In September this year, I was in Japan on a holiday, when I drove up through the Tohoku region with friends, the northeastern coastal area affected hugely by the disastrous events in March. I had my digital camera and iPhone in hand, thus accumulating some footage of our three-day trip, with which I promised to compile a video. And I did. Finished just last week, I edited the (mostly playful) video to show what we got up to.
I feel I've got some experience on my side now, having made 7 or 8 of these shorts, and I'm beginning to understand what makes good engaging video. Of course, without any conventional study at all, I can't articulate what techniques or tricks I've used and all that, but I think that through the relationship of the visuals and selected music (which is super important), I've been able to capture the emotion felt at the time and also control the emotion to evoke for the video audience. This I'm sure I have been improving upon video after video, and am taking great interest from.
