How long is too short? - VIDEO EDITING

[pberk]

Thanks much, your observations are helpful, especially about the sound. Here is a link to one of my favorites, certainly storywise.

 

Nice work. I liked it. Well shot under those conditions. Shooting "live" events like that is not easy. The angles you might like to get evaporate quickly and you generally don't know what is going to happen next. But your work indicates to me that you are thinking of editing when you shoot -- or you are instinctively getting close up, medium shot, long shot along the way to provide time compressing edit points. And most important you are holding the camera steady -- not panning, and zooming around trying to tell the story in a single shot. I often yearn to work on something where you can do camera and lighting set-ups and not have to shoot on the fly. But that's another topic.

 

So ---- you're not getting off that easy. My opinion only, of course, but this little piece could benefit from a little tightening. The narration flows so nicely that when we have sections without narration for over 10 seconds, I think it stops things. It would not be hard to try it. Just look for those sections that go more than 10 seconds without narration. (I'm using the 10 seconds as a guide) Drop some shots out. Yes. Tighten it. Then add an ending. Your ending is weak. Maybe just a "thank you" graphic to the farm school. Some definite end. What you have now is a vague fade away. In fact, I'd add super imposed graphic over at the beginning to spell out where we are. Can you cut the music to give us an ending too? Place the music end to match the picture end and cut the music -- blend it together at some point where it dips under the narration. Let me know if you don't understand what I mean here. A music end says "the end" too.

 

Well. That's my two cents for now.

[Jameseric]

Exactly. Best ending in my opinion would've been slowing the fadeout as the tiny loaves were being taken from the oven; credits and thank you's with a musical coda overlay. Which I have been continuing to learn since 2005 old 4:3 Sony days. Two posers on top of the film-with-the-edit-in-mind. One is, I was a guest of the farm/classroom's owner dealing with Italian paranoia about photos of kids, with a verrry limited bit of language skill. Secondly I haven't come to terms yet with filling the viewer's auditory senses effectively, without being obtrusive. Analogous in the Western mind to being comfortable with empty space on the page of a drawing.

[Cornishpastyman1]

Thanks much, your observations are helpful, especially about the sound. Here is a link to one of my favorites, certainly storywise.

 

Hi James

 

I like that one too, it's a very nice story, well told. As Paul has said, the ending could be better but it looks like it was made in 2011 or earlier and I cringe at some of the endings in vids I made that long ago. Today I am always aware of the ending as I shoot, but back then never gave it a thought - and it shows :)

 

I don't include scenes that are less than 2 seconds long (unless it's a kind of transition shot), as it's hard for the viewer to take in any detail. But sometimes we don't have 2 secs of non-shaky footage so if there's no motion in the clip you do have, by playing 1 second at half speed you can sometime get round this problem.

 

Anyway, these are mainly a bit of fun for ourselves, to preserve a memory. With just a single camera, and no way of knowing what's coming next, or being nudged while filming, or someone walking in front of you at a critical moment, or something great happening the instant you stop filming, or being in the wrong position, there will be many things that could've gone better, but I think you did a good job,even if you would do a better one today. All the best, Tony

Edited February 2, 2016 by Cornishpastyman1

[Jameseric]

The point of it, at least what I THINK is the point for me, is bringing along loved ones who for time or financial reasons, or even lack of vision, would never do such stuff. A way of saying, "In our thoughts you were with us. See?" That and of course reminding ourselves that it really did happen.