Workshop Blog - Session Seven

Now's the time to bring your attention to some additional free software for editing images and sound.

EDITING IMAGES
If you're thinking you'd like to manipulate some of your photos in some way (including blurring faces so that individuals are not identifiable) you may want to spend a little bit of time getting your head around image editing software.

If you're on a PC and would like to work through a PhotoPlus tutorial you can download the manual here. As well as an overview of the software interface and functions, the manual guides you through a practical tutorial using assets that we've uploaded here. The PhotoPlus software can be downloaded here: PhotoP60.zip If you get stuck you can post questions here.

If you're on a mac and have reasonable broadband access you can upload photos/images to photoshop.com and manipulate them there.

Of course there are many ways to 'skin a cat' and some creative solutions can be quite 'old school' - like taking photos of drawings or cutting/pasting several images together before scanning.

An important thing to remember is - the number of images you use will effect the pace of your piece. Lots of images will need to be cut together in a quick sequence - which has a particular impact on your audience. You can also use fewer images and 'pan' slowly across them or 'zoom in' on relevant details - which has a different impact on your audience.

Think about how you want your audience to feel and edit accordingly... you may choose to upload your images raw, or without any 'manipulation', instead using the wide range of creative possibilities afforded by your edit software.

EDITING SOUND
The workflow for editing sound is explained step by step in Workshop Blog - Session Six

If you're on a mac and only wish to combine 2 audio tracks, most likely voiceover and music, you'll be able to do this in iMovie.

If you're on a PC you'll need to record your voiceover in MovieMaker, add your images and get as close as possible to your final locked off cut before exporting your audio into Audacity. You'll add music and/or sound effects here and mix the levels so that your voice is clear throughout... then you'll export your 'mixed down' audio back into MovieMaker.

There's an Audacity manual here and assets for the practical tutorial here. If you get stuck you can post questions here.

Remember less is more... sometimes we can overuse music to guide the emotions of our audience, when silence or sparse sound effects might do just as well. The audience is allowed some space to arrive at their own conclusions rather than feeling manipulated a la 'Hollywood movie' ; )

TODAY'S ACTIVITY
So, apart from the technical stuff... how's it all going? Is your brain boiling with big ideas? Are you waking up in the middle of the night with bolts of insight? Or are you overwhelmed by the task ahead of you and the 9th October deadline?

Today's activity is a rewards/challenges quiz : ) We'll ask again towards the end and hope that the scales have shifted so that rewards far outweigh the challenges!!