Supporting my wife's hobby, I find myself making another commercial. It's a good cause, the Texas Independent Flock Owners Association supports and promotes agriculture in Texas.
As with the TXDF commercial, I had no budget and only the equipment I already own. That is, a couple of GoPro cameras, a rig mounting system, a stabilizing gimbal, a cheap-o shotgun microphone, an external battery pack, and duct tape (for the battery).
Surprisingly, the dialog came very easy for me. I can't sell anything that I don't believe in, but I believe in the goals of TXIFOA - so it was a breeze. I decided to mislead with the title. Poultry exhibitors breed champions - that's their primary goal. I flipped that name on its head where it comes to the juniors, the champions you're raising are the kids.
I thought it was clever.
My favorite editor
I edited the video using OpenShot. While some might not like it - it meets my one criteria: it's free. I do video work rarely, and not professionally, so I need to keep costs down. While there may be some production advantages to paid non-linear-editors, the price tag is generally a big drawback when the cost of production is coming out of your pocket.
I don't have a sound booth
The most difficult part is/was recording the voiceover. Can I afford a good microphone? No. Well, that's not exactly true - I could if I wanted to. The trouble is, I use it so rarely - I can't justify the expense of a good microphone, so I squeak by with an OK JLabs microphone. With some 3d prints and springs, I've isolated it from vibration - but there's no way to isolate it for echo without having a recording booth.
This is where my wife had a great idea. She asked, "what about recording in the car?" It only took a nanosecond for that to register. Small space (much less distance to create echo), mostly covered in sound-deadening material (sound absorbing, so less echo again), isolated from most external sounds - it was perfect. Thanks babe!
So, a not-so-pro-tip: next time you need to reduce echo without a sound booth - record in your car.
I'm happy with the result
Ultimately, since I'm paying for it, my opinion is really all that matters. I have heard from several people that they were moved, and that does make me feel good about the product. After all, when the cost is $0 - the value is .
