The inspiration for this story is the result of work that I have been doing for the Waste Less Food campaign that is being run by Thurston County Solid Waste. I have produced that majority of their promotional materials for the campaign, and have also created the web pages that support the campaign.
My original plan was to do a video on recovered food, which is leftover food from restaurants and schools that is picked up by our local food bank, repackaged and distributed to those in need. But, getting them to commit to this proved impossible.
So, for plan B, I decided to do a video about how to waste less food at home. The tips that I presented are just of few of those outlined in a document by Thurston County Solid Waste.
I initially wrote my script thinking about what I really wanted to focus on. I recorded the audio, taking several takes before getting it to something that I was satisfied with.
After that I developed my shot list as recommended in the reading. I recorded all of the video at my home. Some of it was a bit challenging because I was recording myself using a tripod. Ultimately, I enlisted the help of my husband so that I could get better quality video. Based on the reading, I took wide shots, medium shots and some detail shots.
I also recognized that I would need some images, all of which I downloaded from Flickr.
With my script in hand, I started a very cursory story board. I imported all of my images, audio and video into Premiere and started piecing things together. This took far longer than I had anticipated and included editing the audio, and selecting the portions of each video clip that I was using. I used some of the editing tips outlined in the reading, primarily the ripple edit. Once I had a better idea of what I had to work with I refined my story board.
I added some titles over some of the images and video to emphasize the costs of wasted food.
I used some of the video editing tips, especially dissolves, as highlighted in the reading to create better transitions between the video clips and images. I also used a fade to black at the beginning and end of the video.
I know that there is still much work to be done on this, as I really haven’t done anything with color or with the audio.
Looking forward to your feedback.
Story board:
| Timestamp | Visuals | Audio |
| 0:00 | Dip to black | None |
| 0:05 | Still of food in garbage with title | Voice over begins |
| 01:07 | Lettuce being thrown away | Voice over continues |
| 05:04 | Strawberries being thrown away | Voice over continues |
| 07:04 | More food being thrown away | Voice over continues. |
| 11:15 | Watering garden | Voice over continues |
| 18:14 | Water going down drain | Voice over continues |
| 24:06 | Taking out garbage | Voice over continues |
| 31:15 | Still of landfill | Voice over continues |
| 38:04 | Menu writing | Voice over continues |
| 46:20 | Calendar close up | Voice over continues |
| 49:08 | writing shopping list | Voice over continues |
| 53:04 | Checking freezer | Voice over continues |
| 57:21 | Still of produce aisle | Voice over continues |
| 1:02:18 | Still of bulk food section | Voice over continues |
| 1:07:21 | Prepping food | Voice over continues |
| 1:16:04 | frozen leftovers | Voice over continues |
| 1:20:06 | Still of plate scraping | Voice over continues |
| 1:20:21 | Credits roll | Voice over ends |
| 1:27:08 | Dip to black |
Resources:
Fresh Food in Garbage Can to Illustrate Waste by Flickr user U.S. Department of Agriculture – Some rights reserved Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic
IMG_3991 by Flickr user Isreal Yanez – Some rights reserved – Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic
Behold thy Landfill by Flickr user Justin Ritchie – Some rights reserved – Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic
110303_CNPP_LSC_0018 by Flickr user USDA Photo by Lance Cheung – Some rights reserved Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic
The wall by Anna – Some rights reserved Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic
Plate scraping by Flickr user jbloom – Some rights reserved – Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic
Summary self-critique:
I am so appreciative of the comments from my group members. I know that their feedback will help me create a better video. I think that I am still disappointed about not being able to get the story that I wanted, but their commentary makes me feel like I can still do something that has an impact.
I will incorporate David Johnson’s feedback on the positioning of the text above the cow, and will be adding periods to the sentences that he mentions. I will also revise the copy for the text over the landfill. I especially like his suggestion of adding a still with a summary of the five tips. Both he and David Green mentioned to slow down the credits, which I will do.
David Green’s comments centered on timing of the titles, so I will work to ensure that I give each of those adequate time. I like his suggestion of having a solid background for the credits–doing this would allow me to impose the five tips over the plate scraping image.
Love the feedback!
Getting Strategic 
I enjoyed your story very much because I find the subject very interesting and I try and practice the five easy things to do to waste less food in my household. I thought your close-ups were well done. They complimented your voice over very well. You use of the Cross Dissolves added a nice effect. On the message with the cow in background, I recommend centering it in the middle of the screen. This is where our eyes will naturally focus too. Also, you left out a period at the end of the sentence. On your rolling scroll, try and slow down the speed. I missed it the first time I reviewed the video. Again, add a period at the end of the sentence. For the text over the landfill scene, the sentence doesn’t read well. I would rewrite it to match your voice over. At the end, you may want to consider adding a still slide that summarizes the five steps to take in order to waste less food. This is ultimately what you want the viewer to take-away from your story, right? And lastly, I recommend slowing down the roll on your credits. Overall, your video lays out the main points about saving food and gives the viewer an awareness of the issue here in the U.S.
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Hi Nicky,
This is a very interesting and informative video. First off, let me say that your video transitions are spot on. Very easy to follow and work well with your video. The Five easy things you can do to waste less food at home is excellently done and the transitions are perfect between each point.
Here are some ideas that I have gathered by watching your video, which may help you with your final story:
First, you should leave your title up on the screen for a bit longer, it seems to just be there for a moment and I found myself still processing it, when you began talking and it was off the screen. Also, at :23, the text about how much water it takes to produce one pound of beef is very brief and I had to pause the tape to read it. You should leave it up there for a couple of more seconds so the viewer can follow along. At :28, the text crawl you use cuts off too fast. Finally, the end credits are difficult to read. The black text color blends in too much with the background. You may want to go to a solid background for your text roll. Also, if you stretch out your text roll on your timeline (you have plenty of room since your video only runs 1:27, your roll will slow down and be easier to read. As you can see, the only real thing I had to mention about your video was the text portions. Take a look back at Michael Beam’s video on adding text and it may give you some good ideas about adding and editing text in your video.
Great job with this draft, Nicky. I can’t wait to see your final product.
David
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