Rob Hosking says:
I've had several requests from members regarding the process I used to make my test movie, so I decided to post it here for anyone who may be interested in trying it themselves. It's not going to be something that is super easy, but if you keep pushing forward, you will get better and faster. Just don't give up, do at least three sections before you pull the plug.
Here's the process required if you were to copy my approach:
You start by creating folders for the files you will need.
Start by creating three main folders on your hardrive. One main folder titled "Scenes" - one main folder titled "Projects" and one more titled "Movie Parts."
Inside your "Scenes" folder, You will create a separate folder for each and every scene in your movie.
Each scene folder inside your main "Scenes" folder can be labeled something like this:
"Scene1 intro"
"Scene2 Tom comes home"
"Scene3 House explodes"
"Scene4 Hospital"
etc. etc... (You see how each scene has a little info line in the title so you know what's inside). Just go through your script page by page, and make a new folder every time your scene changes.
That's it for creating the folders.
Next you will want to record the dialog and narration for each "scene" inside your main "Scenes" folder. (I used the free program called "Audacity" for recording the dialog and narration). After you record a scene you save it into that scene folder as an MP3 file.
That means each "scene" folder inside the main "Scenes" folder, will have an MP3 sound file of narration and dialog in it when you are finished.
Once you have your narration and dialog saved for each scene, it's time to start building the "projects" folder.
The idea here is to build a few scenes at a time and save them as a final "mini movie." You will link all of those mini movies together later.
Let's say your first, second, and third scenes last about ten minutes total. You will make a mini movie that will last ten minutes long using those scenes. To do it, you launch a new project in your video editing software and label it like this:
Project 1 - "Scene's 1,2,3"
"You will save this project ("Scene's 1,2,3") in your "Projects" folder.
Eventually you will have all of the scenes represented in this projects folder. The first project you do may cover the first three scenes, the next project may cover the next three or four scenes, etc etc. You can make longer mini movies, but I find that working on more than fifteen minute chunks at one time is pretty exhausting. The idea is that all of these shorter projects will make it easier on you than trying to build everything at once.
Lets say you finish your first project, it's ten minutes long and covers the first three scenes. Now, if you export that project as a movie into your "Movie Parts" folder, your first ten minutes of your test film is done.
Now you can move on to the next ten or fifteen minute project. Lets say the next project will cover scenes 4,5,and 6. Once it's done, you will export it as a movie just like you did with your first project. Now you've got Two project in your projects folder, the first is scenes 1,2 & 3, and the second is scenes 4,5,& 6. And you've also got two mini movies saved in your "Movie Parts" folder. All those mini movies in the "Movie Parts" folder will get joined in last step of this process to create your finished movie.
Here's the process for creating a project:
Launch your video editing software and import the sound files from the correct "scene" folders and add them to your timeline in your editing program.
Lets say we are building that very first "project" which uses the dialog and narration MP3 files you saved in each folder for scenes 1,2, &3. Those are the files you will import.
They may look like this:
"Scene1 intro.mp3"
"Scene2 Tom comes home.mp3"
"Scene3 House explodes.mp3"
Now you should have a soundtrack in your project editing window that you can play and listen to from the start of scene 1 to the end of scene 3. It will have only the vocal narration and dialog at this point. It should sound like someone is reading the script to you and the actors are stepping in as needed. Like a radio show without music or sound effects.
The next step will be to add music to the vocal track.
Find your music folder (something you will have to create in advance) and choose the music files you want to use for that section and import them as needed (I kept all of my music files as MP3s in one folder and used them over and over).
When you import the music file into your editing program, you place it over (or under depending what program you're using) the vocal track and adjust the volume and position as needed.
Okay, now you can hit the play button and listen to your vocal tracks along with background music. So far so good.
Time to add the images.
At this point, I will assume you have already saved the images you want to use into the proper "scene" folders or you are about to. I usually listened to the vocal and music tracks together first, and then I jotted down what sort of images I felt would work well and set about locating them. But you can take any approach you like.
Lets say you go into "scene folder #1" and and find a picture of the house you want to show on the first opening shot of your movie.
Lets also assume you have your project open and your vocal track and music track the way you like it. Now you will import the picture you will use and drop it onto the timeline. You then adjust it to the appropriate length you need. You keep adding your images and adjusting their length for each section of narration.
Depending what software you are using, you can also pan and scan the image as it plays. AKA - The "Ken Burns" effect. That what I did. You don't have to pan and scan every shot, but movement helps keep the film visually interesting.
Now when you hit play, you can hear the dialog, hear the background music, and see the picture(s) all at the same time. Just keep adding and adjusting images to your liking until you reach the end of the project timeline.
Now you have about ten minutes of dialog, music, and images (or clips) and have finished scenes 1,2 &3.
Time to export your project as a movie into the "Movie Parts" folder.
The goal, of course, is to eventually fill that "Movie Parts" folder with all of the mini movie parts you created. When you have, you will use a free program to join them all together into one big movie. Here's the link for that program.
http://www.freeaudiovideosoft.com/free-avi-mpeg-wmv-mp4-flv-video-joiner/index.html
Once you have joined all of your movie parts into one big finished MP4 movie file, it's time to share it with the world and upload it to your profile page! Then sit back and nervously wait for some good news:)
Feel free to message me if you have more questions along your way and best of luck!
