17 September 2013

Starring… the Elvis Girls

We spent all afternoon trying to make a family movie. It turned out to be much more difficult than we imagined. Operating the camera was the easy bit, but we couldn’t think of anything to film. (Does anyone have any ideas?) What we did record didn’t sound natural or interesting. In the end we eliminated the sound and added a music track. 

Is our movie any good? All I will say is… our movie making can’t get any worse. And maybe our next one will even be a little better!

Our movie is only a couple of minutes long. The music is good, if nothing else. Anyone willing to have a look? 

READ  Having Fun Creating Cartoons

Sue Elvis

I'm an Australian blogger, podcaster, and Youtuber. I write and speak about unschooling, parenting and family life. I'm also the author of the unschooling books 'Curious Unschoolers', 'Radical Unschool Love' and ‘The Unschool Challenge’. You'll find them on Amazon!

38 Comments

  1. So sweet! Very well put together with the music and different shots and so lovely to have that little insight into your home and personalities. I think you ladies have a lot of potential for film with those big smiles.
    One question Sue. Are they for hire? I think I need an Imogen for my kitchen 🙂

    • Kelly,

      It was great fun putting all the bits and pieces of video together in the editor and adding music! A insight into our home? I forgot to tidy up before we got the camera out! I'll have to be careful for future videos.

      I'd love to lend you Imogen. We have been known to hire her out! She cooks for us most nights. I wonder if your girls like helping in the kitchen too.

  2. That was great – so creative!! The music, editing, subjects, etc – I'm really impressed! How long did it take?

    Videos seem so much nearer than photos. Looking forward to seeing the talking ones, too.

    xoxoxo

    • Vicky,

      I started filming as Imogen was preparing dinner. I spent about half an hour getting some shots, then I started editing. I played about with the editing again after dinner, and then uploaded and posted the whole thing before I went to bed. I don't suppose it took us that long to do the video. If we'd spent more time we might have been able to make it look better!

      I think we need to prepare more carefully if we want to do a talking video. I'll have to put together some questions so the girls don't just stand and look at the camera with a blank look on their faces!

    • Lucinda,

      Thank you for watching our video! I guess the girls will reveal more about themselves as I continue filming. We went to the park at the end of the road this afternoon and I took along the camera. I am hoping to put all my shots together to make a new video. The girls were very cooperative. What did they reveal about themselves this time? They revealed they are very silly!

    • Sarah,

      You are so right: it is a challenge being creative! I know I have lots to learn but I enjoy working out how to do new things. No doubt my videos will get better as I get more experience. The music… I am so glad I had the bright idea of abandoning the voices and adding the musical soundtrack instead. It turned the project from uninteresting into something a bit more fun!

      Thank you for visiting my blog. I appreciate your comment very much!

    • Nancy,

      I don't know what happened with my images. Apparently it had nothing to do with me. I visited Blogger help and found a solution.

      I am so glad you enjoyed our movie. I didn't know whether to post it or not. It's not exactly professional. But after we spent so much time making it, I decided I'd be brave and show the world what the Elvises have been doing. With kind friends like you, it doesn't seem to matter about quality!

      A series? I have noted down all the ideas you gave me on Facebook. We'll see what we can do! Thank you so much for all your encouragement. Oh yes, thank you also for sharing on FB. I only hope your friends don't arrive expecting too much!

    • Sorry to put this in the spot meant for replying to Sarah (hi, Sarah!), but I can't get the comments screen to 'accept me' any other way. It might be (?) because the photos on the left sidebar are wider than their allotted boundaries today (they aren't always), and cover part of the comments box. They don't infringe on the box I get for "reply" because it's further to the right. Wjich is why I'm wondering if that has something to do with the snag. Anyone else having this problem?

      But of course I didn't come here to say THIS. I'm here to say that I lovethe movie and I'm hoping it becomes a "series."!! Great job, everyone!

    • Gemma,

      You watched our video 10 times? Wow! Thank you. I'dvbetter hurry up and get another video made. Have you ever tried movie making?

      God bless!

  3. I have done snippets of movie making. When my 4 older brothers were about my age they would make movies. They would always make their videos really violent, with lots of fake killing, but boys will be boys. I, however try to steer away from that
    particular genre and make my little videos a bit more easy watching.

