During the Covid-19 lockdown, some of us have taken to learning new skills: Your sister is churning out endless loaves of Sourdough bread; your friend from work is writing a novel; your neighbour is learning origami. But as we look to screens and the internet for work, play, education and socialisation, the spotlight has been on video. Whether it’s a work-out on YouTube, a pub quiz on Zoom, or the many many adverts made from viral video compilations, it’s clear that video is key to our new lives spent mostly online.
So why not lean into this hot new trend and hone those editing skills? Since it’s admittedly a little difficult to go out and film your very own David Attenborough documentary when you have to stick close to home, we’ve come up with a few creative prompts that you can do from your desk (or ironing board or your kitchen counter) using our very own free stock videos and clips. So fire up the laptop, put on a podcast, and…
Make a Travel Video For Somewhere You’ve Never Been Before…
Ever dreamt of being a travel blogger? Cancelled that trip to the Bahamas? Simply sick of doing the same walk/jog/bike ride every. single. day? If you’ve been paying attention to our #WanderlustWednesdays on Instagram, you’ve probably noticed that as well as a serious case of Cabin Fever, Videvo has a great selection of free travel stock footage.
From clips of airport terminals, to dreamy drone footage and crowded city streets (remember crowds?), why not edit some together? If you need a little inspiration, one of our favourite videographers always rounds off a location shoot with a fantastic video. Here’s one he made while capturing stock footage of Rome!
So check them out, load up Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve or iMovie, and create your own little getaway. Then play it on a big screen, put your feet up, and pretend you’re on a Tropical Beach! And if you enjoy a Pina Colada or two during the editing process, we won’t tell anyone!
Spice Up Your Home Office…
Ever been in a meeting that should have been an email? It seems that there are some things even a global pandemic can’t change. We’ve all seen the amazingly creative array of Zoom backgrounds that people have been using to spice up their tenth work meeting of the week. So why not make your own?
Sure, we have some pretty neat abstract video backgrounds. But we also have stock footage of misty mountaintops, stock clips of breakdancers, and – if you’re feeling a little passive aggressive – office-themed ransom notes. Go wild!
Learn How to Green Screen…
You know what they say about learning to chroma key: it’s like riding a bike! Except it’s nothing like riding a bike. We should know: we have stock footage of people riding bikes. And we also have stock footage with green screens!
The point is, although it seems like technical video wizardry, green-screen editing is pretty simple. YouTuber and editing guru Orange 83 has put together this neat little video tutorial on how to layer videos together. You can even follow along using the exact same Videvo clip!
From there, the world is your oyster. You can put a llama in space, a chicken on the moon, or a woman wearing a VR headset in, well, a virtual reality.
Recreate Your Favourite Movie…
Have you watched every movie on Netflix? Finished every film on Amazon? We know we have. Our favourite bit of a movie is when they show a wide-angle shot of a city skyline, so we know that the movie will have buildings in it. Or when the actors are pretending that a scene is happening in New York, but everything looks suspiciously like Vancouver. Or when we spot a Videvo clip playing on a TV in the background of a TV show. (Meta, huh?)
Our point is, you can get stock footage of all of this stuff! And there have been some fantastic blockbuster movies that use stock footage. So smush some clips together, add a couple of sound effects, and ask your friends on Skype to guess which movie you’ve recreated.
Or better yet, share your masterpieces with us on Twitter or Instagram! Please. We weren’t joking when we said we’ve run out of things to watch.
Trace an Actor Through a Collection of Stock Clips. Tell Their Life Story…
You know that meme of the unfaithful guy and the jealous girlfriend? The one that’s used to make hilarious jokes like this one…
Well it turns out that if you look at the rest of the pictures taken during that photoshoot, the couple in question have a preeeeeetty dramatic backstory. There’s a ring, a park, and lots of facial expressions.
Now, if you’re a Videvo connoisseur, you may have noticed that some faces crop up a few times as you search our library of stock footage. The happy couple you just saw watching a horror movie together are suddenly having an argument! What could possibly have gone wrong there? Maybe it was all that trouble they’ve having with their finances. Or that conversation they were having over Skype… Does their story have a happy ending, or a tragic one? Will that gutsy young Start-up succeed? Will that small child ever finish drawing on that tablet?
Sign up to Videvo Premium or Pro, and download these fully licensed clips with model releases for a shockingly low price. Then slap a voiceover on top and let us know how it all plays out. The suspense is killing us.
And that brings us to the end of this little video editing prompt list…
As always at Videvo, we love to see what you’ve been up to, so please show us the way’s you’ve been creative with stock footage during this Covid-19 crisis. We hope that you are all staying healthy and well, wherever you are. Please do drop us a line if you’d like to see more of something on the site, have any questions about our service, or even if you just want to tell us how great we are!
