A video project about the little things Document Your Life is an online video project that will hopefully make you notice the beautiful little things in the world, and inspire you to live your life to the fullest. The idea is that you film short clips of the best things you've seen & done, and compile them into a monthly video. If you have any questions about the project, feel free to e-mail me! Remember to first check the FAQ and info pages to see if your question has already been answered.
Document Your Life for beginners: your first video in 6 steps
New year, new resolutions! Are you interested in getting started with the Document Your Life project? DYL team member and contributor Laura recently published a video with tips for beginners. For your ease and comfort, we have listed a short version of her tips down below.
1. Choosing the right equipment
Pick a suitable camera for equipment. It doesn’t have to be high quality or expensive, as long as it works. Do bear in mind that if you’re using a phone camera, you should always film horizontally.
Things you need for this step:
a camera that works
2. Planning and filming
Though DYL videos might seem beautifully spontaneous to you, it actually requires some careful planning.
It is very important that you make sure you have your camera with you in the right place and at the right time, so have a look at your calendar and see what events you would like to show in your video. Be sure to make a conscious effort to film during these events. Furthermore, make sure you get permission to film from the people you are filming.
Things you need for this step:
camera with full batteries and enough space on its memory card
permission from people appearing in your video
3. Importing your material
During your first few months, I would recommend an early start for the editing process. This will make the largest task (editing a month’s worth of materials) less overwhelming.
First, make sure you’ve got suitable editing software that you know how to use. Start out with a basic one, such as Apple or Window’s standard video editing software.
Import materials whenever you can and sort them out. This will save you a lot of work and time at the end of the month.
Things you need for this step:
editing software
4. Editing
At the end of the month, you should have all of your work gathered into one project.
Now it’s time to cut away nasty bits, for example bits of clips that are too shaky or out of focus. You can also start cutting some of your clips shorter.
Afterwards, you can add a title screen showing the name of the video (Document Your Life + month), and an end screen for final annotations (to be added later on YouTube). The end screen must not be shorter than 5 seconds.
5. Adding music
We’re onto the last and at times most difficult task: picking the right music. The soundtrack has to suit the general atmosphere of your video, but more importantly, it has to have a good license. Copyrights to music can be checked in the Youtube audio library: here you will find any restrictions your video might have if you choose to use a certain song. For example, your video might not be viewable worldwide if you pick a very popular song.
After you’ve picked a good song, you import this into your video and edit it to the sound of the music. Once you’re finished and satisfied with the result, you may export the video.
6. Exporting and uploading
After your video has been exported, you should do an extra check by playing it on your computer. If everything looks okay, you can start uploading.
Don’t forget to credit the Document Your Life project in your description and to add the end screen! This can all be done in Youtube’s video manager. You can also add tags, make your own Document Your Life playlist, and upload your own thumbnail.
More information
We recommend watching the video above if you would like to see a more elaborate version of this 6-step guide. You can also ask us questions on Twitter or Facebook.
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