Editing Update

After the feedback I received from the class I have a small window in which to make a few quick changes to the music video. This is the following feedback I received and how I developed the video

Use of Editing

• Too much time lapse in big block, could get boring- I cut the amount down slightly to allow me to edit onto a certain beat (see below) Although I was restricted too how much I could cut it down at this point.
  
• Could of included a few more shots in the bar scenes? - I increased the amount of bar scenes and variety of shots. Adding a Mid-shot of us talking.
  
• Missed some opportunities to edit onto the beat- The class pointed out there was a change in the music just after I crossed the road where it would have been nice to see the timelapse stop and rest of the narrative begin. I shortened the time lapse scene so that when the music changes its cuts to Nicola on her walk home. I also noticed a Sharp harsh sound in the music while me and Nicola were getting dressed to go out, so I though it would be nice to rearrange the footage so that this sound coincides with change in narrative between getting ready and the bar scenes.
  
• In the bar scenes close up show you the couple just drinking or looking about- is anyone actually talking? - Once this had been brought to my attention this mistake was obvious... the couple are not really shown talking! I changed the shots I used and added one where we are both talking an laughing. This helps create more tension between us above and give the effect that we are flirting.

I also altered part of the rewind scene. One of the clips saw me waiting at the traffic lights but on second consideration I felt that this doesn't really serve the rewind scene very well as it only shows me standing still. So I changed it for a clip where I was crossing the road- so when rewound it quite obviously shows backward movement and a change in the pattern of time.

Editing Techniques

This year I will be editing on a Mac Pro using Final Cut Pro software. I used a variety of editing techniques to produce the effects within the pop promo.

• Video Transition, Cross Dissolve- A dissolve allows me to essentially mix two separate piece of footage so that there is no fade in/fadeout. This was useful in the traffic scenes at the pedestrian crossing.
• Video Transition, Non-additive dissolve- Compares the pixels in the two clips and displays the lighter of the two as the first clip fades out and the second fades in. I used this when changing into different parts of the narrative to show a change in time.
• Video Transition, Fade In/ Fade Out- Fades in the incoming clip as the Outgoing clip fades out. This helps to show a more definite passing of time and I used this on the pop promo first draft between the bar scenes and bedroom scenes.
  
• Audio Transitions, Cross Fade (0 dB)- I used this at the beginning and end of the audio track. We had to clip either end of the audio track due it being nearly 5 minutes in length.
• Video Speed- The video speed function allowed me to create the time lapse scene at the pedestrian crossing. I sped the footage up approximately 2000% to give it the correct pace to the music.
  
• Video Speed, Reverse- To create the rewind scenes I selected random clips of the video as a whole, placed them backwards of the timeline then selected approximately 800% speed in reverse. This made it clear to the viewer that we are going back in time during the day.

On final completion of the pop promo I will convert it in to a .mov file so that i can play it using Quicktime. I will use the Compressor software with in Final Cut Studio to convert the pop promo to a lower res format so that it is more suitable to upload to my blog.

Editing Techniques Practice

Our group know that we wish to time lapse some of our footage during the editing stage. To discover how much footage compresses down to the the final product once the speed has been increased we did a practice shot. We decided Nicola would sit perfectly still in the middle of the college atrium whilst people move around her for 20 minutes.

I captured the footage in Final Cut Pro and put it into the timeline. I then used the speed option to essentially put the footage on fast forward. At first I tried 500% and 1000% but this did not make a significant impact on the movement around her. In the end, we set it at 9000% speed which is the video you can see above. This is the most suitable speed setting for this footage as the atrium wasn't that busy. 20 minutes compressed down 7 seconds worth of footage

Through doing this preliminary editing exercise I have got to grips with how to use Final Cut Pro and we have an idea of the length of footage we will need, and how much that will compress down to, to create time lapse sequences. Due to the location being different as well- the cars will be moving at a faster pace than the students in the atrium-I imagine 9000% will be too fast, I will use 2000-4000% region as we will want to keep it in pace to the music.