Rob H.
Here's the process required if you were to copy my approach:
You start by creating folders for the files you will need.
Start by creating three main folders on your hardrive. One main folder titled "Scenes" - one main folder titled "Projects" and one more titled "Movie Parts."
Inside your "Scenes" folder, You will create a separate folder for each and every scene in your movie.
Each scene folder inside your main "Scenes" folder can be labeled something like this:
"Scene1 intro"
"Scene2 Tom comes home"
"Scene3 House explodes"
"Scene4 Hospital"
etc. etc... (You see how each scene has a little info line in the title so you know what's inside). Just go through your script page by page, and make a new folder every time your scene changes.
That's it for creating the folders.
Next you will want to record the dialog and narration for each "scene" inside your main "Scenes" folder. (I used the free program called "Audacity" for recording the dialog and narration). After you record a scene you save it into that scene folder as an MP3 file.
That means each "scene" folder inside the main "Scenes" folder, will have an MP3 sound file of narration and dialog in it when you are finished.
Once you have your narration and dialog saved for each scene, it's time to start building the "projects" folder.
The idea here is to build a few scenes at a time and save them as a final "mini movie." You will link all of those mini movies together later.
Let's say your first, second, and third scenes last about ten minutes total. You will make a mini movie that will last ten minutes long using those scenes. To do it, you launch a new project in your video editing software and label it like this:
Project 1 - "Scene's 1,2,3"
"You will save this project ("Scene's 1,2,3") in your "Projects" folder.
Eventually you will have all of the scenes represented in this projects folder. The first project you do may cover the first three scenes, the next project may cover the next three or four scenes, etc etc. You can make longer mini movies, but I find that working on more than fifteen minute chunks at one time is pretty exhausting. The idea is that all of these shorter projects will make it easier on you than trying to build everything at once.
Lets say you finish your first project, it's ten minutes long and covers the first three scenes. Now, if you export that project as a movie into your "Movie Parts" folder, your first ten minutes of your test film is done.
Now you can move on to the next ten or fifteen minute project. Lets say the next project will cover scenes 4,5,and 6. Once it's done, you will export it as a movie just like you did with your first project. Now you've got Two project in your projects folder, the first is scenes 1,2 & 3, and the second is scenes 4,5,& 6. And you've also got two mini movies saved in your "Movie Parts" folder. All those mini movies in the "Movie Parts" folder will get joined in last step of this process to create your finished movie.
Here's the process for creating a project:
Launch your video editing software and import the sound files from the correct "scene" folders and add them to your timeline in your editing program.
Lets say we are building that very first "project" which uses the dialog and narration MP3 files you saved in each folder for scenes 1,2, &3. Those are the files you will import.
They may look like this:
"Scene1 intro.mp3"
"Scene2 Tom comes home.mp3"
"Scene3 House explodes.mp3"
Now you should have a soundtrack in your project editing window that you can play and listen to from the start of scene 1 to the end of scene 3. It will have only the vocal narration and dialog at this point. It should sound like someone is reading the script to you and the actors are stepping in as needed. Like a radio show without music or sound effects.
The next step will be to add music to the vocal track.
Find your music folder (something you will have to create in advance) and choose the music files you want to use for that section and import them as needed (I kept all of my music files as MP3s in one folder and used them over and over).
When you import the music file into your editing program, you place it over (or under depending what program you're using) the vocal track and adjust the volume and position as needed.
Okay, now you can hit the play button and listen to your vocal tracks along with background music. So far so good.
Time to add the images.
At this point, I will assume you have already saved the images you want to use into the proper "scene" folders or you are about to. I usually listened to the vocal and music tracks together first, and then I jotted down what sort of images I felt would work well and set about locating them. But you can take any approach you like.
Lets say you go into "scene folder #1" and and find a picture of the house you want to show on the first opening shot of your movie.
Lets also assume you have your project open and your vocal track and music track the way you like it. Now you will import the picture you will use and drop it onto the timeline. You then adjust it to the appropriate length you need. You keep adding your images and adjusting their length for each section of narration.
Depending what software you are using, you can also pan and scan the image as it plays. AKA - The "Ken Burns" effect. That what I did. You don't have to pan and scan every shot, but movement helps keep the film visually interesting.
Now when you hit play, you can hear the dialog, hear the background music, and see the picture(s) all at the same time. Just keep adding and adjusting images to your liking until you reach the end of the project timeline.
Now you have about ten minutes of dialog, music, and images (or clips) and have finished scenes 1,2 &3.
Time to export your project as a movie into the "Movie Parts" folder.
The goal, of course, is to eventually fill that "Movie Parts" folder with all of the mini movie parts you created. When you have, you will use a free program to join them all together into one big movie. Here's the link for that program.
http://www.freeaudiovideosoft.com/free-avi-mpeg-wmv-mp4-flv-video-joiner/index.html
Once you have joined all of your movie parts into one big finished MP4 movie file, it's time to share it with the world and upload it to your profile page! Then sit back and nervously wait for some good news:)
Feel free to message me if you have more questions along your way and best of luck!
Rob H.
