A new course teaching how to make cat videos will start next spring at Helsinki Labor University.
It sounded like a joke.
– I was thinking about Pilates or yoga, or I would return to my old hobby of solo singing, but then I saw the ABC course of Kissavideos, Hentunen says.
He still had to check online, from the common registration channel of the civic and labor colleges in the capital region, whether the course is really true.
The spouse was also excited to join.
At the same time, the course offered the teenagers’ parents a fun time together.
The film director tells you to play
Film director Kaisa Rastimo advises you to take time and be playful when filming cats and all other animals.
– The attitude must be happy, playful and curious, just like an animal. A lot goes wrong, but it doesn’t matter, Rastimo says while trying to get a good close-up of his own dog.
– It didn’t obey me, but you shouldn’t get nervous about it, but just calmly try to make contact. Pets understand speech surprisingly well.
According to Rastimo, many also make the mistake of photographing the animal from above.
– In the film, a person’s eyes are the mirror of the soul, the same applies to an animal. You have to go to the animal’s eye level.
You should also think about the amount and direction of light.
– For example, in sunny weather, the background is easily overexposed. If you want to bring out shades of dark fur, you should focus on a different point on the mobile phone and in a different light.
Rastimo advises to think about the beginning, middle and end of the video, i.e. the story, and to use different image sizes (http://vintti.yle.fi/yle.fi/mediakompassi/mediakompassi/4-6-luokokalaiset/kuvakoulu/kuvan-lumo/kuvakoot.htm ), not just wide or close-up.
– Cellphone cameras are so good these days that you can also use them to do camera runs, which gives the video a more cinematic expression, he advises.
In his opinion, Rastimo advises to store good and unique material in the cloud instead of a mobile phone.
Many are unnecessarily afraid of editing.
– With the help of curiosity, you can learn how to use difficult editing applications. Take the attitude that what will happen if I click that button. A whole world opens up from there.
However, Rastimo admits that it is easier to edit a more ambitious cat video on a computer than on the small screen of a mobile phone, because sound effects and music are also part of a good cat video.
– Here you have to remember the copyright, but you can search for sound or music with the keywords royalty free, no charge, no coast and free download.
In its courses, Rastimo also emphasizes a respectful attitude towards animals. Under no circumstances should the animal suffer from filming and, for example, be dressed in doll clothes.
Helsinki University of Labor plans to renew the course organized for the first time this fall also next spring, if enough people sign up.
Rastimo got the idea for the cat video course years ago at Espoo’s Labor College, when the participants in his video course had difficulty coming up with a topic for their video. Rastimo himself had a cat at the time, and cat videos started to spread on social media.
Dog owners also participated in this fall’s Cat Videos ABC course.
Riikka Hentunen plans to practice editing more on her own now that the autumn course is over.
– I haven’t thought about YouTube, maybe I can share something with my friends, he says.
Husband Börje Hiltus laughs that now friends are bored with cat videos on Facebook.
– The current world situation needs cat videos and other things to soften this harshness, he sums up.
*You can discuss the topic from Wednesday evening, November 30, 2022, until 11 p.m.*