A collection of tutorials, tips, and more from a lil' nerd
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About me
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Hello!
My names is James and I am 22! I am a videography/graphic design hobbyist, wanting to explore my passion and turn it into a freelancing career. I have been video editing the longest, 11 years in total which makes me feel really old, but I do have a large amount of knowledge in multiple video styles and aesthetics such as typography, intro/outros videos, raw/cinematic style, bouncy/quirky effects/themes, minimalist styles and any thing that might dance in between those I've mentioned! Being in four different editing communities have opened my eyes up to a lot of different styles that I've practised and adapted to!
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I do tend to do a lot of effects edits as I like to really experiment with the extremes of effects and creating really bouncy/quirky and visually appealing content, but I do tend to add a lot of typography and raw sequences amongst these edits so I can balance them out and also still practice those styles, through integrating them. Now the videos I create are not what you might expect? I don't want to call them fan videos as their is a corny stigma attached to fan videos. I like to address them media productions. I edit with a various array of footage such as game cinematics/cutscenes, T.V shows, movies and cartoons on occasion too. I piece them to songs and experiment with styles that match the theme and tempo of the song. It's a lot of scene manipulation to create an overall vibe, but I do want to look into recording my own footage to edit with so everything is created by myself in a sense? As all this footage is obviously owned by someone else and I only edit with it for personal enjoyment and to constantly practice my ability. I don't claim any profit off of these videos and I would like to make my own footage so eventually, in the future I would be able to!
Program(s) that I use:
* Sony Vegas Pro (currently 12.0)
* After effects (currently CC 2020)
WHADDUP!
An example of my colour grading practice & particle effects from a video I've halted for the moment. It's going to be a character back story video that will display the history of this character throughout the video.
The commissioned banner & icon that I did for my good friend in the editing community, for her Youtube channel
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You've now seen what I can do but I want to also say hello once again, n' tell you a little bit about me! I am quite a respectable person. I take pride in all the work that I do and I constantly keep going at it until I get something I am happy with! I once deleted a video sequence that took me three hours because I wasn't happy with how it turned out. Unless its my own crazy idealism of perfection, it ain't finished ;)
I aren't too much of a socialite per say; I don't go out drinking or partying with people but that's really because that just isn't what I would class as enjoyable. I'd rather go see a movie with a friend or just invite them over and have a movie marathon with some popcorn and drinks (whilst over analysing aesthetics within movies because my brain just won't stay still ehehe). I'm very appreciative of everyone that supports me too. As I've had a slow but constant build in subscribers and editor relations over the years I have come to appreciate every single bit of success that I have achieved and I shall thank you until I annoy you (although I really hope I don't end up doing that 8D I JUST APPRECIATE THE SUPPORT A LOT) 🥺
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I'm a friendly little soul; I don't have a massive friendship circle but those that I do have mean the absolute world to me and I am always wanting to meet new people but I've never really given myself a chance to. Get me on a topic I'm passionate about though and I will keep going for HOURS. 😂
Aside from my editing/graphic design I am a massive nerd at heart. I've been playing games on my computer for what feels like my entire life and they let me have an escape from reality sometimes when things are getting quite insane in our world. I mainly play MMORPGs with the concept of them being really appealing to me! I'm not a first person shooter kinda guy and fighting against other players just isn't what I tend to look for in a game (besides league, but the art styles and champion design is just so pretty so I MUST). I would bore you with my extensive history of MMORPGs I've played but you would be here a WHILE ok. I have been as of writing this really enjoying Final Fantasy XIV: Online. The art style and explosive visual effects are EXACTLY what I have been looking for in a game for years and I feel I've finally got what I want! I'm obsessed with cosmetics and vanity in a game as well and Final Fantasy is just ticking every single box for me right now.
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The dream that I have had in mind for about five years now is producing a short film of my own. I've day dreamed about the eventuality of making one and it always makes me really happy and keeps me driving forward to keep practising and discover new styles. As of writing this, I am looking into visual effects such as adding elements to scenes that aren't there to create new scenes all together (such as particle effects, masking in elements to create completely different environments, masking subjects into other scenes again to create a new environment for the overall vibe of the video). On top of this I have also been looking into colour grading more so and it was something I was always so nervous to try as I didn't feel I was that good at it but with a bit of practice, I feel I'm doing quite well! In spare time aside from my other hobbies, I do like to research film study/camera usage to create certain vibes based on different techniques as it amazes me what atmospheres can be created by just the correct camera angle.
