There were some hilarious Downton Abbey spoof videos (all in the name of charity) going around this weekend, and although they're fairly short I was impressed by how they were still able to play around with established characters. Downton Abbey itself is pretty melodramatic, so some of these things are not out of the realm of possibility! It seemed like the actors and writers were all having fun with these.
I had to share the links, so enjoy and Merry Christmas!
Showing posts with label video. Show all posts
Showing posts with label video. Show all posts
Monday, December 22, 2014
Monday, November 24, 2014
Making a Book Trailer in Power Point
I've just spent the last week and a half or so making a book trailer for Crow's Rest, and I wanted to share a video that was really helpful. My first attempt at the trailer used my own video footage (which means it's free, and no rights and permissions to get hung up later) but I wasn't completely happy with that. It felt too disjointed, since some of the footage ended up being more metaphorical than actually illustrative of the script.
So I looked around for some tutorials on Power Point (I'd never used the program before) and found this video very helpful
It walks you through animation, transitions, and even adding narration, in an easy-to-understand tutorial. He also includes instructions on how to format your presentation so that when you export it as a video, you'll have an HD-quality YouTube video. Even if you are familiar with Power Point, you may find some tips and tricks in here that you didn't know.
I watched it once, and then dived into my own slide show, and referred back to this video a few times when I got stuck. The process wasn't nearly as intimidating as I thought it would be, and if not for my creative perfectionism that led me to endlessly tweak the script and image choices, it would likely have only taken me a few hours to create a book trailer using this method. And now that I'm more familiar with it, I could see using this technique to create some vlogs or videos for schools to use.
I also wanted to share another tool that I used to create an original soundtrack for the trailer; it's an app called LoopStack. There are other, similar apps out there, but this one was free to try on Android (you pay $1.99 to unlock more expanded features, but it's still a bargain) so I gave it a shot. Pretty easy to use, once you get the rhythm of it.
I encourage everyone to give a try on a trailer for their book--working on the script alone makes you look at your story in a completely different way. Even if you never share it with anyone (we'll be doing a reveal on mine soon), it will definitely help you visualize elements of your story and characters in a new media.
So I looked around for some tutorials on Power Point (I'd never used the program before) and found this video very helpful
It walks you through animation, transitions, and even adding narration, in an easy-to-understand tutorial. He also includes instructions on how to format your presentation so that when you export it as a video, you'll have an HD-quality YouTube video. Even if you are familiar with Power Point, you may find some tips and tricks in here that you didn't know.
I watched it once, and then dived into my own slide show, and referred back to this video a few times when I got stuck. The process wasn't nearly as intimidating as I thought it would be, and if not for my creative perfectionism that led me to endlessly tweak the script and image choices, it would likely have only taken me a few hours to create a book trailer using this method. And now that I'm more familiar with it, I could see using this technique to create some vlogs or videos for schools to use.
I also wanted to share another tool that I used to create an original soundtrack for the trailer; it's an app called LoopStack. There are other, similar apps out there, but this one was free to try on Android (you pay $1.99 to unlock more expanded features, but it's still a bargain) so I gave it a shot. Pretty easy to use, once you get the rhythm of it.
I encourage everyone to give a try on a trailer for their book--working on the script alone makes you look at your story in a completely different way. Even if you never share it with anyone (we'll be doing a reveal on mine soon), it will definitely help you visualize elements of your story and characters in a new media.
Monday, November 25, 2013
A Successful Query & Another Query Crit Opportunity
Details on another opportunity to get your query critiqued are at the end of this post--just enter through the Rafflecopter!
But before we get into the critiquing, I thought I'd share the query that got me my agent (if you follow that link, be aware there are some f-bombs in the post--which I would never use on Operation Awesome!).
An even earlier version of my pitch for Crow's Rest is viewable here, in a video I submitted to Pitch University. A pitch I wrote before I'd even started the book, mind you. And there is some useful info in the comments, so be sure to check out those.
