Creating a Montage
Reading
After reading chapter 10 of "The Bare Bones Camera Course for Film and Video," I learned more editing techniques that will refine my editing moving forward. Tom Schroeppel and Chuck DeLaney explain the importance of reading the script before editing. I found doing this helped me better organize the layout for cutting and understanding how I wanted the Broll to align with the narration. Throughout my editing, I had to shift gears with certain Broll footage to ensure I had strong shots, but the changes were minor and overall my editing stuck to the script.
The chapter also explains the importance of establishing shots and reestablishing the setting for the audience so they don't get lost. This is important in editing as you want to take the audience on a cohesive, logical narrative. Too many close-up shots or wide shots back to back with no sense of introducing the subject or setting can confuse the viewer. While editing my montage, I made sure to sequence my shots in a manner that makes sense to any viewer.
Pacing is also an important factor in editing. It's important to have a strong sense of how long or short to stay on a certain shot and when to move on to the next. By doing so, it creates a steady flow for the viewer. The pacing can also affect the style of editing, which is important to match with the style of the video. For example, if you want a fast-paced, intense video, it would be useful to incorporate quick jump cuts. If you want a video that's more relaxing, it may be a good idea to keep a slower pace and use more fade transitions and have shots move at a slower pace.
After covering visual editing tactics, the chapter moves on to sound effects and background music in editing. With sound effects, the use of L-cuts helps the viewer better digest what's about to happen and makes new scenes seem less harsh. It's important to use L-cuts in sound editing to ensure the video sounds smooth.
Background music also affects the feel of a video. If your background music doesn't match the visuals, you could risk conveying a confusing or entirely different message to the audience. It's important to ensure the background music enhances the visual elements of the video and doesn't take away from them.
Research to Inform
To inspire my editing creativity, I researched a few different music videos with different types of editing styles. These editing styles are useful to keep in mind during the filming and editing process. The way we edit can set the tone of projects.
"Happier Than Ever" Music Video - Billie Eilish
For my first pick in editing styles, I chose Billie Eilish's "Happier Than Ever" music video. What struck my eye was the use of jump cuts throughout the video. In the beginning, the use of jumps cuts are lighter and the filming is much smoother to match the softness of the first half. However, when the video is in the second half while Billie is in the rain, the jump cuts intensify and change on every beat of the song. This enhances the intensity of the video and creates a really interesting effect that helps shift the energy.
"Look What You Made Me Do" - Taylor Swift
In Taylor Swift's "Look What You Made Me Do" music video, I really liked the use of special effects, animation, smooth sequencing of jump cuts, wide and close-up shots and the use of the slow motion effect. The video has a variety of sets and scenes, but there are also a bunch of editing techniques to keep the video interesting and entertaining. The zoom transitions and crisp jump cuts are what caught my eye the most as well as the slow motion effect in the car crash scene. The editing is crucial to creating the feel and intensity of the video.
"Countdown" - Beyonce
Last but not least is Beyonce's "Countdown" music video. There are so many creative editing tactics in this video. The fast-paced editing of changing colors, split screens, moving video and repetition makes this a heavily edited and creative video. The fast-paced style and jump cuts matches the energy of the song, making the video very entertaining.
Create
For my montage video, I went to the Franklin Lakes Nature Reserve in Franklin Lakes, NJ to film. In this location, I was able to capture a lot of natural sound bites and various Broll. The lighting was also favorable for filming. Editing this video allowed me to explore my creativity. As someone with a news journalism background, adding music and creating a more ambient video was a fun film making experience that I'd like to explore further. For this video, I used a DSLR T5i and a boom mic.