Making off Preliminary work - Reels

First reel - Maranatha

I used my 17 Pro iPhone to film the content, and when creating the reel, I used CapCut.

When filming this first reel, I was in a church that I didn’t really know, and at first, I was a bit scared to move around and film content as I didn’t want to disturb anyone or stand in anyone’s view. I always have this fear when filming in church. But after my friend also encouraged me to go and film, because I can capture more things more nicely. I stood up and started filming from different parts of the church, but what I really like now with my new 17 Pro is to play a lot with the zoom. Have more close-ups, etc.

Editing

With the editing, it was pretty easy, but what I had trouble with was trying to bring the video to at least fit 60 seconds. Especially with programs where there are a lot of points, the content is a lot, so managing to shorten it while leaving in content for the viewer to also understand is more complex. But I didn’t stress a lot with this reel to make it that short, as I wanted the viewer to get the full experience, and 1min 24sec, I don’t think it’s that much for a program of almost 2h.

Song/sound

The choice of the song was pretty easy as I have head it in my mind already. It went perfectly with the vibe and gave it that emotional but still happyish vibe to the reel, which I was aiming for. For the music, how I uploaded it was that I usually screen-recorded the segment of the song I want, and there is a setting extract audio from video. I click that, and I have my song on the video.

I turned the volume to 0 for the actual content videos, and the song was at normal volume. And I added a fade-in and fade-out based on how it blends in with the video.

Title

Now, the title, I knew I wanted to put a title, but I didn’t really know if they would want it with or without a title. As in their previous reels, they didn’t have titles. But what I did was I saved the video as it was done, and then I also edited the title into it and saved it again with the title as well.

How I communicated with the girl in charge of the account.

I have sent her both reels and told her to tell me if it’s ok, and if not, what she wants me to change. And asked if she likes what I have written in the title, if not, if she wants to change it, or not have it at all. And then when she confirms which one she likes and if everything is ok, I will upload it on WeTransfer so it doesn’t lose quality. (you can see the WeTransfer link)

Second reel for Maranatha

As I told you in the blog as well, it was way more natural for me, as it was in my church, I didn’t have trouble moving around and getting the shots I needed to get, but still a bit nervous about not blocking someone’s view. My dad told me this is your job now, for a few seconds, if you block someone’s view its should be a problem; they should understand.

Filming

Filmed most of the shots from the left side of the church and played with the zoom more, but then I also moved to the center of the church to get more shots from the pulpit. I also include a shot of the church from the perspective of the children and teens. As they were asked to sing with the children. As well as played with the lighting because if you look at the front is as if you are performing something there are windows behind you, so sometimes the light may be to powerfull and you can’t see the people in front anymore. I would turn the brightness down on my phone before filming.

Editing

Again, I didn’t really have a lot of trouble editing it. But with this reel, I dared to put transitions as well. I think it made it look a bit more professional and made the shots blend. I will tell you a bit about how I used these transitions. I used 4 transitions: Mix, Blur, Black fade, and Passerby.

Mix: I used it when clips were similar in terms of the thing that was happening/people that were in it. I used a mix transition like this to mix those similar chips and for them to flow.

Blur: I used this one as well to mix the clips and make it smoother, but I used this when the clips were in the same location. eg. At the piano, but with different people, I would put a blur.

Black Fade: Used it for when the clips were not in the same place or doing the same thing. But for a smoother change, and not as drastic as the passerby.

The Passerby: I used it for when I thought something new would start, like a chapter closed, a new one opened in a way.

Title

I also changed the Title template as I wanted something new for a new location, but when looking for this title template, I was focusing a lot on it to have two parts. As you can see, the first one also had two parts, so I can write the program and then the church’s name/location.

