The graphic on the timeline representing the audio track is called ‘Waveform’. You can unlink (separate) the Video file from the Waveform by right clicking on the clip and then pressing unlink. This is useful for multiple purposes you can now delete (if there is one) the silent second audio layer (this doesn’t affect the final product but makes your timeline clearer. When editing multiple clips together which all have a separate audio it is extremely that a quiet sound will occur whenever you cut between different takes. This sound can make your edit seem ruff. There are a lot of ways of fixing this problem one is by lining up your audio tracks on one level. Then going to the effects tab, opening the Crossfades folder, drag and drop the Constant power effect onto the tow audio tracks in question. You can now shorten the duration of the effect and the sound should be gone.
We then discussed ways editing can shape a scene. For example through editing someone can dominate/ win a scene. This can be achieved by simply cutting more often to them and or giving them more screen time.
It is also useful to edit in a way that matches where a character looks.
When editing it is also useful to look at what material there is and what you can do with it. Cutting a line from the sequence can completely change the tone or content of the scene.
Today was the first meeting with Pablo in over a week. During the meeting we updated him on the developments, messaged our (potential) cast and I talked with the actress who is going to play the victim about her costume. Bert wanted the victim to be a mother in her 30-40s. The problem here is that this would mean that we had to cast another teacher which is always complicated. Because you barley see her face, I casted one of our classmates, Zoe Case. She and I discussed what cloths she could wear to make it seem as if she was older.
Today the class got sorted in three new groups to work in the studio. My group filmed three short sequences which we will edit on Friday, to learn how to edit Audio. We decided to film three sequences. The focus was on audio we therefore filmed three short conversations. The microphone was directly plucked into the camera. The microphone mainly records the audio of where it is aimed at, as it is a rival mic. We were advised to put the mic into a microphone mount. This way we don’t touch the microphone directly which could have ruined the audio recording as every slight movement would have created very loud sounds in the recording. Tow people were Infront of the camera and the other person operated the camera and microphone, each of us got a turn with operating the camera.
Today Pablo and Bert were both on a photography trip. I wrote emails to potential cast members. In the email I talked about the general idea of the sequence the specific character I would like them to paly and I also warned them if their character for example comes in contact with fake blood to ensure that they are comfortable portraying the role.
Today we got our first workshop on editing in Premier pro. Premier Pro, by adobe who also created photoshop and after effects, is one of the most commonly used editing software’s. Even Blockbuster tent pole movies like Deadpool have been edited with Premier pro.
On of the most important editing principals is to ‘cut on action’. For example, while a character reaches for an object you could cut form a medium shot portraying the character and the object to a close up focusing on the object. Cutting on action makes the sequence seem more natural and smoother.
There are some key terms when it comes to editing. Folders are called bins. Rushes are a bins with all the footage shot on the day. This term originates like many other terms from the time where the industry standard was to shoot on actual film. At the end of the day someone would rush to develop the film overnight. That way the director and producer could look at the footage the next day and decided to do reshoots if needed. In America rushes are called ‘Daily’s’. It is important to keep the rushes in their pure form therefore and to sort the files Editors will often create a log bin. The log bin contains the footage used in the actual edit. It is important to name files in a useful manor like ‘close up of bottle’ this makes the edit more clear, especially on a long term. It is also advisable to watch back the footage you have filmed, as what you might think you filmed isn’t always what you actually filmed. When not watching the footage first and instantly deciding on a take you might miss out on a take that didn’t feel right on the day but is better.
There are 4 basic blocks in Premier the box in the bottom let hand corner shows all the bins. The box in the top left-hand corner allows you to watch back footage the footage in the bins. The box in the bottom right-hand corner is called timeline, which is where the actual cutting is controlled. The box in the top right-hand corner plays back the footage on the timeline.
Premiere is a professional software and therefore features a bunch of functions and has intricated mechanisms therefore it is extremely important to actually hit the button and to not miss it even by a little distance. When you start editing footage you can select a initial starting point from where you want to let the shot start by pressing I when selecting a footage saved in a bin, this can later on be adjusted. You then drag the footage onto the time line. Another important mechanism is drag and drop you can for example drag footage from one point to another point on the timeline and then drop it. This why you while have shifted the position of the clip. You start to drag a clip clicking on it, you can then move it by moving your mouse and finally when you want to drop it you just stop clicking the mouse.
You are likely to have multiple clips at the same point on the timeline premier will play the clip that is at the highest position. The position can also easily be changed by dragging and dropping. You can trim the duration of a shot by dragging it to your preferred length. The razor tool which splits a clip is triggered by pressing the letter ‘C´ if you then want to return to the basic setting (the arrow) you simply press ‘V’.
