Montage Production

Outstanding 90-100

  • Video is between 45 seconds and 1 minute long
  • Video has a clear subject and focus
  • Video includes at least 8 images
  • Video includes a 3-second lead
  • Video has no black screen other than what is appropriate for transitions
  • Video includes two soundtracks with one being a VO
  • Audio and video are well synced
  • VO is clear
  • The mp4 video was uploaded to Google Drive and a link submitted to Google Classroom.

Proficient 80-90

  • Video is 1-15 seconds too long or short
  • Video has a clear subject and focus
  • Video includes at least 7 images
  • Video has no black screen other than what is appropriate for transitions
  • Video includes two soundtracks with one being a VO
  • Audio and video are mostly well synced
  • VO is mostly clear
  • The mp4 video was uploaded to Google Drive and a link submitted to Google Classroom.

Basic 70-80

  • Video is 16-30 seconds too long or short
  • The subject and focus are not entirely clear
  • Video includes at least 6 images
  • Video has some rough edits resulting in black screen for more than three seconds
  • Video includes one soundtrack
  • Audio and video are not well synced in multiple places
  • VO is not clear
  • The mp4 video was uploaded to Google Drive and a link submitted to Google Classroom.

Insufficient 60-70

  • Video is 31-45 seconds too long or short
  • The video lacks a subject and focus
  • Video includes fewer than 6 visual media files
  • Video has multiple rough edits resulting in choppy video with frequent black screen
  • Video includes one soundtrack or no soundtrack
  • Audio and video are poorly synced
  • VO is not clear
  • Submission format is not correct

To complete this activity, follow the steps below. Click on links for help.

  1. Print your script that you created in the last activity.
  2. Locate the Desktop folder you created in the last activity. You can add media to the folder if you like.
  3. Create a Premiere Pro project in your Desktop folder. See how.
  4. In Premiere Pro, arrange your media in your timeline according to your script. See how.
  5. Add your VO in Premiere Pro. See how.
  6. Export your video to mp4 format See how.
  7. Upload your video to Google Drive and get a link for it. See how.
  8. Submit that link on Google Drive.

In this activity, you will learn how to record and edit audio with multiple tracks using the Audacity audio software. You'll be using that audio in your montage video that you wrote a script for in the previous activity. You'll also be completing your first video in this class from pre-production (scripting and planning), to production (recording and gathering media), to post-production (editing).

Learning objectives: By the end of this activity, you will be able to:

  • Record audio in Audacity
  • Record audio in Premiere Pro
  • Import an existing audio file into Audacity
  • Import an existing audio file into Premiere Pro
  • Record, combine, and edit multiple tracks in Audacity
  • Export an Audacity project to mp3 format
  • Sync a VO track with video in Premiere Pro
  • Edit your video with audio in Premiere Pro and export in mp4 format

Step One: Print your script

Print the script you created in the last activity.

Step Two: Create your Premiere Pro project

Be sure to create your Premiere Pro project in your project folder! This folder should already have media that you downloaded in the previous activity. You can add media to that folder at any time. But sure to update your script if necessary.

From this point on, the exact sequence in which your produce your video is somewhat flexible. The instructions here are the recommended sequence.

Once your Premiere Pro project is created, import your visual media (i.e., images and video clips.) You are not required to have video clips. Remember that you need at least 8 image files.

Arrange your images in the timeline in the order indicated in your script. You can change the duration and order of images later. It's OK to not follow your script exactly when you start production. That's normal. One reason to build your timeline now is to make sure that your sequence as indicated in your script looks good and that it works visually.

Step Three: Practice recording

This is a step that you might actually do earlier. In fact, the teacher might have you practice recording before we begin this activity. Regardless, if you have never recorded audio in Audacity or Premiere Pro before, now's the time.

The goal here is to simply familiarize yourself with recording audio in Audacity and Premiere Pro. You're going to choose which method to use in a bit. For now though, you need to explore both methods to determine which you like better.

Remember that Audacity is free, opensource software, so you can use it both at school and at home.

Recording audio in Audacity

Many students will find that basic recording functions of Audacity are quite easy to learn. The best way to learn is often to just open the software and start playing around with it.

Try that now! Open Audacity, record your voice, delete your recording, and try again. You don't learn to ride a bike by reading about riding a bike. You learn to ride a bike by riding a bike!

When you do find you have a specific question, there's always the manual. Here are a few links from the Audacity manual to get you started:

Remember that when you record in Audacity, you are creating an Audacity project. You need to export your recording to mp3 in order for it to be usable in your video project.

Recording audio in Premiere Pro

Some students might find it easier to record a VO directly in Premiere Pro, and that's fine. In Premiere Pro, you can record directly on the timeline. This is fine for basic VO tasks and has the benefit of making your recording easier to sync.

As with learning Audacity, you can learn how to record on Premiere Pro by either just jumping or having a look at the manual first. Below are a couple resources to get you started.

To learn how to record a VO and edit audio in Premiere Pro, see these tutorials

Step Four: Record your VO

Now that you've played around a bit with recording audio on both Audacity and Premiere Pro, it's time to choose which tool to use for your video project.

If you choose Audacity, you will need to be sure that you save your Audacity project in your project folder and that you export your final mp3 to the same folder.

You're already set up your Premiere Pro project in that folder, so if you record your audio directly on Premiere Pro, you won't have to worry about exporting your VO track.

Regardless of the tool you use, there are two general approaches to recording and syncing your VO:

  • You can record your VO as you watch the video. This is the simplest way, and if all goes well, your VO will be synced as you record. But, if you later change any of the video elements, obviously you'll have to edit your VO in the audio track. This is more likely to be the method you use if you record directly on Premiere Pro, but you can also do this on Audacity by using a split screen on your monitor.
  • You can record your VO separately, then import the mp3 file and sync the audio by editing the audio track. This is more likely to be the method you use if you record in Audacity, but you may do it this way in Premiere Pro as well.

If you recorded in Premiere Pro, you will automatically have an audio track with your VO on it.

If you recorded in Audacity, you will need to:

  1. Export your audio to mp3
  2. Import your mp3 file into your Premiere Pro project
  3. Drag your mp3 file on to an audio track
  4. Edit the timing of your audio as needed

Step Five: Add background soundtrack

Now it's time to add some background music.

First, download some royalty free music from one of the following sources:

You may use another source as long as the music is royalty free. You must still cite your where you got the music on your credits list at the end of your video.

Once you have downloaded your music file, import it into your Premiere Pro project.

Next, drag the file on to an audio track. You will likely need to reduce the volume of this soundtrack so that it doesn't interfere with your VO. To lower the volume of an audio track, you simply click on the Audio tab at the top of Premiere Pro, then use the Audio Track Mixer tool.

Step Six: Export and submit your video

Once you have finished editing your video, you can export it to mp4 format as you learned previously, upload your video to Google Drive, get a shared link and turn that link into Google Classroom.

You're done! Congratulations!

Need a challenge?

Try any of the following:

  • Add some of your own media to our shared folder! Share your media with Mr. R, and he will upload it to the shared folder.
  • Help others! Keep your ears out for Ask 3 questions.
  • Add a third sound track.
  • Use some of the audio functions in Premiere Pro.
  • Explore using the audio and video transitions in Premiere Pro.

Premiere Pro audio tutorials

Audacity tutorials