4 Essential Tips to Help Make Video Editing Easier
Think about your favourite movie or TV show. What is it that you like about it? Is it the visual aesthetic? Is it the writing? Regardless of the reason, they won’t exist without editing. Editing gives structure and coherence to any form of video, which is why it’s crucial to the entire process.
In editing, the primary concept is the rule of thirds. Placing a subject or object that contrasts nicely with the background at one of the power points will help accentuate that subject and improve the image’s composition. Once you start examining images from a long-lens viewfinder, you’ll start noticing how often people’s eyes are immediately drawn to a point along these lines. Unfortunately, it can only do so much, and you’ll need to rely on editing to highlight whatever’s happening in your footage.
To improve your editing process, we list down four essential tips to help you produce videos with better quality. Read on below to learn more.
#1 – Use B-Rolls
A B-roll (also known as cutaway shots) is used to transition between clips. They serve to underscore the point being made in the preceding clip or to highlight something on-screen. 5 seconds of dead air is okay, but you shouldn’t leave your audience hanging for more than 30 seconds of dead air.
B-roll is also useful for supporting scripted narration of a presentation. It can be helpful to have a few seconds of b-roll before the presenter comes on screen, so you have the opportunity to set the scene. Likewise, if you have a series of shots to support each point being made in the narration, having a few seconds of b-roll after each point makes for smoother editing.
#2 – Cover Any Mistakes
There are many different ways to use your B-roll. However, the one thing you have to remember is that your B-roll is not A-roll. You have to edit them into your footage creatively, but they can also mask any visual errors. Let’s say you’re conducting a video interview, and your subject twitched. Naturally, that shouldn’t go in the video. Instead, you can incorporate a B-roll while the A-roll audio is ongoing. This creates the illusion that there’s nothing else going on, and it’s just a matter of switching an active camera.
#3 – Utilize Jump Cuts
You’re probably aware that the Academy Awards have a category for “Best Film Editing” or have heard the phrase “the movie had great editing.” These may seem like throwaway occurrences, but one thing is for sure: editing can make or break a video. After all, an excellent visual aesthetic combined with compelling writing will be wasted if the shot clips aren’t edited in a way that makes sense. Editing is considered excellent if the audience doesn’t notice it.
In the realm of post-production for shorter videos, the jump-cut is considered the best cutting technique. The reason for this is because it can appear anytime throughout a video, and while it’s often abrupt and startling, and it’s effective in emphasising a point. With a jump cut, you can immediately cut to the next relevant part of the video while maintaining a fast pace and not “losing” the viewer. However, a jump cut is only recommended if you can deliver a script correctly, with no errors.
#4 – Be Consistent through Your Soundtrack
When choosing music for your video, make sure it fits the mood you are trying to create. It sounds so obvious, but you’ll often see inappropriate music ruining the energy of a video. For example, 80’s disco music won’t fit in a video demonstrating how to cook something, or dubstep won’t work for a video about fitness.
Make sure you choose music that complements the pace and tone of delivery. Additionally, you also need to make sure you have the right to use specific audio files. Luckily, this won’t be a problem because there are plenty of royalty-free music libraries online.
Conclusion
In essence, editing can make or break the quality of a video because it creates a structure that viewers can understand. You should always put editing in your priorities when making a video because you might lose viewers if you don’t.
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