Capcut is an editing software mainly used on mobile phones. I could have used other editing software, such as Adobe Premiere Pro, but decided to stick with the app I already have experience with through videos I produced using it in the past. Cap cut is simple to navigate when making a sequence for a video, finding the effects and extracting audio such as music or people talking. What impresses me about the app is the ability to adjust the audio clips I have. With every background music I have, I could turn down the volume so that the audience can hear my participants' stories in their most memorable place
Canva is the online graphic design tool I used to edit the images I have taken for the project. Despite the constant micro transactions the website regularly promotes, most of the tools are free to use, and I can navigate from one section to another to decide which template I want to use. I was able to import the images of areas in Merton easily and make each of them take up a slide to add text. Canva gives a variety of fonts to pick from, which gave me the idea to use different fonts for each slide to give some sort of identity for the participants I have interviewed
For filming and taking pictures for the project, I used my phone, which is an iPhone 12. I figured that there wasn’t a need for me to borrow an actual camera, as the camera quality of my phone is decent. And I want the audience to have that feeling of nostalgia for places through a phone, as that is the device people use the most daily, and capture memories by taking videos and pictures of what they’re doing outside.
When editing the clips on CapCut, I attempted to adjust the sound of the videos I filmed so that the audience could hear the background noises in the area I was in. However, the wind took up most of the crowd's noise and the birds' chirping. Maybe for next time, I should borrow an ambience microphone that can capture all the sounds around to make feeling of the areas feel more authentic and realistic to the audience.
Youtube is the platform I used to extract music to the several videos I have of people's memories on Capcut. I simply screen recorded the music I researched that captures the feeling of nostalgia and memories. I looked for music that are more recent that the younger generation, specifically gen z would most likely listen to on their phones. As my project focuses more on that audience. I also used this platform to upload the 8 videos of people's memories and provided links on the home website of my portfolio.
Here is a slideshow of all the posters I created from Canva. Each of them consists of areas in Merton along with quotes from several people telling us their memories of those areas. I chose to have the quotes scattered across the images to show that the areas isn't just something to look past everyday and think nothing of it, it means something deep to people who have been there and have enjoyed themselves because of what they have experienced in those areas of Merton. I have also included images of friends at these areas further reinforcing their reasons their love for the areas are so strong.
I produced several short videos available on YouTube which consists of those participants who chose to talk about their memories of the areas they mentioned through voice messages. Each of their stories can relate to audience who are likely from the same generation as them meaning they too can also be reminded and cherished of their own memories as they watch the videos.
Here are the songs I used for each of my videos for the project. I chose songs that depict the nostalgic feeling of coming across an area that the participants have the most memories of in the borough of Merton. Most of the music is instrumental because the singing would disrupt what the individuals are saying in the videos. It adds more emotion into each footage of how much they cherish the areas they deem the most memorable in a happy sense, but also sad, as they are unable to relive the memories as much anymore as they have gotten older.
© Balmorhea - Remembrance
© Explosions in the Sky - Your Hand in Mine
© Hammock - Everything and Nothing
© Sigur Ros - Untitled #3 (Samskeyti)
© Tycho - A Walk
© hisohkah, WMD - School Rooftop (Bird Sounds)
To add more nostalgia to the project, I included 2 sound effects I found on YouTube into 2 of the videos I created through CapCut. A participant mentioned how they used to play football during lunchtime at school, while the other remembers riding his bike with his dad through Mitcham Common. I believe adding sound effects would make the audience who relate to the stories have a throwback to themselves in their childhood doing similar activities to them. Sounds they would hear all the time because of the fun they had in areas that mean so much to them.