In this day and age, social media is a business in itself. With the rising popularity of self-made content creators, knowing how to film and edit engaging content for the world to see are important skills to possess.
On October 20th, the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the Formosa Association of Student Cultural Ambassadors (FASCA SFBA) hosted the second class to its virtual video series on the topic of “Promoting Taiwan Through Video”.
Culture Center of Taipei Economic and Culture Offices in San Francisco (Milpitas) Director Sophia Chuang was in attendance. She spoke on the importance of getting educated on new software and techniques available in the quickly developing field.
FASCA SFBA Advisor Sandra Su and Assistant Advisor Emma Wang worked together to plan and host the event. They spent the month and a half prior organizing details and working on class content. Also as a member of Senior FASCA and prior chapter President, Emma rallied fellow Senior FASCA member Iris Yuh and 2022-2023 SFBA chapter President Daniel Tsai to present their unique takes on video filming and editing.
Using a vlog-style filming and editing format, Emma shared a vlog of her time in Taiwan this summer, featuring jump cuts and powerful moments of friendship with fellow Senior FASCA members. She also shared her background in filming dance covers for her dance team and movie for the Taiwanese American Student Association at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). Her professional media background has allowed her to appreciate learning and refining the craft as experience is gained.
Also a UCSB Gaucho, Iris spoke about the editing tools she employed to assemble the presentation video that her team showcased in Taiwan. Despite not filming any new footage for the video, the usage of voiceovers and royalty-free media still allowed the final product to be informative and engaging. The recent update with a certain video-sharing platform has many frustrated, and she gave suggestions as to which extensions and apps one could use to bypass distractions that pop up frequently and suddenly on the video-sharing platform.
The youngest of the bunch, Daniel made many smile with his humorous video, which flaunted a plethora of high-level editing techniques. For example, rotoscoping and freeze frames were used to keep the viewer entertained. Old performance clips were shown, leading SFBA chapter members in the meeting to reminisce precious memories. Daniel shared his experience being part of FASCA and his motivation for still visiting frequently despite being a full-time college student.
Nearly fifty FASCA Advisors, members, and Senior FASCA from across North America tuned in on Friday night to learn how to create high-value videos with captivating elements. UCSB TASA staff members also joined in on the virtual seminar.