By the time I'd finished writing the book (and rewriting the ending), the focus of the pitch had changed to make it clearer that Crow's Rest is urban fantasy rather than paranormal:
Crow's Rest is a 72,000-word young adult urban fantasy novel with the wry humor of Kiersten White’s Paranormalcy series and the dark fantasy feel of Melissa Marr’s Wicked Lovely series.
Sixteen-year-old Avery arrives for a visit at her Uncle Tam's, eager to rekindle her summertime romance with her crush-next-door, Daniel. Instead, she discovers Daniel's body has been taken over by a corbin, a Fae which usually crosses into our world by inhabiting crows.
The corbin, Lonan, warns her that some of his kin are no longer satisfied with crow bodies. Or even the occasional accommodating human. They want to come here in their natural forms, with their full, terrible powers intact. It’s happened before, leading to the fall of Rome and the Dark Ages, but this time Lonan has been sent to stop them.
But in exchange for Avery’s help with his mission, she insists he bring Daniel back. They make a deal for the two boys to share Daniel’s body, switching between personalities in an uneasy truce. Until she starts to fall for the charming Lonan and realizes that even if they do save the world, only one of the boys will get sole custody of the body—leaving her heartbroken either way.
I am a PAL member of SCBWI whose past publishing credits include a MG short story, “Hornworms", in Hunger Mountain, a YA short story called "Ebb Tide" which took third place in the WOW! Women on Writing Spring 2010 Flash Fiction Contest, and numerous nonfiction pieces in such magazines as Birds & Blooms and Sierra Heritage Magazine. In 2012, I received our SCBWI Regional Chapter’s grant to attend the International Conference in Los Angeles, based on sample pages of Crow’s Rest. I also contribute to the group blog, Operation Awesome, and started an auction in 2012 called Pens for Paws, which offers critiques and swag from agents and authors to raise money for a no-kill cat sanctuary, Fat Kitty City.
I had a pretty decent request rate with this query before agent/attorney Eric Ruben offered representation. And incidentally, Eric participates in both #AskAgent and #tenqueries on Twitter, which are great resources for writers polishing their queries.
And without further ado, the query critique details! Once again I'm calling for brave souls who would like to get their query critiqued by me (Angelica), and other OAers who will chime in as their schedule allows. Plus, the public can add their thoughts and encouragement in the comments.
The Rafflecopter will be open through December 1st, and the critiqued query will go up on December 9th. We need a contact in your entry, but it's okay to disguise your email from bots by formatting it like youremail (at) gmail (dotcom).
So if you're up for joining us in this experiment, you must sign up below. And then leave a comment telling us what age/genre your book is. This last bit has no bearing on whether you are selected since Rafflecopter does the choosing for us, but it's always interesting to see what you're working on. We will be emailing the winner and announcing their name on Twitter and Facebook on December 2nd, so it's worth your while to follow those accounts!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
But before we get into the critiquing, I thought I'd share the query that got me my agent (if you follow that link, be aware there are some f-bombs in the post--which I would never use on Operation Awesome!).
An even earlier version of my pitch for Crow's Rest is viewable here, in a video I submitted to Pitch University. A pitch I wrote before I'd even started the book, mind you. And there is some useful info in the comments, so be sure to check out those.
By the time I'd finished writing the book (and rewriting the ending), the focus of the pitch had changed to make it clearer that Crow's Rest is urban fantasy rather than paranormal:
Crow's Rest is a 72,000-word young adult urban fantasy novel with the wry humor of Kiersten White’s Paranormalcy series and the dark fantasy feel of Melissa Marr’s Wicked Lovely series.
Sixteen-year-old Avery arrives for a visit at her Uncle Tam's, eager to rekindle her summertime romance with her crush-next-door, Daniel. Instead, she discovers Daniel's body has been taken over by a corbin, a Fae which usually crosses into our world by inhabiting crows.
The corbin, Lonan, warns her that some of his kin are no longer satisfied with crow bodies. Or even the occasional accommodating human. They want to come here in their natural forms, with their full, terrible powers intact. It’s happened before, leading to the fall of Rome and the Dark Ages, but this time Lonan has been sent to stop them.
