The Preliminary Task (continued)

Editing my prelim task. During the editing process of my preliminary task i learned a lot about editing using Adobe premiere pro cc. For example I learned how to cut between the different shots quickly and easily, and how to make the cuts look fluid and clean by using the match on action cut. This is where you cut to the next shot on a movement e.g a character picking up a mug at a wide shot then cutting to a close up of the mug as the hand moves down to pick it up. The eye is distracted by the movement so the cut is far less noticeable. I also learned how to insert sound effects into the video, for example in my video we use the sound effect of a gun shot, i was able to insert this precisely using the arrow keys to slow down the speed of the clip to accurately place the gun shot when the the trigger is pulled. This was useful and effective. I was taught different useful techniques by Matt and Paul who work in the film studio and editing suite. They taught me how to put all the useful shots into another folder to make the process of selecting the shots to be put into video easier. They taught me two very important rules that applied to editing my video which were to save after every action in case the computer crashed, saving after every action means that i wouldn't lose any progress in the event of a crash. The other important rule was to not delete any shots after they've been used because if something went wrong and you had to re-do the scene then you would not have any of the good shots that you want to use.

To the right is a video clip from the T.V show "Friends", the clip is a good demonstration of the match on action cut.







Some examples of how I edited shots in my prelim task are as follows:

 

An example of how I used a cut on action in the prelim task. I entered the room and as i was walking towards the other character I cut to a close up of my face. This was probably the most effective cut that i used when editing the video. The cut looked good because the transition was fluid and smooth. To capture the right moment to cut I slowed down the shots of me walking through the door and the close up of my face so that i could find a point where I was doing the same thing e.g when my facial expression was the same and when i was in the same position in room.

Later on the video, in the section where we created our own sequence I particularly liked how we edited these shots of freddie.
I used a close up of Freddie to show his emotion, then I cut to an extreme close up of his eyes to further stress his fear and sadness, before cutting to an extreme close up of his finger on the trigger of a gun which is angled upwards against his throat.

 Next time I use the editing software I will focus on improving the speed at which I work at, as I produced my final product slowly because i was to cautious with my actions, also i will put all of the shots that I will be using into a separate file before I start to cut them together because i lost a lot of time scrolling through all of the different shots trying to find the right one.

 To the left is the preliminary task that I filmed and edited.

            Task overview

I found the task simple and easy to shoot, my group cooperated well and our communication skills were good when working out problems such as which shot would be best for whatever moment, we would debate as a group and come to a decision that we were all happy with, this process would not take long which gave us plenty of time to be creative after we finished the initial task. The main lesson I have learned through the process of the preliminary task is that I should always make sure that I have the shots before finishing the shoot, in the editing part of the task i found myself struggling to find good enough shots for the scene. I can take forward many skills to my production group when filming the thriller opening sequence, most of which I have learned from the prelim task and have developed them further. These skills include: The ability to see where a cut would look good in the editing process and  the ability to create interesting shots with the camera in the filming process which creates a different and individual dynamic to the final product. It will take time to develop and perfect my skills as an editor/camera operator/director, i will aim to improve these skills through practical operation of the Sony NX-5 semi-professional video recorder in the studio, and by editing footage filmed on that camera in the editing suite, I have adobe Premiere available to me at home so I will familiarise myself with the settings and the layout over time.