ScreenFlow and (what constitutes as) Copyright?
Fourth week of our journey to #Techmasta(ry)
After recording our impromptu performance of 'Someone Like You' by Adele, James walked us through the process of video editing through an application called ScreenFlow. We took the raw footage from various angles and imported in into the application. The key point with the editing was to make sure that the clap (rolling) was edited at the same time so that the video and audio aligned. From this initial video editing, we explored other techniques such as adding images to the video (e.g. guitar chords diagrams that changed on screen as the guitar chords changed) as well as adding text and fade ins/out.
Here's the video that we shot in class from my phone:
I found ScreenFlow to be an intuitive application and one that I will continue to use for video editing, challenging myself to diversify from other applications such as iMovie. For students who don't have a MacBook/iMac, Camtasia which is the equivalent program for PC.
This is a video tutorial that I found useful as it provides a concise overview of the software.
We also had a look at iBooks which I personally am a fan of, however one significant limitation is that iBooks can only be read on Apple devices. One way of overcoming this however, is to publish the resource made to other platforms such as Adobe.
Pros: Cons:
- Refined, stylish interface - Only works on IOS devices
- Easy to nagivate
- Supports multiple document formats
including PDF
- Straightforward purchase process
Therefore, in a classroom context, iBooks are a fantastic resource for students and schools equiped with IOS devices.
COpyright...
The second half of the seminar was dedicated to the definitely grey-area of copyright. We were fortunate to have the guidance of two guests from the University of Sydney to discuss the challenges and answer questions we had about copyright. This discussion certainly reiterated copyright as a difficult area as it is, to my understanding, very unclear as to when an action is deemed as a breach of copyright. The takeaway messages that I took from the seminar is relation to copyright is that 1) if in doubt, ask and 2) as music educators, there are simple tips that we can follow to ensure we are adhering to the correct procedures.
For example, when searching for images online, by simply clicking 'tools' and choosing from the dropdown list 'usage rights,' teachers can choose the appropriate option for their purpose. As can be seen below, the images of guitars presented to me would enable me to make amendments to the image and reuse it. Pixabay and Unsplash also features images which can be downloaded and used without breaching copyright laws.
Reference List:
Menoni, T. (2019, July 1). Apple Books App Review - Pros and Cons. Retrieved October 3, 2019, from https://www.lifewire.com/apple-ibooks-app-review-2000079.
Porter, D. (2019, June 11). How To Use Screenflow 8 For beginners - Screenflow Tutorial. Retrieved October 3, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuJKUUoxJtU.