Video Editing

[Matthew_Gibson]

Hey People!

I have got hold of a Camcorder, a Sony mini DV thing! I was wondering if someone could help me get the best out of it.

First off: Almost all the filming will be done on a tripod. I might need some stuff done with out it, but my GF has said she will do it.

Is there anything I should do or look out for when filming it? Like angles and all that.

Also the editing will be done on Movie maker as I don't have anything else to do it on. It there any thing I should do to make it as good as I can?

How long do you think it should last? Song track? Things like that

Thanks for looking!

Matt

[PaRtZ]

Well the song should be no longer than 5 minutes, purely for the fact it would take too long to download otherwise

Angles, just make sure everything is in. If you've got a tripod thats great, it'll keep the shot steady and make sure theres no blurriness. Try to get a variety of angles and not go for similar ones all the time

I don't think you can get anything extra for movie maker.

And i think thats it

[Rich Pearson]

FILMING:

a. Always try and frame it right. Use the rule of thirds to help you. If you don't know what that is, click the happy face . Try and get the action to start at one side of the shot and then move across. Never have an establishing shot (I.e. rider trackstanding about to hop up a wall) with the rider in the middle of screen.

b. Utilise angles that will emphasise the move. If its a big gap down, get low and look up. If its a gap across, shoot it from take off or landing, but from the side can look OK if you do it right (see part a)). Try and get the same move from as many different angles as you can be bothered with, it gives you more to choose from when editing, and also sneakily fills up the video with the same action but on the flip side makes you as a rider look consistant.

c. With rolling action (i.e. where the rider rolls into a tap or gap) use of the zoom can be very effective. Start up close to the rider as they're trackstanding and then zoom out as they roll into it, making sure that you've already preped the shot so as when they hit the wall/gap/antelope they're properly framed. A very good example is the opening shot of the TartyBikes KOT video with Matt Staples, because they (I'm asuming Dave was filming) started up close to Matt (which gives a more personal feel to the vid as you can actually see the riders face clearly) and then as he rolls in for the hook the shot backs out and then suddenly oh my god this, like, f***ing huge wall just appears, and everything looks cushty.

EDITING:

a. the most important rule of using movie maker: SAVE EVERY FIVE MINUTES. MM has a habit of crashing when you over load it by trying to do things quickly. I edited the entire of SWTC Volume 2 (about 40mins long) and I'd hazard a guess that it crashed about 1000 times in the one project.

b. its good to use the little effects provided but don't go nuts. Its so easy to spot a video that someone has just randomly thrown effects at the clips without a thought to how it'll look. Think about a shot when you look at it and think, "What would make this look really good?" Again, in the TartyBikes Kot video, Dave did a really good job of using a red filter effect near the start as Matt did a tap, and also when he does the massive hook at about 00:50 the action was built up using a slo-mo and a fade. As the song went more mellow at around 01:15, black and white helped to set the tone more. You have to consider how footage, the effects and the music can all fit together to make something look good. 01:57 with the gap from the post up to the big concrete thing is another really good example of the correct use of effects.

c. Sound is so important. When to include the sound of the bikes (diegetic sound) and when to let the music (non-diegetic sound) roll on. Again, look at the shot and think weather or not it can be improved by including sound.

d. Music should fit the style of riding. If you're CLS or Tunni, In Flames and Killswitch Engage type music seems to work pretty well. But if you're Felix or Rowan Johns, more chilled and smooth stuff generally works better. But then again, done right, any song can be used for almost anything. Check out the new Matt Arkwright video and see how the smooth but eerie music worked so well.

The best way to learn is through imitation. Watch videos by the likes of CLS, Andy Tonkery, Jonny Jones, Nick Goddard, TRA, Steve Atterbury and look at how they've all really effectively taken what they've got to work with and utilised all of the above to make it effective to an audience. But don't always think inside the box of what I've just said. Felix M has had hugely successful videos using no music at all.

Phew, essay over, have fun with it.

Rich

[Matthew_Gibson]

!All of the above!

That helped a lot!

Thanks for that! I'll just see how it goes, taking in to account that I Just when out and filmed on my own. Some of the shots have cut my head off! I think I'll use some Killswitch engage or In flames, as Im a very hard rider.

Well Ill post it when im done, as its my first I'll learn as im going!

Cheers!!

Matt!

[Krisboats]

Well windows movie maker can make some alright videos, not great but they're okay to watch. I did notice that there wasn't even a remote hint of you using a transition between different clips, or any crossfades for that matter. It helps to break the video up and to add a bit of interest to the video... it can also be used to blend clips that are very similar in composition (the position of the rider/bike and the direction their gapping/travelling in etc.) so that the viewer gets hints of the move, kind of a subliminal mind f**k thing. Also in videos that are meant to have a fun feel to them the use of bolder transitions is good, like giant star shapes or rotating clips.

The use of effects can be put into a video to help emphasize the move you wanted to do, for example, using a black and white filter and slo-motion on a clip helps to emphasize that it was big to you... you could have done it on the drop at the beginning to make a more dramatic start to the video, or to some of the larger gaps that were in there to help show them off.

Also listening to the tempo of the song helps to get the video to seem more flowy. If its a slower beat more relaxed editing can be used showing the initial lifting of the front wheel then the move then the rider rolling out of the move where as faster tempos will suit editing where it cuts into the rider already about to gap... which ultimately keeps the viewer interested and eager to watch the video. So for slo tempo's things like sidehops and manuals seem to go well, where as for faster bits bunnyhops and large gaps go well too... though these examples can be used in the opposite scenario with the right type of editing, say for example you've got a large drop gap... it can be done with slo-motion and in a sepia (kind of tea stained black and white effect) to a slow tempo or can be edited sharply using only the preload of the gap and the landing in time to a faster tempo.... so its all about using your instinct at the end of the day and just experimenting with things.

There's also a little phrase i heard somewhere that you could take into account when out and about which is "A part of editing that won't be found in any software is the camera work" something like that anyway, what it means is that a commonly overlooked part of video work is the actual filming... using unusual angles and using the zoom on the camera can all help to create an even more interesting video. Things like walls eye views of streety moves like bunnyhops and really zoomed in shots of the wheel as it moves past the camera all help to make the video that little bit more unique... so try to bear that in mind as well.

After a couple of videos you'll start to see what works and what doesn't and it'll become easier to make them... so stick at it and bash some more out.

Something i wrote for Joe Elding in his video thread but i guess could be useful to you as well.