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For my graphic design I have been doing this as a hobby for
just one year less than my video editing. So with still just over a
decade of experience, I've experimented with a multitude of
styles. I still feel there is always more that I can learn as graph-
ic design is an industry that is always evolving and always un-
covering new styles to try out and experiment with to create
something unique to my own brand. I mainly do quite grungy,
filled and active pieces. And by that I mean my pieces usually have
quite a lot going on in them as it content, brush strokes, typography,
vector elements, etc. When I'm creating my banner art for example, I tend to first
decide on a song that I feel matches the subject that I am going to be editing with. Colour scheme
I always pull from the actual vectors of my subject just so everything feels like it belongs with each
other. Despite me not practising icon design too much, I do keep myself educated by researching
brand icons, content creator icons and looking closely on elements within them, and what makes
them unique. I am always really amazed by logos that have hidden messages in them. Where
advanced manipulation of vector elements are used to for example, display the name of the com-pany but without just blatantly writing the name of the company and I try to experiment with that in my pieces.
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I've been recently getting into pinterest to just research different styles and just open my eyes to styles that I haven't experimented with yet and there is so much that I see on a regular basis! I can really appreciate what goes into a lot of graphic work when I consider what I go through to achieve my pieces! I have commissioned my graphic work as well to people with the video editing community. It has mainly been style sheets (visual aids to creating a style for their videos) and I have done a banner art & icon for a good friend of mine as well. I feel I can openly commission my graphic work easier than I can with my videography but they are both as equally as important to me!
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I am fully self-taught in my editing. I have achieved a D*/D*/D in my computing and IT BTEC which I did choose the pathway of media production in. I feel I've been able to learn more through teaching myself and it's made me that more humble over every achievement I've obtained. It's made me extremely grate-
ful for everyone's support through commissioning a few pieces of work off of
me, commenting/liking my videos, subscribing to me and just letting me
know how much they appreciate my work in general. Teaching myself as
really let me come out of my comfort zone with a lot of styles/aesthetics
and really think outside of the box on how I could achieve effects and how certain styles have been created.
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Program(s) that I use:
* Adobe Photoshop (currently CS5)
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My little toon on Final Fantasy
being the goofball he is o/
As well as my addiction to gaming, I do enjoy looking at other
forms of design and also dabbling in it myself! My best friend is
an amazingly talented digital artist and I just sit in awe at how she does it. I might not be able to do every form of art but I can seriously appreciate it. I do sketch here and there but I'm
god awful at it but its all an experience and something I can learn from! Photography is another arc that I REALLY want to get into but I just haven't got the right kit nor do I ever have the opportunity to get beautiful shots as I do prefer landscape/nature photography over against any other. It's so refreshing and it feels really crisp? Seeing truly breathtaking shots. Despite me being quite hooked on my gaming, I am an adventurer at heart. I love going on walks, nature trails (if only there was any where I lived) and just exploring nature (which is quite funny in itself, due to me having hay-fever 😂). I want to eventually travel and explore the world because I feel there is so much that I haven't experience and I want to-so badly! Japan, New York, Florida, New Zealand are a few high on the list! o/
Moving slightly away from one spectrum of my art form appreciation, I do also really love theatre, drama, acting, dance
and ice skating! I think its really impressive how people can just
immerse themselves in this entirely different being and portray
someone else's live so convincingly...it just leaves me
bewildered. Part of me still wishes I had done drama at colle-
ge as I've always wanted to try it! It all plays into my life goal
of making my short film. It would combine so many different
aspects together! The expression and passion that I see in
dance is so refreshing and beautiful to see. I dance like a dis-
tressed whale but when I'm alone I do practice choreography
because I just enjoy the art form so much. Another dream is
to learn how to ice skate because the elegance and fluidity
that figure skaters have is so awe-inspiring. 🥺 So when I
aren't doing any of that, you can find me comfortably
settled on my bed, scrolling through Tik Tok watching
acting PoVs, photographers, video editor, cosplayers and
whatever else happens to pop up on my 'for you page' :D
(and as you can probably tell, I love using filters on my selfies ;) )
I think that just about wraps me up! Thank you so much for giving this a read n' getting to know a little bit more about me! o/
