adventures

So I finally got into putting some video behind my music. I've created a YouTube channel (you can check it out at http://www.youtube.com/user/clintonstevensmusic) and have started to create videos. Now, I have to come clean...I have absolutely no visual artistic skills at all, and know even less about video and media tools. So, to do this endeavor while still respecting my music, I've decided to start gently by using easy tools and largely still picture transitions.

This experience has actually been alot of fun, and I'm now finding that the YouTube videos add a nice dimension to my music. What kicked off the idea was a track I recently composed titled "Shadow Games". When I went to compose that music, I had a theme in mind...the thrilling story of a secret agent and his beloved, betrayed and trapped in a foreign land. The music was inspired by my vision of these to lovers trying to escape to safety, while the secret agent simultaneously completes his mission and duty to his nation (I have a hard time just managing the household let alone save the world at the same time...LOL).

With no video or media skills, I set out to put my music to a visual story. I acquired a series of pictures that, for me, told the various aspects of my story. The only thing left to do now, was sequence the music, photo's and captions together into a video. To do this, I used iMovie which comes free with the MacBook Pro that I use. I own Adobe CS5 through my company, however, don't know how to use it. I started by trying my hand at Adobe Premiere but quickly got overwhelmed. Given my leanings toward instantaneous gratification coupled with my excitement at the idea, I quickly abandoned ship and went with iMovie.

As it turns out, the videos are coming out great and I'm really having fun. I am now getting the hang of Premiere and am going through tutorials to get more proficient, so I'm excited about doing more in my future videos. You can watch all of my videos on my YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/clintonstevensmusic and if you like, please subscribe :D.

In the below video, I actually took my own photos (with the exception of 2) and cut my own home video recordings, I'm really having fun with this.


Well, until next time, be well and do good things for others.

No comments:

Post a Comment