Professional Practice: Edit Process Part 1

Professional Practice: Edit Process Part 1

The editing for this commission has been an interesting experience. While not particularly challenging I have still learned a lot.

Video editing is “the process of combining video elements from various sources, into one coherent whole” (Thomas D Burrows, 2001). To do this the first step was to organise all the footage I had shot. Since I had a multi-camera set up (which proved to be a big advantage) I decided the best way would be to place all the footage in bins corresponding to the camera they were shot on. My Tascam audio would then go in a separate folder. 

I looked through each of my clips and decided which was most effective. After I had assessed this for every angle I placed them in my timeline. Once all the shots were ordered and in the timeline, I could begin to cut down on their length and see how many cuts I would need in my voice over. 

There are “Two basic edit processes that can be used in post production. Linear and Non-Linear editing”. (Thomas D Burrows, 2001, p. 182). Since I my commission was designed to inform but also keep the attention of museum visitors (who could potentially be quite young) I decided that even though I was shooting objects not people my best option would be to stick to linier editing as best as possible to acheive a coherant narrative. I also knew I had to keep it relatively short since FStoppers.com advises "With the shrinking attention span of most audiences, and all kinds of media fighting for your time on the internet, it’s often a good idea to keep your videos as short as possible" (FStoppers.com, 2014). The guildhall gave me a guideline of between 2 and 2 and a half minutes. 

My voice over was just under that so thought it best to use that as a guideline. This was the first time I had been editing footage to fit a voice over and not the other way around which was a new experience and upon reflection, was actually quite useful. 

I constantly had an audial reference of what should be displayed on screen and the pace of the audio helped me decide how many video cuts I needed. 

Although I was filming objects not people, the primary editing style used in this project was linear editing. 

I was concerned that this project wouldn't give me much of a chance to show off my skills as an editor. To overcome this I decided to utilise some of my creative skills in video manipulation, but keep it to a minimum. 

This led to the creation of a split screen effect which gives the viewer multiple viewing angles and keeps your attention with quick cuts. This received quite positive feedback when shown to my peers.

Caleb Ward writes "as an editor you are a storyteller" (Ward, 2015). I ensured that the project started with an establishing shot. Which then gently fades in to the next shot. Although the commissions I looked at primarily use cuts I found that fades help make a more gentle transition between wildly different shots.

I was able to use close up's often since the voice over aided the visuals and when talking generically I tended to cut to the pans, tracking shots and zooms. Focus pulls were great for revealing new information or when discussing a new part of the pump.

One difficulty I encountered was that some focus pulls were either missed or ineffective initially. As such I have had to re create/manipulate some in post. Also some shots featured a time code that I forgot to disable and proved quite distracting. To solve this I have been cropping and stabilizing said footage.

On the side I have been using both Adobe Illustrator and After effects to create a small animation which I hope to serve as a visual aid.

Overall the initial editing has not been that challenging but I have been able to expand my skills in after effects and illustrator. As well as experience what it is like to edit with someone else's aims in mind. 

Bibliogrpahy

Thomas D Burrows, L. S. G. J. C. F. D. N. W., (2001). Video Production Disiplins And Techniques. 8th ed. s.l.:s.n.

FStoppers.com, 2014. These 5 Video Editing Tricks Will Make Your Editing Faster and Your Videos 

More Enjoyable to Watch. [Online]
Available at: https://fstoppers.com/bts/these-5-video-editing-tricks-will-make-your-editing-faster-and-your-videos-more-50565
[Accessed 22 November 2017].

Ward, C., 2015. Professional Video Editing Tips And Techniques. [Online]
Available at: https://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/professional-video-editing-tips-and-techniques/
[Accessed 22 November 2017].