Birmingham impressions - Volume 2

Before I came to Birmingham, I didn't really have a very good impression of the city. The images I found on the internet gave me the feeling that the city may be best described with the words "industrial", "grey'" and that it maybe quite nice, but really nothing special. When I discovered the city I found out, that it's much more beautiful than I thought. I really like Birmingham and I really think that the images you can see online are not very encouraging to come here.

For my enterprise project at Birmingham City University (I'm studying my MA in Online Journalism) I'm creating a website with impressions of the city - of course some who've been to Birmingham may still not think, that it is a nice city, as this is subjective, but I do. The film is the main part of the project, trying to convince people, that Birmingham's not just "the second city" but a very nice one, too. I hope the video fulfills this aim. Feedback and comments are of course greatly appreciated. :)
This is my second video about Birmingham, some parts of it are used in this video, too. Many thanks to my friend Sebastian Huber, who gave me the rights to use (and shorten) his song "Day Night Day".

Magisto vs. Final Cut Express

I always use Final Cut Express to cut my videos, I really like the way it works and what you can achieve with it. A few days ago I heard of the the new website "Magisto", which allows you to upload your clips. Magisto will then create a video for you, including effects. All you have to do is choose your clips and the music you want to use. Magisto chooses which clips and which parts of them to take and creates a video. Which is a pretty nice idea - so I wondered how my video (first impressions of Birmingham, see earlier post) would look like if I used this service (here is the answer to that question).

In my case, the video was shorter than I thought and I couldn't upload all the clips I wanted to, as there is a maximum of 16 files and a 600 MB (which will probably be insufficient when you go out with the aim of shooting a short video). Also, there where pictures I really wanted to see in the movie but weren't included. 

But in general the result you get is interesting and well done (as you can also see on the examples on their websites) but in my opinion mainly (or even only) useful for private videos (of a family vacation or the like). But Magisto isn't claiming to be a service for professional video editing - it's for the private use of those, who don't know how to cut or don't want to spend time with it.

For my purpose of shooting a video about Birmingham it didn't turn out to be an alternative. 

But I didn't expect it to be one. 

When you expect more from your video than just to have a nice combination of the clips you shot, you want to decide on your own which picture comes first, which effects to use, how long you can see each clip, how they are combined etc.. Then, you will normally not get the result you wanted if you use Magisto. 

In the case of a personal video and at the same time not being focused on certain details (combined shots, order etc.) you "just" want to have a nice visual summary. So for the latter, Magisto is actually a very nice tool to use, which will be further developed and in my opinion arise more and more interest. 

But the headline I chose is actually not the right one - Magisto and programs like Final Cut are made for different users and different aims. But as mentioned before, this service doesn't claim to be a program like the latter. 

Nevertheless the development of Magisto will be very interesting. Perhaps this service may be used for news sites someday - as long as the video is just used to give an impression of a happening, like a fotoshow. But this would be the only use I could think of.

So what do you think about Magisto and how it's development could be? I'm very interested in other opinions and looking forward to your comments. 

So this is it.

My very first blog. 

Well, actually that's wrong. I already blogged in 2008 while I was staying in the USA for six weeks (www.franzigoestohollywood.blogspot.com). 

But it was more a virtual diary, for me, my friends and my family. (which I am also doing this time: www.theblogbirdsdiary.blogspot.com)

Now there's this blog. Which will probably change a lot over the next year. I just started studying my MA in Online Journalism in Birmingham, UK. In this blog I want to put all the experiences I get there, try out a lot of things. And I have got to learn a lot of things, so the blog may look totally different when I finish my course. 

I'd like to write about my experiences as a foreign student in Birmingham, about German and English media, about video journalism, about current news etc. 

As I am a videojournalist (and I love being one), I'd like to start my blog with a video, containing my very first impressions of Birmingham. 

Feedback (either positive or negative), comments and tips are always very welcome.
I'm here to improve my skills, to learn how to work as an Online Journalist and I am very much looking forward to it and to read your comments on my blog!

Best wishes,

Franzi

P.S.: Many thanks to my friend EsAge, for letting me use his song for my video!