Song choice

With this reel, I can say I had a lot of trouble finding the right song. I wanted something more christmasy it was in the spirit, but still something calm and Christian to fit in the schools profil vibe. What I did was I first only tried posting it on my Instagram profile, but only until I reached the music part, where Instagram gives you some song suggestions to see if I couldn’t find one. No luck there, then I sent the girl the reel, again asked her if she liked it, if she wanted to change something, if the title is ok, and then told her, I don’t know what song I put… She told me what you think would go well. I told her the same thing I said above (something more Christmasy as it is in the spirit, but still something calm and Christian to fit in the school’s vibe/program). She told me she would think about some songs, but in the end, she found a suggested song from instagram and she put it with that.  The final video I sent it through WeTransfer.

Golden Harmony’s reel

What a complicated reel it is to create. I have never spent 3 days creating a reel, and it also didn’t turn out very long, 53 sec (in a way, it is very perfect). Why I say complicated, as I told you in my previous blog post, is that it was never a done deal that I would come and film so I can create a reel. When I got there, they still didn’t say anything, and I filmed all the songs for me to have, but then I thought I could also send them so they can post the segments that they liked (as they always have done). In my mind, I said I will still try to create a reel and see how it turns out. If I like it, I will send it, and if they want/like it, they can then post it.

Editing

Now, the thing with this reel was how they didn’t ask for it, and I wasn’t very confident in how it would turn out. I kept neglecting it. I would work on it, but not with passion, like starting it and in those same they in some hours to finish it. From 13 min I got it to 10, then to 5, and then one evening the boys called me to say that they want to post and if I finished it! I think in 1h if I am not wrong, from 5 min I got the reel to 53sec + some transitions. The boys kept on ringing me if I was done, how much time I still needed, etc., and in 30 minutes, I think another hour, I finished the transitions and put the title. But then again, the problem with the song came, what song do I put in the background? Called the boys for ideas, and in the end, I think after another 30 min I managed to put the song as well for them. I also did the fade in, fade out, but from hurrying, I realised after I faded out too much, what I mean there was still a clip left,  and the song was already very quiet.

Challenges

What was so tricky with this reel was that I only filmed from one spot, I only played with the zoom, and there were a lot of clips in the same place, so to say repeating. So I had to be even more patient to see if I could get from does videos different reactions/movements from the boys in those videos. I also didn’t get any shots of the pianist playing the piano. The lighting was also not the best in that church, and I played with that as well to make it a bit darker. You can see the boys, but then in some it is darker than in others. The cherry on top was that I also had one kid in front of me with his head, and you can see it + one of the boy’s dads' heads… And just for you to know, I changed my seat because in the other seat it was even worse.

Editing Transitions

The transitions help it look more professional; with all the troubles it already has, it helps it be more put-together. I used more traditional/simple transitions, which go perfectly with this vibe: Mix, Blur, and black fade.

Mix: I used it again to mix/blend the clips nicely.

The blur: for smoother transitions between the clips

And the black fade: for an interruption between the videos, where maybe the focus has to change to something else, usually use it when I have the camera on one of the boys doing their solo.

Requests

As I said above, the story of how still reel turned out, well after the stress I had to finish it quickly, and sent it. One of the boys said is there a way you can take out the capcut sign in the corner? And I felt so bad in that moment, but I told him I couldn’t as I don’t have it paid. Then he said to send the video like this, and he will try to edit it out. But I didn’t have time anymore to put it on WeTransfer as they needed it then, and it lost a lot of quality till they put it on their Instagram. I also told them not to put it in then because it was already 12 am at night, and they had already made a post about the concert with some segments of the song. I told them to put it tomorrow in the evening, when you know everyone is on Instagram.

Ideas

I gave them more ideas on what to do with their Instagram account, like create highlights, post more from rehearsals, put stories when you have concerts, like sound check, then there are still 40 min till we see each other, etc., make sure they engage with the followers, and this will bring them new ones as well. But we discussed all of these thing but I will still help them with what they need, if that is creating reels, and filming to what every they need.

Realisation

What I realised after creating all the reels is that I have a lot of trouble with finding the right song, as it has to be calmer Christian songs. But at the same time, what if you have a more energetic reel, what song do you put there if it has to be more Christian to match the profile of the school?

But now I can let you know I have done some digging on more social media pages that have the same style of Christian songs, Christian programs, and I have created a strong song list that I can use in the future.