Article Written By: Scott Duglase33
As a journalism student, I took a class on video journalism that centered specifically on news casts. The final for that class was to produce my very own short video news cast. Since I was a college student with a less than impressive budget, I didn't want to spend all the money on a new camera or high priced video editing software for my computer. A friend from that same class told me about an online video repository with video footage that would work with my project. This was huge. I integrated stock footage clips into some of my original shots that I took with a rented video camera from the library and scored an A on my final. Now that I work for a sports marketing agency, I still use this invaluable tool on productions when I am unable to film the footage I need. Incorporating stock footage clips into your production is a great way to manage costs and provide a professional and polished product.The biggest advantage of using stock footage with your video productions is the time and money it saves. You don't need a bunch of resources like cameras and actors or correspondents and spend hours or days trying to get the right shot. You can search the online repository until you find just the right shot to help you achieve your vision. Then you can combine it with your own footage to drive your point home.One of the situations where I routinely integrate footage clips is if I'm doing a piece that is pertinent to a specific location. I can usually find video footage that is indicative of the culture or geographic location of the topic of my piece so that it becomes a tool that I can use to paint a picture for my audience.Another way I use these clips is to reaffirm a point that I've just made. For example, say you've just given statistics on the air clarity of a specific city and why it's not very good due to a specific industry. You can deliver your statistics and then at the end of that particular segment you might show a picture of smoke stacks bellowing pollution into the air. I also tend to use stock footage clips to help transition into a new segment. After you show your shot of the smoke stacks you can then show a stock clip of children playing on a playground and provide information about how pollution effects air quality and how bad it is for humans. This will help transition into another segment that will help convey your overall message.Instead of trying to catch exactly the right shot yourself you can quickly and easily go out to an online video repository and search for the clip that best fits what you are trying to display to your viewers. Integrating stock footage into your video is a great way to manage costs and resources and help turn out a professional, polished video production.
This Article Has Been Published on Thu, 9 Sep 2010 and Read 141 Times