Today I’m going to be doing something a little different. Usually I discuss an audio technique for some project that I’m currently doing. Today I’m going to discuss how to edit a video look like its recorded on a camcorder. We will be using Keynote and iMovie. Both come bundled with your Mac so everyone who owns one will have the opportunity to do this. If you own a PC I award you no points and may god have mercy on your soul.
Why am I doing this.
Because I’m reinventing the Mash theme (Suicide is painless) ......
80’s style!
No longer will it be stuck in the dull 70’s with its Folk music, unkempt appearance and poor work ethic. Think synth, reverb, sax and sax appeal. I want you to play this in the background as you drive your 83 Ferrari to Miami beach, mullet flapping gloriously in the wind whilst caressing your shoulder pads.
A simpler time.
A better time.
Have a listen to my first demo dear reader.
But what's the point in having 80’s sounds without an 80’s aesthetic I hear you weep with despair. Fear not! That's why we are on this postproduction journey together. I had no idea how to do all this until today, that's why I’m passing on the knowledge.
But first inspiration from Arnoldo himself.
(The Midnight, 2017)
Keynote
In order to recreate the look of a camcorder we will need the following:
● Small borders on all four corners of the video
● Recording flashing light in the top left
● Battery in the top right
● Date in the bottom left
● Film symbol bottom right
These are all simple things to do.
Let's start with the borders
When starting keynote choose a wide black background and delete all text. To draw the lines, select the pen tool (located in shape, in the upper middle of the screen) and move your cursor closer to the left-hand corner. This is where we will start. Note leave yourself enough room to draw.
Then hold shift as you draw a horizontal line. Click and hold shift again to create the vertical line. Go to format - style then change it to a four-point line. Select your drawing then drag to corner. Hold shift and click the right arrow 5 times then the down arrow 5 times. This will position the
corner perfectly.
You should come up with something like this…
Copy and drag your duplicate corner down to the very bottom whilst staying in line with the top one. Highlight, go to arrange and select flip vertically. Again, from the bottom hold shift and press up 5 times. Now you have your left-hand frame.
Copy all and drag them to the right, ensuring they are inline, then holding shift and pressing left 5 times. Flip the direction as necessary, you should have something like this.
Recording, red circle and date
Go to shape, circle then drag to top left hand corner. Hold shift to resize (that makes all parts of the circle change evenly). Change the colour to red (located underneath style on the right-hand side).
Go to text, write recording then change the size to 50 points (located underneath style on the right-hand side). Drag to the top left-hand corner next to your red recording dot.
Hold option then click on recording to copy and drag to the bottom left hand corner. Rename it a date in the 80’s or 90’s (whichever tickles your fancy).
Battery and film
This one is the easiest! Go to shapes and search battery and film. Change the colour to white and drag to the top right-hand side for the battery and bottom left for the film. Decrease the size a bit so it fits better.
Click on your battery symbol, go format - shapes and lines then break apart. This way you can resize how much battery is left on the camcorder.
We are getting there.
Blinking red dot
Another easy part. Duplicate the slide but delete the red dot in the second one. Then go to the first slide, go to the right-hand side, go to animate, change to automatic and 1 second. Do the same for the second slide. This will ensure after one second the slide will change. Select both slides (holding shift) and copy 29 times. This will give you 30 seconds of footage.
Now we need to ensure the background is transparent. Select all the sides you’ve created and hold shift. Go to format on the right-hand side and change the color fill to no fill.
Export
With all your slides selected go file - export - movie. Change the resolution to custom then select 1920 x 1080 and select Apple Pro Res 4444 and have export with transparent backgrounds selected.
This is how it should look
(Campbell, 2019)
iMovie
Drag your camcorder movie into iMovie and place it above (not in line or over) the existing clip you want to give the 80s effect to. Have cutaway selected (located in the upper middle).
Click and select the main video, go to filters (the three-circle symbol) and go to clip filter and raster.
This gives a great vintage effect! Adjust the colour and saturation of the video to suit, bounce and you're all done!
In the words of every tv cook ever in existence, here’s one I made earlier.
(Campbell, 2019)
Bibliography
Campbell, R. (2019, November 14 ). 80's Mash Up for SAE AUS 220 Major Project. Retrieved from YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWtHK1DNjD4
Campbell, R. (2019, November 14). Transparent background for AUS 220. Retrieved from YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jX4P1C0PRdQ&feature=youtu.be
Macmostvideo. (2019, April 25). Add a Camcorder Effect in iMovie With Keynote (MacMost #1902). Retrieved from YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HhBY-WtMGY
The Midnight. (2017, October 13). The Midnight - Collateral. Retrieved from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x--rvICd6Ac&feature=youtu.be&has_verified=1
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