I can finally say that the videos are finished! I’ve uploaded them to Youtube with their completed thumbnails and polished video descriptions. This final week was definitely a push to finish. The projects at work picked up due to the upcoming holidays and felt most of my time slipping away that I wanted to use to finish the videos. Despite that, I was able to finish adding the stock photos and videos, which proved harder then I originally anticipated because I wanted the b-roll to cut along with the narration. This met finding even more stock footage and searching the internet for very specific references.
After finishing and exporting the videos, there are definitely things that I would love to go back and change, but being that this was my first attempt at creating multiple videos at the same time with the type of animations and research that this one had, I’m not disappointed in it. Looking back I also wasn’t able to go truly in depth into each topic that I talked about because I had covered such an expansive length of time. So further down the line I’d love to return to this series and create different videos that talk about each bands impact separately. For example, I only just briefly mention K-pop at the end of the 3rd video, but that genre is such a massive industry and is truly beginning to make a huge impact in American markets. I also never got to cover the awards and honors that these bands have received over time and all the lasting changes they made to music.
Overall, while it may sound cliche, this project taught me a lot about what I find fun to make and what entertains me. Using adobe procreate and after effects together for the first time was fun and I think the illustrated animations that I created are my favorite parts. I also think it was fun and resourceful to make a fake boy band host desk like you see on late night talk shows for this, but I would have liked to actually see more of face through out the videos to make it even more conversational. I also tried the audio wave form for the first time in after effects and while effect is cool, I do wish I had been able to Zoom or Skype with them that way the audience could actually see their facial expressions. If I got the opportunity to continue the series I would love to reach out to other people who maybe worked in the music industry or to a few people who can’t stand boy bands and get their opposing opinions.
I would also possibly explore the opportunity of making this into a podcast. I enjoy talking about the subject and I know many other people do as well, but having my face one camera and constantly trying to edit a captivating video can be taxing. Thanks to this project I now have a nice condenser mic, and I have become even more comfortable in Adobe Audition. Having just an audio track also means I can focus more on meaningful sound bites and finding really good music samples to edit into the narration.
In the end, even though I could continue working on this project for a few more weeks I had to upload it and in the bottom of my youtube description I included links to other great videos that are similar to mine that give even more great info.
Who was the Biggest Boy Band in History?
The History of Boy Bands – From The Beatles to the Rise of BTS
Backstreet Boys to BTS: The Science Behind Why We Love Boy Bands
I think these videos are great examples of what I would love to create further down, as I learn to get better with lighting, audio, animation, and speaking. The biggest down falls in my project are me talking too fast trying to cram in way too much info, imperfect animations, some scratchy audio and virtually no lighting because I don’t have any at home other than just some normal house lamps.
Once I had the videos uploaded and I added a youtube profile picture and banner image, I moved over to creating a project page on my website. I of course wanted to keep my project on brand with the videos and other blog posts so all it is in various shades of pink and keeps between 3 very specific fonts which are, “Simply”, “Quicksand”, and “Poppins Light”. Through out the project page I highlight the different steps it took to complete the project and the challenges I faced and new techniques I learned. This course and this project are unlike anything else I’ve ever taken/done before so I’m happy to have finished and at lest accomplished something new. I don’t believe the work is perfect, but I don’t think it’s unwatchable either… so that’s a plus.
taylorsniffen.com 