I chose to use this software because my years making home videos for myself and school research projects on iMovie has made me kind of an expert on the program. However, on my latest project, iMovie failed me :( When I made a music video for this class, after editing the whole thing, my video was full of glitches when I played it back and exported it, despite all of my uncorrupt footage coming from an iPhone, a format the software should be most familiar with. I did not want to take any chance for a project as important as this one, so I got Final Cut Pro X, a more advanced version of iMovie that still shares a lot of the same features. To start out, I watched a couple of videos on the program and was quickly able to catch on.
Day #1-Friday
Day #2-Saturday
Day #3-Sunday
Time- 01:45:34 - 02:03:59
Time- 00:42:07 - 01:45:34
Time- 00:00:00 - 00:42:07
Today I edited the last 15 seconds of my opening video. I originally wanted to edit it in order but found out restricting myself that way was just going to make me not do my best work on the part I was working. I really need to be inspired and have a purpose when I edit in order to stay motivated and churn out well-edited content. I noticed that a lot of my (supposed to be)still, long establishing shots for the opening credit scenes were really shaky and quickly got discouraged when editing the beginning. But, as soon as we "wrapped";) filming and I saw the second to last shot, I had already visualized the entire ending in my head. It was kind of a lucky shot because we only had one chance to do it, yet it came out PERFECTLY!
At first, I was very anxious that my footage would end up disappointing me (Sorry my Wednesday post was kind of dramatic), but the ending remotivated me and got me super excited to continue editing. Even though I only edited a total of 15 seconds, they were definitely not an easy 15 seconds to edit. Once you guys watch my opening, you will understand how the last 15 seconds of the scene display my character at her most, creative, chaotic, and frantic state. In those 15 seconds, I make a total of 19 cuts, use 20 different pieces of video, and have videos 15 milliseconds at the shortest. To say editing this section was difficult would be very accurate, but the ⌘B(split) and the Precision Editor definitely saved me!
The major editing technique I used today is called FAST CUTTING:
"a film editing technique which refers to several consecutive shots of a brief duration. It can be used to convey a lot of information very quickly, or to imply either energy or chaos"(Wikipedia)
I did the bulk of the editing today; I am actually very pleased with how much I got done. I am happy that today was so efficient because I can finally see everything start to come together and it is turning out really cool in my opinion. I like the balance I am creating via editing. The goal is to somewhat disorient the viewer during times of chaos and bursts of inspiration, while still having long, more prolonged pauses at times when my character is in deep thought or frustrated. I don't want to make the whole video dizzying, simply use fast-paced editing to express and take the audience on the psychological journey that my character is feeling while she paints. It is cool how much energy and anxiety I can create in the "emotional aura"/vibe of a scene based on where and how I piece the video together.
I am closely following my storyboard to edit. I am very glad that I made a storyboard that was so in-depth because having a second-to-second plan made the editing process go a lot more smoothly for me; I did not have the responsibility to make stuff up as I went, and I think this significantly contributed to my stamina and efficiency while editing. Although, I did end up slightly changing a few shots and editing techniques every now and then, my storyboard was still extremely helpful.
Today I ran into a little bit of trouble editing some of the scenes at the beginning of the movie opening. A couple of my shots (ei: #12 on Storyboard: Splattering paint on canvas) were a lot shorter than I had originally blocked out for them, and since a lot of the shots were time-based and depended on the music, I had to use b-roll to fill in gaps between shots I took or slow the shorts down. Overall, this issue did not end up hurting my video in any way and only took some time to fix.
Today was probably the easiest day editing-wise. I mainly focused on retouching yesterday's work and the beginning credits. I have yet to choose a font, but I have all of my names picked out.
I had initially planned to have the first 18.5 seconds be a single shot of my character sitting while using camera movement (zoom out from blank canvas to long shot) to maintain interest. However, I did not own or had space in the room to use a dolly and my camera's zoom function was very fast and non-dramatic. For that reason, I just planned on using ken burns cropping to get the intended effect. Unfortunately, when I tried using ken burns, it looked absolutely awful, so I just ended up scrapping the idea and used the best b-roll I had of my mother's sculptures to fill the space in. Overall, I actually think it looks better with the b-roll than what I had planned so it ended up helping me in the end.
I wrote all of the credits necessary, found the correct sizing, timed their appearances and positioned them. Now all I have to do is pick an appropriate font. I know I want to pick something that looks handwritten and is art-related, but there are so many to choose from. I'll pick one soon though.
Although today was relatively easy since I used a total of 8 different videos and cut 7 times, I did have to have a couple of challenges to deal with today. As I mentioned on Friday. Some of the shots that I got on Film Day #1 were not the easiest to work with- some were very shaky and unfocused. To remedy this to the best of my abilities, I used the "stabilizing" feature on my editing software and slowed down the footage to make the unwanted movement less obvious. Although it is not perfect, the quality is definitely better.
The video is basically done!!! I am so relieved with what I have :) I can wait for everyone to see it! YAYYY.
Checklist
-Folley
-Font
-Production Company Logo
-POST IT ON BLOGGER
Shoutouts: Shoutout to the ⌘B (split )function- You SAVED ME and made editing infinitely easier!
Shoutout to my twin sister- she is a musical genius and helped me find the perfect timing for a shot. Shoutout to the FAM!- They gave me a ton of feedback and did not get impatient no matter how many times I asked them for opinions. My video would not be the same if it weren't for the constructive criticism I got from my family group chat. We have all heard the song so many times that we could probably play the song on the violin ourselves.
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