In this sketch I’ve decided to work with text within a gaming video that has been fitted into a micro-video format.

Still working within a ‘short-video’ time frame, I’ve decided to take found footage from in-game during one of my sessions and see how I can work with it in terms of using text to change the context of which the audio would’ve told otherwise. It was quite simple to add text and animate it to move in the video during post-production mainly because I’m familiar with using Sony Vegas 13 to make my own videos. The program I’m using to record this footage is Fraps that allows you to record your desktop screen – however, it’s not a program everyone can use because firstly, despite it being HD quality, it also places a massive strain in terms of processes and memory consumption – and the file sizes are massive so you’ll essentially need a separate external hard drive to be able to store the files.

What I felt worked in this sketch was that by using text/caption in order to change/set the context of the video, I was allowed much more time to work with because reading feels faster than talking in my opinion. However, what could’ve made this piece work better is if I added some sort of music over the background probably, not loud enough to ruin the in-game sound and not soft to the point where it’s barely noticeable.

I also find that by using text, the found-footage becomes much more versatile in terms of being able to manipulate what’s being portrayed and what kind of context the video is placed under. Found-footage is difficult to work with as it’s very straight forward, you have to work with what you get, but thankfully for gaming videos, it’s only a matter of removing the communication audio and letting the game play for as it is.