Let’s Go To The Movies
If all people needed was to read a book, movies would never be made. It is possible in a book to use your own imagination and to see what is happening to the characters. When you see a movie, you are watching an interpretation of the story as created by actors and a director. You often are taken to places beyond your own imagination.
Today with digital cameras and even cell phones that can capture live action, we are able to record action as well as moments. With venues such as YouTube, access to videos is quick, easy and can be really enjoyable. Using the power of words to tell a story and then enhancing the storytelling with video clips takes storytelling to another level.
In my story The Music of My Life, I talk about how hearing a song from my past elicits memories. I include a list of songs I have enjoyed over the years. The title of each song and the performer is listed. In most instances I embedded the HTML from www.YouTube.com of the original performer singing the song. The impact of hearing a song and seeing it performed is so powerful that it took me five separate parts to present the complete story.
Video Clip as a Link
The easiest way to include a link to a video is shown in How To/Insert Website Links. When you are watching a video and want to include it in a story, copy the URL from your browser and then highlight the word or phrase in your story where the link is to appear. Click on the link button in the toolbar and paste the URL. Then click on Open Link in a New Window. Click on Insert. This is the way the following link from Flixxy.com was done.
Bianca Ryan … And I’m Telling You
Working with HTML Code
While work on this website utilizes HTML code as the underlying building blocks, you usually only see what you are typing (WYSIWYG). However, if you want the YouTube video graphics for the video to show as part of the title, then you will work directly with HTML code.
Where to Find the YouTube Code You Need
For this example I am working with YouTube. Go to www.YouTube.com. I entered Johhny Mathis in the Search box. A page of choices appeared. I clicked on Misty and watched it to make sure that it was a satisfactory video.
There is information below the video. I made sure the box labeled “Include related videos” was checked. I clicked on Embed; the HTML code for the video was then highlighted. I copied the HTML information. You can decide for yourself if you want a border included. Try it with and without.
Once you have the video code, click on the story’s 
icon. If you are starting with a blank page this is the way the box will appear. Place your cursor in the box and paste the HTML code. Then click update.
If there already are text or images on the page, the box will look similar to the one below. For people new to working with code, simply place your cursor at the end of the displayed code and then paste in your new code. Click update at the bottom of the dialog box. Whenever you delete something from a page, some of the HTML code will still show but it will be benign. Members who are comfortable with the code can actually manipulate it.
Here is how the HTML Source Editor looks after the Johnny Mathis Misty video code has been added. Click update.
Following is how the video will appear once it has been inserted and updated in the story’s HTML box. I have found that it often is necessary to save the story as a draft two separate times before the HTML code will appear correctly. Click on the video box and then center align.
Save the story as a draft. When you open the draft, here is how the video will be displayed.
Below is what you see after the video has played. Notice that at the bottom of the video screen there are additional links available for Johnny Mathis. Having this feature greatly enhances the enjoyment of your story. Note of Caution: It is advisable that you review the additional video links presented. If there are any objectionable videos, it is a good idea to delete the video from your story and then recapture the video code without the “Include related videos” option.
Hint: There will be times when you have added a video or image that takes up the balance of the visible page. You decide to add something else after the image but cannot get your cursor to position itself properly. In event this happens, place your cursor just above the image and click Enter several times. This moves the image down and increases the length of the page. Then cut and paste your last image to fill in the added spaces. You now should be able to find space below the image to display your cursor and add more text or another image or video. Remove any extra space at the end of a story before you save it.
Speed of Connections
One thing that can slow down opening a story with video clips is when the story content is very large. My story The Music of My Life originally was in one part with over 100 video clips included. Opening that story took a while. That is why I split it into six parts.