1. Catmose College Student Media Team
Everything you’ll need to know to be part of the Media Team

2. What does the Media Team do?
In and out of college
Local community
College events: Talent Show, Sports Day, trips, etc
Interviews
Information videos
Articles

3. Types of video
Interviews
Information videos
Advertisements

4. Interviews Always prepare your questions
Always be polite – introduce yourself, say why you’re interviewing, etc.
Sometimes the interviewee may want to see the questions to prepare themselves
Never ask ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ questions – use the 5 Ws & 1 H (Who, What, Where, When, Why & How).
Don’t ask too many questions

5. Interviews – Camera Shots
If possible, have a backdrop that relates to the interview
Keep the person in the first third of the screen
Have the interviewee looking at the interviewer, not the camera
The interviewer is usually off camera, but is sometimes on camera

6. Interviews - Examples

7. Information videos vs. Adverts
Information videos are longer than advertisements, and usually include:
Interview(s)
Footage of the topic being spoken about
People (usually Media Team Reporters) talking to the camera
Adverts are shorter, and have to condense the information into this time. They usually:
Include only one interview, if any.
Include vox pops
Don’t have much speech
Have short pieces of footage

8. Voxpops
Voxpops are where a single question is asked to a variety of people, to see the range of answers you can get
Eg:
‘What kind of sport do you like?’
‘How would you describe the school in one word?’
The interviews use the same angle/shot, to make them easy to edit together

9. Wide shots/shots that include movement (eg: sports)
Camera Shots
Interviews
Talking to the camera
Group shots
Wide shots/shots that include movement (eg: sports)

10. Video Tips Adverts should never be longer than 1min30secs
No video should be longer than 4 minutes, unless you have been told to do otherwise
Always make sure you get more footage than you need; if you only need 30 secs of a sport, get at least 1 minute, so you can choose the best bit of footage.
Use a range of angles to make the video as interesting as possible.
Remember: You can always edit together bits of an interview if it goes wrong!

11. Editing
The simplest editing software to use is Windows Movie Maker – it’s simple to use, you can teach yourself, and you can make really effective videos

12. Windows Movie Maker

13. Windows Movie Maker
1. Add videos and pictures

14. Windows Movie Maker
The first video is too long, so needs editing…

15. Windows Movie Maker
Select the video you want to cut/trim. Click ‘Video Tools/Edit’, then ‘Trim Tool’
This screen will appear on the left. The long rectangular shapes are the beginning and end of the video; either drag these, or use the ‘Start point’ and ‘End point’ to enter the numerical values – this is more precise.
Click ‘Save Trim’ when you’re done.

16. Windows Movie Maker You can also add animations…
…Visual effects/filters…
…and adjust the volume

17. Windows Movie Maker You can also add a title, caption, and credits
Make sure credits always say ‘Filmed and produced by the Catmose College Student Media Team’
Never use a student’s full name, even if it’s the reporter’s name.
You can also add music – this works in a similar way to the video with trimming, etc
If you’re creating a film that will be used in promotions, etc, go on freemusicarchive.com and search for music that has a copyright-free license.

18. Windows Movie Maker
To finish your project and save it as your finished film, go to ‘File’, ‘Save Movie’, and choose a setting – usually ‘Recommended for this project’

19. Windows Movie Maker - Tips
Make sure you save your project straight away – Movie Maker can crash on older computers, as with any program. If you’re editing at school, use the ICT suite computers as they’re the fastest.
If you’re editing, make sure the videos you’re using are on the computer/on a USB stick in the computer – otherwise, when you go back to your editing, it will come up with this symbol