Unit 16: Film and video editing Techniques Review

Editing Technology (Software/Hardware)

The software that we used was Adobe Premier Pro, which is good because once we got used to it, it was easy for use to do the edit. The software was easy to use. We also edited in HD and so when it came to editing the film it looks a lot clearer and gives the film a more professional look. We had to run through the footage when we first got the footage and we found that on a few shots they had a red flash on them, which is caused by mobile phone interference with the camera.

 The software also made it easier to edit the film and the voiceovers that we used in the first scenes because of the different levels of video and audio, which we had to use to good effect. I also think that Adobe was the best program to use because with the voiceovers if we wanted the voiceovers to continue over the footage we just used the razor tool to cut the footage. I made sure that the tapes that we used we labels correctly and that they were kept safe during and after the shoot the labels on the tapes were similar to the labels on the footage on Adobe. We exported the finished film on MPEG DVD 2 which made it possible to put the finished film onto a DVD.

We also exported in this format because this means that we were able to get the audio and the video files separate which means that we can use Adobe Encore to put the film onto a disc. When the work was on a DVD it was then easier to let the director to see it and also it made it possible for use to show it in a after year show which is where the actors will see the finished film.

 

 

Editing Process

It also made the editing a lot easier with the fact that we can put the footage into ‘bins’ for example all of the scenes used in scene 1 we would put into a bin called scene 1. For the editing we had to make the film run smoothly so this meant that we needed the film to have seamless editing and this meant that we can’t have any uncontrolled jump cuts and using Premier Pro it is very easy to find and fix a jump cut. Our film ran with constant parallel editing which we had learnt to do earlier in the year.

 

In the film I used a lot of dissolves and different transitions throughout the film because if I didn’t put them in the film would have looked jumpy and untidy which meant that I wouldn’t be able to keep the audience’s attention which breaks the magic of the film. In the film I feel that in the film I and my team were able to convey information correctly. In the edit we also had to use sound to create a mood for certain shots.

 

I also had to use the editing to control what sort of speed I wanted the film to go at for example in the emotional scenes I wanted the edit to go slowly to keep the tension as high as possible and with the music and the voiceover playing at the same time this was a fairly easy thing to do so long as I got the timing correct. This was a very simple thing to do on Primer pro but it had a powerful effect.

 

Post Production Tools

The post productions tools that I used were things such as the on screen text and sound editing. The screen text was put on and continued through the film. At the start of the film we see the names of the actors used and we did this in white text on a black background to make it stand out. This was the same for all the names of the actors and the font that I used was called 1942 Report.  

 

 

 

We also used these colours and these fonts at the end while we were doing the credits and while we were giving thanks and showing our apparition to the people that had helped us out during filming.

For the sound editing because we were putting the film on DVD and showing it on a big screen we had to make sure that the sound didn’t go of the scale and become distorted. So we were told to keep the sound level at a steady -6 on the audio meters on premier pro and that means that when it came to editing our final edit we had to go through it in massive detail checking that the sound wasn’t over the top. We did this used both the audio meters and also using the sound bar which are in the top left of the picture.

 

Overall review of the edit

In the overall review of the finished film I can safely say that the film is up to a professional standard and it looks and sounds up to scratch with sound levels being at the correct height and everything being in order. In the edit I learnt a lot of different techniques on Premier Pro and I can say that I will take a lot of qualities from this film and from this final edit. The film is defiantly a good working piece and im looking forward to using this work as a springboard for better work.