Where there’s a will, there’s a mean

“Help! My high school classmates are organizing an event with teachers to celebrate we turning 50th years old.’ Cried my friend in desperation. “Now tell me how to do a video slideshow, you are the expert! Time is running short, I have barely less than two weeks to work on it!”

Since when have I become the expert? I murmured to myself. I started to play around and teach video slideshow in my workshop about half a year ago. In this technological world, half a year is almost a light-year, I supposed. “What are your requirements? I am only a few months ahead of you but I will help.” I said.

“I need to create photos slideshow or video to be flashed out in the event. I got a lot of photos from my old high school holidays. Not sure what is the best way to add music. Worst-case scenario I will use PowerPoint.”

The pervasiveness of social media means the ease of tapping into each other’s memories bank. The mobile phone has replaced the scanner as a tool to digitise old photos for a new lease of life! The powerful mobile-native apps have greatly simplified and reduced the learning curve. The above factors have created a perfect storm. The mobile is an easy platform to create video slideshow consisting of pictures, music, and videos integrating different sources of rich media that unfold our common life stories.

Problems solved? Not quite.  My friend hates to use the mobile due to its small footprint. Luckily, there are solutions that provide interoperability between mobile and PC browsers! Based on the video tutorial for my workshop’s learners, my friend who is not very IT-savvy was able to create a video slideshow quickly.

Reflecting, it would seem inconceivable a few years ago as the mobile does not even support high definition and such mobile apps were not in existence. Well, the mobile solution is an instant coffee (quick-fix) approach. There are still subtle differences delivered by professional tools that complete the finishing touch.

Curious to know the outcome, I checked with my friend who successfully created a two-part video. The first part captured the innocent formative teenage years in school where they were just thirteen years old students. The second part recorded the many gatherings since they had left school, fast forward to recent years when they hit the half-century mark. The contrast is evident, while the old school building and classroom remain, some teachers had passed on. “I want to do this quickly to thank my teachers! Running out of time!” exclaimed my friend. I understand her feeling of urgency! Is it now or never! I am glad I was able to help her on this journey. It just shows that where there’s a will, there’s a way!

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