Back in September, I had applied for a Regional Outreach Coordinator position with Vision Zero ND. I made it to the finalist stage and was given an assignment to make a social video that had to be 2-4 minutes long — a bit long for social, but I’m guessing that was part of the challenge.
The email was sent on Wed. afternoon, I read it on Thurs. and it was due Mon. by noon. Ok then! I didn’t have access to Adobe Audition and Premiere Pro at the time, so I needed an idea that could circumvent that limitation.
I chose the concept I liked best on Sun., did some research and developed the script. I was going to do a timelapse, which is an iPhone camera option, but it doesn’t offer human control over the shutter speed and just automatically compresses what you shoot down to between 20-40 seconds.
That wouldn’t do. Plan B.
I have a phone holder on the dash of my old Nissan Xterra, but not positioned so it could normally act as a dash cam. I was able to MacGyver it by balancing my iPhone on top of a phone charger (one that normally goes in the cigarette lighter socket) placed sideways on the bottom of the holder.
Then off I went! While my precariously perched iPhone camera recorded at normal speed — and in focus most of the time — I drove around Bismarck for a little over a half hour. It was still road construction season, so those sites added to the safe driving message.
The hardest part was doing the voiceover while I was driving. I had to speak much lower and slower than usual so when I later sped up the continuous shot, I would sound normal.* 12x speed was the magic number and it made the video just over 2.5 minutes long, easily fitting in the required 2-4 minute window.
Alas, I didn’t get the gig, but I did make this video and it was good practice, so I’m sharing it because I think it has a good and easy-to-digest message. Now then, where do I send the bill?
*not really
#socialmedia #northdakota #visionzero #driving #safety