Activities Q1/3

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Vocabulary

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Montage Production

In this activity, you will learn how to record and edit audio with multiple tracks using different tools. 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:

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 into that folder (i.e., images and video clips.) You are not required to have video clips. Remember that you need at least 10 image files.

Next, import your media into your Premiere Pro project and 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 before, now's the time.

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

This is probably the simplest and easiest way to record audio.

When you want to record audio with a camera, you are just recording video! It doesn't matter where the video lens is pointed. You can point it at a wall if you like. You're going to hide the video later and only use the audio.

For best results, a microphone helps. If you're just recording using the camera's mic, you'll have to be sure it's pointing towards you.

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, 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.

If you record using a camera, you'll have to download your video to your computer as you would any other media from the camera. Remember to download your camera video to your project 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:

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

If you recorded in Audacity or with a camera, you will need to export (Audacity) or download (camera) your recording to your project folder, then import it into your Premiere Pro Project

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!

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Premiere Pro audio tutorials

Audacity tutorials

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