Inspiration can come from the strangest of places – but it all helps when you’re a newly-annointed video journalist, writes Video Blogger James Shaw.
Perhaps one of the best places is, of course, Youtube.
Half and hour spent surfing the web’s so-called video ‘hub’ can do the power of good.
Usually, you get a stack of ideas that never work out – my current favourite is the video of a guy ‘playing’ Take on Me by Aha on his armpits. Hilarious, but I’m not sure it would make it past our website moderators.
But there are some gems out there.
Although Chris Morris’s choice of subject is usually – to put it mildly – controversial, his film-making skills cannot be faulted.
One of his pieces on Youtube shows his character talking to the same character in the same frame – a bit like Phoebe and her sister Ursula on Friends.
I attempted this on my latest video about Llanymynech, to illustrate the border which splits the village . . . England on one side, Wales on the other.
Unfortunately, I had to use the split screen after editing, as I had crossed over my imaginary middle line.
This, of course, is a consequence of beibng a solo video journalist.
Apart from guesswork and pure luck, there is little way to get something like right, without a second person in the crew.
The fact that the speech was nicely timed was, to be honestr, due to a large slice of good fortune.
Recent videos have also seen me tackle a whole multitude of problems.
A lorry crash on the slip-road of the nearby M54 gave me the chance to test out my local skills – I had played on a prominent bridge as a child and it gave a cracking view of the recovery operation.
But it wasn’t without problems – over the 20 years since I had last played in the area, I had forgotten about the muddy bank. Or the wet grass. Or the large slope.
My return to the office was greeted by guffaws all around as my trousers and shoes deposited dry mud across the office.
Boy, was I in trouble when I got home . . . just like 20 years ago.
You will also be glad to know that Blue and Onyx, the pets with little concern for their own safety, are progressing well.
Blue – a teenage Red Border Collie you will remember – is more than content with the garden gnome that Claire’s mother brought him a few weeks ago.
Onyx, on the other hand, is more difficult. Despite tempting him with treats and food, he refuses to stay in our utility room at night. He has, in fact, found a way of opening the door – which we wedge shut – and clambering all over our bed.
Or just running full-pelt into the mirror. He hasn’t learned his lesson.
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