But in exchange for Avery’s help with his mission, she insists he bring Daniel back. They make a deal for the two boys to share Daniel’s body, switching between personalities in an uneasy truce. Until she starts to fall for the charming Lonan and realizes that even if they do save the world, only one of the boys will get sole custody of the body—leaving her heartbroken either way.
(Substituting an earlier version of this line here, since the one that ended up in this query is spoilery) Meanwhile, she discovers her family’s roots reach deeper into Faerie than she ever imagined, proving crucial to the survival of both worlds.
I am a PAL member of SCBWI whose past publishing credits include a MG short story, “Hornworms", in Hunger Mountain, a YA short story called "Ebb Tide" which took third place in the WOW! Women on Writing Spring 2010 Flash Fiction Contest, and numerous nonfiction pieces in such magazines as Birds & Blooms and Sierra Heritage Magazine. In 2012, I received our SCBWI Regional Chapter’s grant to attend the International Conference in Los Angeles, based on sample pages of Crow’s Rest. I also contribute to the group blog, Operation Awesome, and started an auction in 2012 called Pens for Paws, which offers critiques and swag from agents and authors to raise money for a no-kill cat sanctuary, Fat Kitty City.
I had a pretty decent request rate with this query before agent/attorney Eric Ruben offered representation. And incidentally, Eric participates in both #AskAgent and #tenqueries on Twitter, which are great resources for writers polishing their queries.
And without further ado, the query critique details! Once again I'm calling for brave souls who would like to get their query critiqued by me (Angelica), and other OAers who will chime in as their schedule allows. Plus, the public can add their thoughts and encouragement in the comments.
The Rafflecopter will be open through December 1st, and the critiqued query will go up on December 9th. We need a contact in your entry, but it's okay to disguise your email from bots by formatting it like youremail (at) gmail (dotcom).
So if you're up for joining us in this experiment, you must sign up below. And then leave a comment telling us what age/genre your book is. This last bit has no bearing on whether you are selected since Rafflecopter does the choosing for us, but it's always interesting to see what you're working on. We will be emailing the winner and announcing their name on Twitter and Facebook on December 2nd, so it's worth your while to follow those accounts!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Mystery Agent Tomorrow...and thoughts
So I just wanted to send a reminder out to you all. Remember that tomorrow morning our mystery agent contest goes live!
And specifically, our MA is seeking the following:
This contest is open to veterans and newbies alike - so long as you have a complete and query-ready manuscript on your hands within the genres of interest, our guest agent would love to hear from you.
Contest goes live 9 AM central time. The first 50 entries we receive will go on to our MA. Remember, this is a one-sentence pitch. Cheating with grammar doesn't count. Meaning that you can't have 3 sentences with commas between them. The sentence needs to work.
And, if you think that you can't tell your story with a single sentence, I'm going to leave you with this beautiful video called "Thoughts" It tells a story without a single word at all.
Ok...so the song has words. But it is beautiful, none-the-less.
Annimation by: http://ryanwoodwardart.com
Here is what our fabulous MA is on the lookout for:
Picture Books
Middle Grade
Young Adult
And specifically, our MA is seeking the following:
For MG and YA: currently seeking mysteries, historical, or contemporary with mystery elements
For PB: seeking manuscripts that have a voice, aka an author who is putting forward a sense of place, personality, and storytelling. Voice, voice, voice!
This contest is open to veterans and newbies alike - so long as you have a complete and query-ready manuscript on your hands within the genres of interest, our guest agent would love to hear from you.
Contest goes live 9 AM central time. The first 50 entries we receive will go on to our MA. Remember, this is a one-sentence pitch. Cheating with grammar doesn't count. Meaning that you can't have 3 sentences with commas between them. The sentence needs to work.
And, if you think that you can't tell your story with a single sentence, I'm going to leave you with this beautiful video called "Thoughts" It tells a story without a single word at all.
Ok...so the song has words. But it is beautiful, none-the-less.
Annimation by: http://ryanwoodwardart.com
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