...anyone else have a go at this competition? Enjoy it?

I had good fun with it - I used my digital stills camera (which lets you do 2 minute bursts of low res video)to film my rant and MovieMaker (which crashes a lot (probably due to my computer, not Microsoft Corp, who I would never accuse of producing substandard software (for fear of getting sued)))to edit it. So the production values were pretty low.

Anyway, after much editing and bouncing of files* I knocked something together and it's made me want to do more - and I will try to do so when my new daughter learns how to sleep for more that a few hours at a time, bless 'er little cotton babygrow.

So, fanks 4laughs for highlighting the comp, and well done Current TV for giving people the opportunity, even if my low-tech effort gets guffawed at for all the wrong reasons.

*MovieMaker only gives you a limited number of audio tracks, which can make it seemingly impossible to have a wildtrack, music, sound effects and speech all at the same time. So I saved the file as a finished video without the music and some effects, then uploaded it into a new MovieMaker project as a clip, and then added the rest of the audio. It's a useful way of getting over this software's limitations if your computer / budget will only stretch to MovieMaker (no doubt there's some decent freeware out there, though?) Another tip: save your work a lot!

Thanks for the tip - I will definitely be doing that in future.

I hope baby vole is thriving. I have become an Auntie (again) today. Babies....aaaahhhhhhhh.

Thanks Loopey - she's doing really well, cheers. Congrats on becoming an auntie again!

Did you enter that Current TV award comp?

Yes I did. I wasn't really pleased with the quality of my submissions, due to time constraints, availabilty of willing helpers etc, but thought I had nothing to lose by having a go. I'm not sure if the entries are going to be available to view on site after closing date but would be good to see what others have been up to.

That is a good tip there yes - about overlapping the audios one at a time... I think half the fun of Windows MovieMaker is the experimenting with to (try and) get it to do what you want it to... It can be very temperamental...

I had a look at that 'Rant Comp' at the time, but didn't go for it - you had to be on camera yourself as I recall (rather than using animated characters), which was no good for me... I'm more comfortable staying behind it...

I should add it did look like good fun, though, from the entries I saw - and good luck to you both with it, of course...

Look forward to seeing yours when it's up on the site, Loopey!

And I understand, how you feel, Seth. It was a bit of new thing for me to record myself on video too - as RubberStamped we've entered one short video sketch and I just found it really weird seeing myself on camera. And once you've acted something several times and edited it, you forget whether it was actually an amusing sketch or not in the first place.

In a funny way I found it easier to do it for the Current TV comp, though. I guess that's because I thought that if it was rubbish, only the judges would really see it, discard it, and that would be it. Whereas with 4laughs you're really putting yourself out there and asking a potentially large number of people to rate your work. And once it's on your profile, it's there to stay! It was also easier to do because I managed to film it on my own (so I didn't have to share the four pack I consumed to get over being camera shy!)

The Slaggs had a go at it too.

The only prob with Movie maker is that the output is pretty low res as far as I recall, so we had to move to another piece of sware. But it is a handy tip re: importing as a new clip.

The hardest thing with the rant was getting the pacing right so that it peaked in intensity near the end. I don't think we managed it. It got too angry too early.

When the comp has ended I'll put it up here and on our other 'filesharing' profiles (cough cough). But it's a stipulation that it can't appear anywhere until they decide they definitely don't want the rant.

If I remember rightly, they have the option to defer that decision right up to the end of December.

That's useful to know.

What software did you use, Slaggs? Is it cheap and cheerful?

I know what you mean about getting the pace right - you want to make an impact early on - but you don't want to peak prematurely (we are talking about comedy, aren't we?)

'... but you don't want to peak prematurely (we are talking about comedy, aren't we?)'

Tsch tsch, and you a new Dad an' all!

Yes I too had a go at the current tv rant. I found it weird talking straight to the camera and like dr. vole after scrutinizing my rant I lost my perspective and dont even know if its funny... In fact I dont even know if they got it. It wouldnt accept mpeg2 files so I had to post it.

When I did I got a call from Nathan I think his name was telling me the disc was blank so I had to send it again. I havent heard anything since.

quote:

Originally posted by dr vole:
What software did you use, Slaggs? Is it cheap and cheerful?

We use Adobe Premiere Pro, costs a bit, but it is very functional (altho I'm hardly using all the features)

But our camera is so cheap and nasty (no working lcd viewer, black and white viewfinder, and rates absolutely shocking in all reviews). That's now the bottleneck on the quality of our output. We've got 300 quid saved from competition wins but are way behind getting the camera we need.

We use a pair of industrial 2x500 watt lights for indoors. It came with a telescopic stand for £15 from one of the two cheap german shops on the high street. They're very good (and very bright) but we're taking a while experimenting with distance and angles, getting them just right - as too close and they over expose, too far and you may as well turn them off.

Nathan is a cool guy, OtterFox. Was good of him to call :-). We won't hear anything for a while, I think. Loop knows the details as to when and how we'll be told.

Yep... I've heard good things about Adobe - particularly their 'healing brush' on the photo suit, which is a hell of a lot easier than trying to get a good colour blend and just hoping for the best on Photoshop...

I think though, in a way, having more basic equipment pushes you harder to find ways to get round things and discover new techniques... A lot of the top end stuff does it all for you these days, which doesn't help keep your skills sharp... It's an interesting debate, anyway...

That should of course be 'PHOTO SUITE' not 'suit'... Oh well...

Yep - I think it was him who gave me a second chance to send my screenshot. I sent completely the wrong one at first as (and this is completely true) my wife had her first contraction when I was uploading my rant! As a result they initially got some random holiday snap instead of the screenshot - but they very kindly let me send another one much later.

Will take a look at Premier Pro, Slaggs - thanks for the tip.

Sorry - just saw Seth's reply too, and wanted to say I agree about learning techniques through limited equipment. I think you tend to produce a definable style more when your stuff is a little homegrown, and I also think that if you learn using crap gear, you use it to its potential, and continue to do so when you upgrade to better equipment.

It's like when you first learn the guitar on a shocking, warped lump of wood that your dad gives you - if you can play that, you can play anything. So when you get hold of a lovely Fender Stratocaster you're loving it!

Yes it was very good of Nathan to give me a 2nd chance.I just use normal indoor lights for sketches. I must look into the more professional way of doing things.

Good to see you on the site, by the way OtterFox