Synopsis:

I live with a horror hound. My spouse has been watching horror since they were tiny, to hear them talk, and frankly, while I enjoyed cheesy “creature features” and Alfred Hitchcock movies and all things goth before we met, it wasn’t afterwards that it became quite so… all-encompassing, shall we say? Now, I grew up with idea of goth being The Crow and The Craft and movies of that ilk, and my music tastes have always run somewhere between Stevie Nicks and Magica… so the idea of creating an Appalachian Gothic Horror story, in the vein of the ones often featured on Tiktok was always going to appeal to me: If you hear something, no, you didn’t. If you see something, no, you didn’t. And if something says your name, run and hide because there are things in the forest that are older than the trees.

Media Assets:

I drove up to the North Georgia mountains over a weekend and filmed for several hours. Most of it is recorded on a Canon R7 mirrorless camera, but I also recorded more than a bit on my iPhone 13 Pro as well. Most of it was shot in the Dawsonville area around Amicalola Falls, while a tiny bit was also shot just alongside the road when I saw a shot I liked. Likewise, I provided all the voiceovers and background whispers. Background sound effects are listed below.

Software:

• Adobe Photoshop Pro 2024 – Cover Image
• Adobe Premiere Pro 2024 – Everything else

Sound Effects:

• Paranoia by Fission9 is licensed on Creative Commons 0
• Deep Scary Growl by SamsterBirdies is licensed on Creative Commons 0
• Scary Horror Terror Shriek by SamsterBirdies is licensed on Creative Commons 0
• Scary Shrieking Monsters in a Cave by SamsterBirdies is licensed on Creative Commons 0

Narration by Shonda Sampson

Synopsis: Family Christmas to Orlando turns tragic the day after Christmas. My aunt died from an asthma attack early the next morning

Content & Creation: Visual images were personal pictures taken during the trip and previous pictures taken of the main character in the story. The video was created and edited using Adobe Creative Cloud. Exported as 1080p to a mp4 file on YouTube.

Visual images and Audio

Pictures by Shonda Sampson download on 3/9/24 license by CC0 1.0 DEED

Family breakfast.2

Dinner 6

Family picture 5

House rules 1

Shopping day 3

Shopping day 4

Pictures by Sylvia Collins download on 3/9/24 license by CC0 1.0 DEED

Mother Collins 8

Siblings 9

Sylvia 10

Pictures by Kenderick Collins download on 3/11/24 license by CC0 1.0 DEED

Women’s Program 11

Sylvia

Forget  sound by Oleksii Kaplunskyi license by pixabay

The story is about a man having a hard time adapting to retirement. He samples new activities that do not pan out and by happenstance realizes the best way to fill his time is doing something he’s always enjoyed.

The video shots are stock footage from Videvo. The two original images are derivatives of creative commons assets (Griffen’s Presentation and Title). The rest were creative commons assets from Flickr and Snapstock.io . The audio narration was original but background music and sound effects are from Freesound.  It is worth mentioning, several of the Gruffalo images have the same name but they’re different.

Adobe Premiere was used to do the entire project. Voiceover was recorded straight into the video, and edited in Audition (concurrently) The original images were edited in Photoshop. Simple edits, removing text and inserting an image into the computer screen.

Assets

Freesound Background Music: Sad Emotional Piano for Documentaries Films by UNIVERSFIELD is licensed under CC BY 4.0

Freesound Background Music: Full of Energy by code_box is licensed under CC0 1.0.

Voice/Narrator:  Griffin’s Story by A Stephens is licensed under CC BY 4.0

Flickr Image:  Title by A Stephens is a derivative of Back cover” by Boston Public Library is licensed under CC BY 2.0. downloaded 3/28/24

Videvo Video: Reveal Shot of Man Sat on Park Bench by Videvo is a marked with Videvo Attribution License

Freesound Background Music: Sad Emotional Piano for Documentaries Films by UNIVERSFIELD is licensed under CC BY 4.0

StockSnap.io Image: DJ Music Free Stock Image” by Søren Astrup Jørgensen is marked with CC0 1.0.

Flickr Image:  “Raja Ram DJing – nagisa music festival 2011 autumn osaka154” by Mixtribe Photo is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Flickr Image:  “Old School DJ” by drarkane is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Flickr Image:  “Guy at the disco giving a thumbs down” by Ivan Radic is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Freesound Sound Effects: peak-dj-stop.wav by mikobuntu is licensed under CC BY 4.0

Freesound Sound Effects: DJ Sting Drop.WAV by Otterbahn is licensed under CC BY 4.0

Freesound Sound Effects: Crowd Booing 3.mp3 by mrrap4food licensed under CC0 1.0

Flickr Image:  In Contemplation” by StuartWebster is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Flickr Image:  “Showing on Computer” by laurenandhaste is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Flickr Image:  VPN & Internet Security on Your Computer for Online Privacy” by mikemacmarketing is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Videvo Video: Young Caregiver Talking To Senior Man In Glasses While Helping Him Use Smartphone Application by Videvo is a marked with Videvo Attribution License.

