I have been toying with the idea of starting a weekly video blog – a vlog – for some time now. I made a number of YouTube videos back in the day – and have been reviewing them as I slowly upgrade this website. Some of them aren’t bad – especially considering the equipment and software I had to work with to make them. I remember how much I enjoyed putting them together.
I gave up working with them partly because they took so much time and effort, partly because I was more interested in writing and photography. And it didn’t seem to me that either writing or photography called to be shared in videos.
Recently – these last couple of years in Brussels – I’ve been out exploring the world of video clips on-line. And I find a good many people who ably demonstrate that both writing and photography can marry successfully with video. (And, it must be said, not a few who demonstrate the opposite.)
This year, with my revamping of thesupercargo.com and my long projected book of poetry – 50/50-ish – I seem to have found projects that might benefit from video treatment. That’s my excuse, anyway. So here it is – the first very experimental episode of my new vlog. Tell me what you think.
I’d actually forgotten just how much time it takes to put together a video. In particular, all the ums and ers and false starts that have to be edited out. I’ve really got lazy. Or perhaps I always spoke so hesitantly? So slowly? Perhaps I always lost my train of thought in the middle of my sentences? If so, how any of my students learned anything from my teaching is a complete mystery.
I hope a second vlog will follow next week. Just as experimental, though perhaps not on Wednesday.
There’s no really striking image in the video to use to illustrate this blog entry – something to think about for next time. In lieu of that, here’s a bit of photoshoppery on a photo of the view over our back garden that I took in January 2015. (You’ll see this motif is relevant when you view the video.)
I wrote this entry for the #Blogg52 challenge.
I really enjoyed watching your first vlog (had never heard this word before). So nice to hear the voice of one of the friends from blog52! And the filmcuts to watch while listening really gives a new dimension when comparing to a blog. Also a good length, if too long the watching might be postponed and finally forgotten, for me this was perfect and I really look forward to your coming vlogs!
Hi Eva and thank you, glad you liked.
Video blog = vlog. I can’t say it trips off my tongue either – as I think you can hear at one point. 🙂
I tried to keep the length of the video down under 6 minutes. I find that’s about how long most videos can hold my attention unless there is something really special about them. Will aim for the same in future episodes.
John