The Value of a College Education in 2020?

Overview

This short video explores the value of a college education in the 21st century. While college was once a necessity for achieving success in life; our current technological state leaves me wondering: why am I paying for knowledge that is already on the internet for free?

While I am not denying that certain occupations do (and should) require a rigorous education, such as medical doctors, I am curious why people who are going into business, communications, and even certain engineering degrees, for example, are paying for college.

Even this recent pandemic has shown us just how much we can learn and complete from the comfort, and relatively cheap nature, of our own homes.  Nevertheless, their is a compelling argument that exists for both sides of this discussion.   Watch "The Value of a College Education in 2020" to further your mindset on this issue, featuring both students, industry professionals, and timeless pop hits.

Post-Production

As this course was all about using Adobe Audition and Premier Pro, I figured I would share the behind the scenes of this video.  I think my two biggest obstacles in this video was staying within the 2 minutes limit, and finding visuals that communicated my story well. Both of these were solved in post production.

As far as audio, I clipped the most important elements and spaced them out with intentionally placed music. I didn't have the time for pauses, so rather, I used music to signal shifts in mood/ topic. Ex. the first song, the middle song, and the last song.  As far as video, I just search stock photo/ stock video websites for the most relevant pictures and video and used text during my video when necessary.

I was happy with many of the video techniques I used in this video. In a few different areas, my text appeared as it was said during the podcast. This drew the audience in and allowed me to be in charge of the emphasis I wanted to put on certain phrases. I used key framing often to "Ken Burns" my still photos and to animate text/ opacity/ ext.

I also utilized masks in a few different areas to achieve my desired look for the video. I was proud with the way my "nameplates" for my professional speakers turned out. They felt clean. I am glad I took the time to Photoshop the background of my photos to give them the futuristic floating effect.

In closing I think my product turned out professionally.  A lot of this had to do with the emphasis I placed on high quality visuals (4k + ) and recording audio with professional grade equipment.  Of course, even though this is my final, it is far from perfect.  I would redo "Barry Thornburg's" nameplate with a higher quality image (If I had access to one), and work a little on the black box behind the nameplate text, for example, a black to fully clear gradient on the right side of the box... so it fades into the video. I would also re-record parts of my audio.

Behind the Scenes Screenshots

(Name Plate Overlay above) (Refining selection on Affinity Photo Below)