    God Bless,
    -Gemma

    • My brothers often look with horror at their own videos and wonder what came over them. I think I should start making little movies, now that I am creating a blog soon with your niece, Bethany, who I am really great friends with! I think movie making is so much fun!

      God Bless
      -Gemma

    • Lisa,

      I certainly didn't have to remind the girls to smile!

      The cat… We've had the cat for several years. He was fully grown when he came to us, and I'm trying to remember if he was always so huge. I suspect he manages to steal quite a bit of the other cats' food! Hugely overweight… I think I wrote a blog post with that title!

    • Elizabeth,

      I'm glad your 8 year old enjoyed our movie! My girls all want to make their own movies now they've seen mine. I suspect Sophie will do much better than me. She seems to pick up on these things very quickly. I have very friendly and encouraging readers (viewers) so I don't suppose it matters about the quality of my movie. It's just fun to share!

      Thank you so much for visiting my blog and stopping to say hello!

    • Eva,

      You are so right about there not being enough room for all our books. It's just as well I buy lots of ebooks these days because they don't take up any space at all!

      Our cats are inside cats. We were given the two grey ones as adult cats and they had never been allowed outside. We have a lot of wildlife where we live so it's just as well we keep the cats in the house. I wouldn't want them to kill the beautiful birds that come to our garden. I might be able to film the colourful parakeets and kookaburras if I try! What about your cat? Does it go outside?

    • Eva,

      I like the convenience of ebooks. They are less expensive and can be downloaded instantly, and I love having a huge library of books I can carry around in my bag. Usually I only buy ebook versions of books without pictures like novels. I think that pictures look much better in a real book than they do in an ebook.

      Thank you so much for sharing Julius with me. I can see he would miss being outdoors if you insisted he stay inside.

      We also have foxes. They are an imported animal and rather a nuisance. We don't have any bears, skunks and raccoons though. Instead we have wombats, kangaroos, wallabies, rabbits (imported), lizards, snakes… Our favourite birds are the tiny fairy wrens which flit about in our garden bushes. We also love our kookaburras who sit in the trees or on the fence and laugh loudly, especially early in the morning. Magpies are very common. We also have a large number of different parrots, lorikeets, cockatoos and parakeets, all bright and colourful. There are other birds but I don't know all their names! I will have to photograph them and then try to identify them.

      Thank you for your comment. I have enjoyed chatting with you!

    • Do you like eBooks? I don't like the way they "feel."

      Our cat Julius is an outdoor/indoor cat. When it's cold, he likes to sleep indoors, in the summer he is out and about. What kind of wildlife do you have? We have foxes, bears, skunks, and raccoon, but Julius rarely comes home with wounds. Once in a while we have to take him to the vet, but he is getting older so he doesn't fight so much. He was born on a farm, so being outdoors is in his blood. We got him for free. He does kill birds and we get angry with him. My son Jonathan is a bird lover. He would love to see Australian birds. Thanks for mentioning this.

    • We also have wrens, they are fairly small too, but are not called fairy wrens. I know magpies from Germany, but they are not common here at all. Do you have hummingbirds or blackbirds? I do miss blackbirds in the U.S.

  4. This was so fun! Your young ladies are amazing and that cat of yours!!! I want to hold that wonderful creature!! I have really enjoyed your short films!! Can't wait till the next ones. So nice to "see" a bit of yur life and I love all your books and creative space, home full of love….

    • Cynthia,

      The cat is wonderful to stroke, all soft and warm! He is very placid and doesn't mind hanging over Gemma-Rose's shoulder. Actually the tortoiseshell cat likes to ride around on her shoulder like a parrot!

      Your words are so encouraging. It is kind of you to take an interest in my home movies. Can't wait until the next one? I hope you don't get fed up with my videos! I have lots of ideas. They take a bit of time to put together so I shall probably write a post or two next. Words are a lot easier!

      God bless you!

    • Miu,

      Yes, they are very friendly cats. They don't mind being carried around at all! The biggest cat is Sammy, the only male. Poppy is the tortoiseshell Himalayan Persian, and Jenny is the other grey cat.

      Thank you for stopping to say hello!

  5. Sue,

    I'm replying down here because the blog wouldn't let me type under your comment. Male and female of our wrens are about the same color, kind of brown. However, our male cardinal is very red and the female is just quite plain. They seem to be similar then to your wrens.

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