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Editing long video sequences

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Happy Days:
I know this is a little bit off topic, but purely in an effort to share knowledge…… :)

When I was a teenager I worked as a projectionist in a local cinema. After watching the same film 20 or more times each week it was possible learn some of the principles of how they were ’put together.’ (Films I mean, not projectionists )

Although there are exceptions, as a general rule, most shots are on screen for no more than 8 seconds (Watch any TV production or film and count the number of seconds any one shot is on screen. Most will be less than 8 seconds.)

One way an editor has of showing an audience a long section of the same footage is to cut the footage into varying lengths, normally between 4 and 8 seconds. Then “join” the sections together with, what used to be called a ‘Cross Fade’. Today (in Windows Movie Maker at any rate) this transitions is referred to simply as a “Fade”.

Doing this gives the audience the impression of the passing of time, increase the ‘pace’ of the film, and serves to hold the audience’s attention better.

Look, here are two examples of the same footage. The first, as was originally posted some years ago, (No offence intended to the original editor,) the second has been cut into a series of shorter scenes with Cross Fades to join them up.
Same footage, same sound track, just slightly tighter editing.

 It’s largely a personal preference thing, and the difference is only subtle,  but see which one you prefer.

http://vimeo.com/14953418

Keith

Richard Boyd:
Extremely interesting Keith, your a man of many talents.
I was using windows for editing and it was simple for a num scull like me. The problem I then found was youtube did not like the soft ware used by windows and quality disappeared. I then bought Sony vega editing and this is way about my head although the rendering gives a great quality improvement in youtube. I then bought a new camcorder and it came with samsung free editing but it is very limited.
I guess like all things in life , practise makes perfect and always listen to good advice.
Have you any other tips to share.

Richard

Happy Days:
Glad you found it interesting Richard.

I find that Vimeo gives slightly better picture quality and seems to work fine with Windows Movie Maker. If you’re happier using that editing suit than Vega I’d suggest you return to it. W.M.M. is all I’ve ever used, (apart from the time before digital video……. standard 8mm film and all that jazz!)

In my opinion it’s best to use what you’re comfortable with. You really don’t need complex programmes or multitudes of transitions to make an interesting video.

For instance, 99.9% of transitions in commercially produced films come down to just three basic methods of changing a shot.
Straight cut = one shot ends, another shot begins.
Cross Fade = as shown in previous posting.
Fade out/Fade in = One shot fades out (Normally to a black screen) and the next shot fades in……(from a black screen.) This transition is normally used to infer a long passing of time, or to lead the viewer to believe they are seeing something happening in a different location from the previous shot. (Or both)

Generally, as I said in my previous posting, keep the shots to between 4 and 8 seconds duration. (Less than 4 second and sometimes it can be difficult for the viewer to recognise what they’ve seen, longer than 8 seconds and they start scratching their bums or going to sleep. :shock: )

There are too  many things to tell you it all Richard, and I’m by no means an expert anyway, I guess the best tips I can suggest are,;

KIS….. Keep It Simple ………don’t try for too many complex things.

Generally….. “Short is sweet, Long is Wrong“. A short film that’s interesting is better than endless images which mean little to the viewer.

And finally…….

Just watch what the pro’s do. i.e. When you next sit down to watch a film don’t allow yourself to get drawn into the story or plot, just watch the actual images. (It helps if you turn the sound off.)

Oh,…………. one more thing comes to mind………Because of the way handy camcorders work, often the picture quality (particularly of fast moving objects) isn’t that good. Sometimes interspersing moving images with still photographs can work well,………..or do away with the moving images completely and just use stills, (a slide show). Like you did with the video you posted off the N.I. Air show. That was very good. (It helped that you chose a slightly quirky sound track………………Of course sound tracks can be edited as well……..but that’s another story! :lol: )

Keith

Richard Boyd:
What a talent you are Mr. Keith !
Instead of going to bed thinking of the 6ft  Dark haired beauty next door ! I am thinking about video editing lol.
I hope my skills will improve.

Richard

Richard Boyd:
Hi Keith , yesterday I went to the mountain with my dad and friends to fly, I brought my video camera to shoot some footage for a video. Anyway, got some footage and this morning I set about editing it in movie maker.
PROBLEM !!!!!!!
The Samsung video camera I bought records in MPEG 4 !
Movie maker editing does not recongnise Mpeg 4 lol
I have to rethink what every next to do.
Do you know of a similair simple editing program like WMM that I could use ?
Help from anyone would be appreciated

Richard

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