Freesound Sound Effects:  Short Text and Send.mp3 by tourner is lcensed under CC0 1.0

StockSnap.io Image:  Sad Alone” by Søren Astrup Jørgensen is marked with CC0 1.0.

Griffin Presents by A Stephens is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 and is a derivative of “Man Holding Laptop Computer Typing While Dog Watches” by Image Catalog licensed with CC0 1.0; Nikola Tesla, with his equipment by Dickenson V Alley is Pubic Domain; Lake Wales Spook Hill north03.jpg by Ebyabe is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 and Digital photo taken by Marc Averette. Spook Hill in Lake Wales. 10/15/06 by Marc Averette – CC BY 3.0. all downloaded on March 23, 2024.

Videvo Video:  Meeting Of Coworkers In The Office Making A Video Call by Freepik is licensed under  Videvo Attribution License

Freesound Sound Effects:  S12-08 Polite crowd laughter; ‘poor guy”; good bg; some distortion.wav  by craigsmith is licensed under  CC0 1.0

Flickr Image: Old Runner A2” by Maxwell GS is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Flickr Image: “Old Runner A3” by Maxwell GS is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Freesound Sound Effect: heavy breathing while running by florianreichelt licensed under CC0 1.0.

Videvo Video:  Close Up Of Person Watering Plants in Garden With Hose In Mumbai India by Videvo is a marked with Videvo Attribution License

Flickr Image:  Litter by Daniel Novta is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Flickr Image:  Wetted by David Goehring is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Freesound Sound Effect: “Tin Can 02.wav” by Tim_Veberne is licensed under CC0 1.0..

Freesound Sound Effect: Waterhose-Water on pavement.wav by Stefanimator is licensed under CC0 1.0.

Flickr Image: “Old neighbour” by colinlogan is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Flickr Image:  Creggan Country Park say hello to the Gruffalo! by The Big Lunch is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Flickr Image:  “Millisle Primary School and Nursery visit from the Gruffalo” by The Big Lunch is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Flickr Image:  “Rathlin Big Lunch Gruffalo visit” by The Big Lunch is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Flickr Image:  “Rathlin Big Lunch Gruffalo visit” by The Big Lunch is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Flickr Image:  “Rathlin Big Lunch Gruffalo visit” by The Big Lunch is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Sound Effects: 10944 scared children screaming.wav by Robinhood76 is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0

Sound Effect: Old Men Growl.wav by cmilo1269 licensed under CC0 1.0.

About the Story

On its second-to-last voyage, in 1867, the Atlantic Steamer was saved by an unexpected crewman and his sauerkraut. This story is a true tale that has been passed down to me, as my ancestors survived what could have been a horrendous maritime disaster if it hadn’t been for a quick-thinking cook.

The Process

Photos were edited in Photoshop and exported as PNG files, then imported into a Canva presentation. Slides and assets were duplicated and objects were moved slightly in each slide to create the effect of animation. Text was added to sections to follow the narration to give the impression that this is a non-fiction storybook, and also accessible. Photos were edited with filters to give similar continuity throughout, and the slide durations were adjusted to match the length of the narration. Finally, the project was exported from Canva and imported into GarageBand to record the narration and balance audio.

Images:

“Hook family portrait, December 1924” by whatsthatpicture is marked with Public Domain Mark 1.0.

“Metagama Twin-Schrew Atlantic Passenger Steamer …..” is marked with Public Domain Mark 1.0.

“The Atlantic Ocean (map), Thomas” is marked with CC0 1.0.

“flame-texture-10” by designshard is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

“Lewes Bonfire Night 2007 – Wall of Flame” by Dominic’s pics is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

“Kvinna vid handpump på Stora Kornö” by Gösta Skoglund is marked with CC0 1.0.

“Man climbing a tree – early 1900s” by Aussie~mobs is marked with Public Domain Mark 1.0.

“atlantic ocean” by chrisf608 is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

“59 CDV of butcher” by rich701 is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

“Holy Smoke Sauerkraut” by Gary Soup is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

“Men posing on the deck of a ship” by simpleinsomnia is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

“PLYMOUTH SHIPWRECK VECTIS WRECK ON ROCKS OLD PHOTO POSTCARD SHOWS SHIP 1912” by mark’s vintage topographical postcards is marked with Public Domain Mark 1.0.

Audio:

“Australia – Ocean Water Laps CU Active w Ship Horn, Bird and People in BG.wav” by earsaregood is marked with CC0 1.0.

“Fire Fuse Ignite Flame” by EminYILDIRIM is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

“Water Drop 1.wav” by Obvsly is marked with CC0 1.0.

“Wood Break Planks Multiple 3” by Sheyvan is marked with CC0 1.0.

“fizzlehiss.wav” by Saltbearer is marked with CC0 1.0.

“R07-42-Waves of Cheers.wav” by craigsmith is marked with CC0 1.0.

“Fight the Sea (Instrumental Version)” by Josh Woodward (Instrumental Versions) is licensed under CC BY 3.0.