The Agony and Ecstasy of Making KidLit Preview Videos

There’s something to be said for setting aside projects, decompressing and tackling them later with fresh eyes and gray matter.
 
That’s what happened to me in January when I started a video preview of my fourth book, Sweet T and the Turtle Team.  Using a trusty tablet video app, Irene A. Jahn’s dazzling illustrations, and snippets from my book, the first pass was okay.  But it didn’t knock my socks off. 
 
I put the video aside for a while.  Then tucked it away with all my writing projects for several weeks after dad’s passing this winter. 
 
I tried tweaking it again in early spring. Better, but not there yet.  Something was missing, but I couldn’t put my finger on what.

Creating KidLit book videos: a LABORED labor of love

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Motivated by the approaching summer release date, I recently retrieved the preview from virtual mothball storage. I notched up to a faster, perkier instrumental audio. Added beach-y photos from free Creative Common sources. Whipped out my ‘big’ vid-making app, i-Movie, to tack on frills and flourishes. 
 
Voila!  It was a keeper. Ecstasy!
 
Making videos to share with you is a labor of love, and a true  L*A*B*O*R.  I want them more than a ShapChat clip.  Vid-creation takes time.  I toil at it, though it’s getting easier with each one under my belt.
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I’d be over the moon if you and your young reader will take a 60-second trip to North Carolina's Gull Island with me.  Feel the summery ocean breezes and wiggle your toes in the soft sand?  T will ask you to steer clear of fragile sea turtle nests that dot the beach.

Sweet T with sister Jenna, Aunt Mae, and Billy

Please click the green button below to start your summer adventure on Gull Island with Sweet T, Jenna, Fuzzy, new Island friend Billy, and Aunt Mae.
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(btw....Aunt Mae is named after a real person from my tribe of readers.  She follows my What’s Up monthly newsletter and won naming rights for a character in my book.  

​Mae is pictured in the illustration above ---um, holding a pelican.

​Ya gotta read the book to find what that's all about!)

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Video Preview:
Sweet T & the Turtle Team

Video Preview on You Tube

​NERD NOTES

Hey, let's compare notes!

​My workflow starts with copywriting based on my book description. From there, I assemble and organize visuals --- art, graphics, text over images --- to bring oomph to my words. Poke around with free sound clips, too.

Then edit, edit, edit!  Everything is open to skinnying down to a 60-second clip.
 
I use these apps to pull elements together:

• MS Word: storyboarding
• Creative Commons Photo Sources: Pixabay.com and Unsplash.com
• Photo-editing: Apple’s native app for editing and resizing photos and illustrations; occasionally mobile apps like Photoshop Express and SnapSeed (for Droid and IOS) 
• Canva: graphic design software for writing text over images in the intro and outro
• Animoto: video-creation mobile app (Droid or IOS)
• i-Movie: Apple’s native app for desktop and mobile to create instrumental backgrounds and insert outro, intro, and transitions

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​There are tons more video and graphics apps on a shoestring budget I’d like to try. I even added voiceover with a fancy microphone on a few projects, but it just about killed me. At least for now, I can produce a short video, hold my head up without embarrassment, and say, “I made this!”
 
Hey, what do you use for video and graphic design at home, work or school?  What tricks and tuts can you share for filmmaking on a budget?  Please share in the comment section.

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