Editing the Nostalgia Project

We have just zoomed past the halfway point, and we're moving into the Pro Zone. 

What you'll be learning over the next 6 weeks are the things that elevate your videos from average to unique and interesting. 

This week is dedicated to taking your editing to the next level.

As you've probably already noticed, editing is a huge part of creating an excellent video. You can have fantastic footage, but if the editing isn't great, neither will your video.

But don't worry; taking your editing from fine to good isn't as hard as it might seem. It just takes time, patience and some extra know-how.

BREAKDOWN: 

• Lesson Pdf and MP3 - Taking Your Editing to the Next Level

• Assignment Pdf

• Videos:

  Double Timeline Editing

  Cutting to Music

  Effects 01

  Effects 02

  Effects 03

  Effects 05

  Effects 06

  How to Edit and Analyze Tons of Footage Quickly

  Colour Correction and Grading

• Video Notes PDF

Woah! There are quite a few videos to watch this week! Each one ranges from 5 to 10 minutes. Take your time with them and don't worry about memorizing them. Take notes in your filmmaking notebook. And you can also refer to the video scripts.


ORDER OF ACTION:

• Listen to the lesson.

• Read the lesson.

• Read through the Assignments pdf.

• Start your editing Assignment.

This Week's Lesson:

This Week's Videos:

Example Video: August Nostalgia 2017

NOTES ABOUT THIS EDIT:

You’ll notice there are no credits on this micro film. I used Artlist.io for the music so don’t need to add credit. Also, I was in a time crunch and totally forgot. Done was better than perfect in this case!

Also, you’ll notice I include a lot of “imperfect” footage. There’s stuff with tons of noise and some shaky clips. I like a grunge style for my own person projects, so I’m never worked up about whether a shot is perfect or not. (For client gigs that’s a different story.) If I were a perfectionist, then I wouldn’t have even filmed the cats because the lighting was impossible. But I don’t care if something is perfect when it’s a for-fun project. I’d rather get footage that makes me feel something then not get it because I want the lighting to be perfect.

Editing Tutorials

—> Watch these tutorials according to the instructions in the Assignments PDF.

—>If you want some extra tips, scroll down to see how I did my edit. But make sure you follow the videos, not just my tips.

—>Make sure you watch the Colour Grading video at the very end. Don’t do anything with colour until you’ve reached Picture Lock.

+ WATCH in 1080p for easiest nicest prettiest viewing.

Double Timeline Editing

Double Timeline Editing is best if you're able to work with either two screens or one big screen. If you're editing with just a laptop then it's still worth watching this video, but hold off on trying to do Double Timeline editing.

While Double Timeline Editing can save you A LOT of time if you're working with a screen that's less than 15 inches, it can take up too much space to be effective. Try it out and decide for yourself.

Cutting to Music

Transitions

Effects - Split Screen

Effects - Speed, Black and White to Colour

Effects - Opacity

Effects - Slow Zoom

Tips from My Editing Practice

Optional Video | Behind the Scenes | How I Edit My Footage

This video shows you how to speed up editing if you like to move clips around in your timeline a lot.

This video shows you how I edit and analyze large amounts of footage if I need to do it very quickly.

When creating the nostalgia video I had 1.5 hours’ worth of footage to sift through. Needless to say, I didn’t watch that footage at a regular speed three times before getting started.

Here are some tips for getting through tons of footage when you’re doing a personal edit or a fast edit.

This isn’t meant to be a set of step-by-step instructions for you to follow.

Use the videos above and the method you’ve already learned of creating a stringout to complete the edit. This might give you a couple of extra ideas on how to deal with such a large quantity of footage.

Below is what I did to create my Nostalgia Project. This isn’t intended to be instructions. But rather showing you how I approached it. You can approach it in any way that works for you.

1) First, I brought all of the footage into a timeline as my stringout. I didn’t filter through anything first.

2) Then I watched the footage at super speeds. If you press SPACE BAR to play the full stringout, then keep pressing the letter L until the playback is fast enough, you can watch at super speeds.

3) Then I made notes on the footage I love the most while watching at super speeds.

4) Next I went to find music based on the feeling and rhythm of my footage.

5) After that I created a new empty sequence (Command N) and I started pulling the pieces I liked into my new timeline. You need to watch the double timeline editing video to see how to do this.

I did this BEFORE I added any music to the timeline. I wanted to cull down my footage before editing to the music.

6) Once I had my first messy and awkward rough cut, I created another new empty sequence. I add my music to the timeline, and then I started dragging the elements I liked into place based on the music, using the double timeline editing method. But you can also copy and paste or drag footage from one timeline to another one.

7) TIP: Be okay with it being messy during the process. And keep making new sequences if you’re afraid of deleting things.

8) Then I started adding effects. As I was creating my rough cut, I was experimenting with effects. For something like this that is essentially a montage, I start adding effects early on to see if I like them.

9) Once I had created a sequence of clips I liked, I would use NESTS to keep my clips organized. To use nests, you select the sequence of clips that should be together. Then you right-click. Select NEST, and name the nest something logical. Now those files are nested and your timeline is cleaner. To edit the nest, just double-click it and edit it within its own timeline.

10) I used the Ripple Edit tool a lot to get my footage to line up with the beats of the music. Press B to get the ripple edit tool.

11) TIP: have fun! This is a piece you’re making for yourself. It will be an incredibly satisfying piece to look at five years and 50 years from now. It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks about this. Just do it to please yourself.

Colour Correction

You must have reached picture lock before you do any colour correction or grading.

So don't watch this video until ALL of your editing is done. This is vital! 

This is quite a long tutorial at 28 minutes in length. It does contain repetition, so you might want to edit as you go along with the video.

How to watch:

• Grab your filmmaking notebook and take notes as you go along.

• Open up Premiere Pro.

• Stop after each segment of instructions and try them out on your project.

Another Note:

Colour correction and grading can really slow playback down. A LOT.

So don't do this until you've reached picture lock. You just want to be dealing with colour and nothing else. You won't likely be able to play back your video properly without a lot of stuttering unless you've got a super fast machine. 

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