Lindsey Komson

Photo by Pixabay

Reading & Writing

In The Bare Bones Camera Course for Film and Video, Chapter 10 “After The Shoot – Editing” gives us a detailed walkthrough of all the things we should pay attention to in the post-production stage. The beginning of the chapter explains how the human eye acts as an editor in real life and how that can translate to video editing. The same way that when you look in a different direction, your reality changes, “as a film or video editor, you edit the reality of your viewers–you control the window through which they see and hear the world of your program.”

The rest of the chapter discusses the different steps of the post-production process. Once you’ve completed filming, it’s essential to log all your takes with key words so you can come back to them later in editing. This helps you keep track of all the best shots. Then, when you begin editing, it’s important to start off the project with an establishing shot to give the viewer a sense of where they are. After giving the viewer a sense of place, you can begin cutting to different shots, but make sure they are all different so it’s not confusing to the viewer. Pacing is something important to consider as well, as the amount of time between clips determines the feel of the piece and can be the difference between calm and intense moods. Lastly, sound enhances every video project, so choosing the best sound and leveling the audio to match the flow of the piece differentiates a good project from a great one.

Research to Inform

The song “Mind Your manners” by Pearl Jam is extremely fast-paced, and the chaotic visuals in the music video do it justice. There’s a specific part in the song where lead singer Eddie Vedder sings a line and then the rest of the band sings it back to him – that’s where I had this video start. Between each line, the camera shifts to a new visual, whether it’s of the band, one member, a background, or a motion graphic. Either way, the quick cuts/transitions between clips portrays the chaotic feel of the song very well.

In the final scene of Friends, the main characters are emotional as they are about to leave the apartment wehre most of the show takes place. Throughout the entire 3-minute scene, each clip stays on the screen for a while, allowing the audience to really take in the characters’ emotions. There are regular cuts between clips, but they happen sporadically. This was an intentional choice by the editor to allow the characters’ emotions to shine through the screen, and the slow nature of the clips changing matches the feel of the scene.

The New York Mets’ closer, Edwin Diaz, has the best entrance in baseball (in my humble opinion). During the 2023-24 offseason, the Mets installed tons of lights around the ballpark to elevate his entrance even more. In the video, after Diaz walks onto the field, there are many dissolves to different aspects of the ballpark – the crowds, the lights, Mr. and Mrs. Met, etc. The editor does this to show that every aspect of this entrance might be visible in different frames, but it’s all part of one cohesive experience  that brings fans and the team together.

Create

Using my pre-production planning document and my storyboard, I went around my neighborhood to film everything I needed. Then, I edited all the footage together using Adobe Premiere Pro and recorded the narration, making sure all the necessary shots and components were included. I kept the final product generally the same as the way I planned it, but I decided to only use natural sound over sound effects to keep the video looking and sounding authentic. You can watch my final montage below: