Here’s What a Teen Filmmaker Has to Say

Local Teen Mike J. Answers Our Questions About Filming and Editing Videos.

1. Mike, you have been concentrating on filming and editing action videos. Tell us what exactly you have been doing. Please share a screen shot or two of your films for Just for Teens readers. I have filmed one action video, and I have another one planned for the summer. Lately, I have been focusing on photography and photo editing. My favorite themes for videos are fantasy and action, and my favorite themes for photography are Marvel, Harry Potter, and Star Wars.
2. Tell us about your creative process, steps to making a video. What programs and hardware do you use? Is any of it free? For the video that is mentioned above, I had a very small idea of what I wanted. This was my plan: C1 (character 1) and his companion C2 have a crystal; an evil sorcerer C3 appears and tries to fight them for the crystal; the fight climaxes, and C1 defeats C3. The reason my plan was so small is because this was merely a proof of concept that I could make a decent looking video while editing it only on a mobile device. For beginners, having a small idea of what you want is okay, since at that point you usually are just learning how to film and edit videos. However, as you get better at filming, you should try to build more of a story into your videos, and make them more engaging for the audience. Two things to remember when you are starting out is that your first video is not going to look like a Hollywood production, so don’t get discouraged if your first attempt doesn’t look too good, and that you shouldn’t let fight scenes between two characters drag out for too long. As for what software I would recommend, [For videos] YouCut is great for stringing together videos as it doesn’t have a watermark and is free. Powerdirector for mobile and Powerdirector for windows are also free and are what I used for the video mentioned above. PowerDirector is great because it allows for masking, motion tracking (note, this is not available on mobile), greenscreen, and multiple media and audio tracks, which is everything you need for your first video. Blender is amazing for making VFX and 3D environments. If you don’t want to make your own effects, check out FootageCrate which has a wide selection of VFX, SFX, music, and 3D models, many of which are free. [For photos] I would also recommend Blender. Gimp (GNU Image Manipulation Software) is essentially free photoshop. If you have a bit of budget, I would recommend Affinity Photo which is personally my go-to photo editor, as it is easy to use and gives good results. For stop motion, I would recommend Stop Motion Studio. Now, keep in mind that these are just my suggestions and that if you have an editor that you like, you are more than welcome to use it.
3. Mike, you actively approached Susan, the Teen Librarian, about the possibility of hosting a photography/video contest for teens at the library, which will be from July 19-July 30 (more details provided below). How else have you volunteered ideas for programs, or volunteered your time to the library? I have done volunteen hours and helped my mom with stuff for service hours.
4. What have your enjoyed at the DeKalb Public Library? Virtual programs, summer reading, checking out books, computer use? I love the 3D printing services, as well as the classes. I also enjoy getting books out, as well as just hanging out at the library.
5. What are your other interests, hobbies, clubs, activities which you would like to share with Just for Teens? I am an active member of Scouts BSA, and I would strongly encourage anyone who is of age to consider joining. I also play guitar a lot and enjoy creating my own arrangements of songs.
6. What is one thing that you wish to accomplish in the near future? What possible careers interest you? I am working towards my 1^st Class Scout Rank, and careers that interest me are Youtube and other careers that would involve video editing.

Enter our July photo/film contest inspired by Mike! Choose from several categories, including Action/Adventure, SciFi/Fantasy, and Best Visual Effects. Submit your entry by email to [email protected] in jpg or pdf form. The contest runs from Monday, July 19^th to Friday, July 30^th. Winner will receive a $10 giftcard to Five Below. More details here.