A2 Music Video: Editing; Part One

For the editing process, we used the post production software Adobe Elements 7. It is an editing programme for moving images as well as photography.
The first part of the editing process was to upload our footage to the programme then get rid of all the bad shots in the rushes. This included bad takes, mistakes and inappropriate behaviour from the actors.

The tools we used for editing were as follow:

Cut Tool: This tool cuts the footage meaning we can separate parts of the footage.

Delete Tool: This does as it is titled; deletes any footage/cuts.

Horizontal Flip Tool: This tool enabled us to reverse the footage, almost like a rewind effect.

Timescale Tool: This enabled us to speed up or slow down the footage.

After deleting the bad footage from the rushes, we were left with several good takes from each scene. From these, we selected our favourite shots and deleted the rest.

To make the process easier, we placed the footage in chronological order in correspondence to our storyboard and shot list. This left with our favourite shots in order. In order to refine the music video, we uploaded the song "Cousins" to the programme.

Editing the first nine shots were pretty straight forward, we simply cut the shots and placed them together in time with the music. For example, the bedroom light comes on at the same time as a guitar strums, the next strum is accompanied by Chris sitting up.

After these, there was the shower scene. First of all, the footage needed to be sped up because Chris is quite slow moving which isn't good considering we wanted a fast paced action to match the music. We used the timescale tool for this and shrank the footage so that it played faster. An issue we came across was lighting. Unfortunately, whilst Chris was getting changed into his work clothes, the lighting had changed so that it was clear where we had paused the camera. To resolve this we decided to apply the colour correction effect. There is still a slight vi sable change, but it is a vast improvement to what it had been before.

The next shot that required more than cutting and matching to the song was the breakfast scene. Within this we had the watch zoom. In filming, we shot the watch with a zoom out due to the camera not being able to focus with a zoom in. This is why we reversed it. There is less of a lens focus and the original idea is achieved. Then there is the orange juice spill. Luckily, whilst we were filming we decided to shoot some close ups of Chris spilling the drink because he laughed during the wide shot. We had planned jump cuts of the spill so we decided to mix the wide shot with the several close ups, matching it to the fast drums in the song. This has worked successfully.

The clothes montage was quite simple to edit. After selecting our favourite takes we matched each outfit change to every other click during that particular verse. Each shot of an outfit lasted roughly the same time and similarly to the orange juice spill. We cut short snippets of the takes together to match to the drums. This created a fast cycle through the outfits which I personally feel has worked well.

For the shot with many hands whilst Chris is brushing his teeth, we used the time scale tool. Shrinking the footage made the whole event much quicker which is funnier and fits with the crazy, fast paced guitars.

The most challenging part to edit was the part where Chris comes down the stairs and his tie changed on each step. We had filmed him walking down the stairs in five ties. We decided to cut up each tie placing the cuts at the point in which Chris landed on a step. This meant that the cuts were in exactly the same place on each tie.

From there, we took the first snippet from tie one, then the second section from tie two. the third from tie three, the fourth from tie four, the fifth from tie five , the six from tie one and so on.. The result was that each step was Chris in a different tie working exactly to plan. However, it wasn't the speed we wanted so we had to apply the timescale tool exactly the same to each section. This made each part the same and a faster speed making the whole part where Chris walks down the stairs, faster and more energetic.

The next part we edited was the garden scene, for match on action we joined him disappearing through the gate from one side, with him entering it on the other. It was a challenge editing the part where Chris runs through the clothes on a washing line. This is because we had to cut together a tracking shot, a POV shot and wide shot. Because of the movement of the shots, we found it difficult joining them together so that it flowed smoothly. It took a lot of time but eventually, we found the best combination. The other shots in the garden were quite simple to edit; cut and match to the music.

For the running, tracking shots we removed the beginning and end of each take. This was so that we had a consistent speed. Again, we matched it to the music. Unfortunately, at this time in editing, we realised that Chris was not wearing his tie! This dilemma meant that we should either re shoot the tracking shots or create an explanation. Because of the time and success of our tracking shots, we have decided to insert something new.

As well as this issue, we have realised that the amount of footage lasts longer than the song, we need to condense the music video somehow.

Finally, when we began editing the office scene, we realised that the footage was far too dark in comparison to the rest of the music video, we have decided that we will re-shoot this entire scene on our scheduled re-shoot day.