Blog Post 63 - Stage 3 - Editing and Compiling - Original Footage Part 1

Clips sorted into Project Bins

In the last blog post I talked about how I went about the design and also the filming stage of getting the footage that I needed for one part of the promotional video. Now that I had explained about how I went about getting this footage I am now in a position to edit and compile the footage that I took to get it to a stage of being able to be used in my promotional video trailer.

At the end of the last blog post the position that I was in with the video clips was that I had them recorded however the majority of them, due to production and filming constraints, were vastly long and needed and lot of trimming to ensure that only the key pieces of film are used in the end cut of the promotional video. 

The first stage before editing and compiling was to import all of the video clips that I had taken and then ensure that they had been neatly stored away in a Project Bin. A Project Bin is something very similar to that of a Layer Group found in both Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Premiere, and I decided to use different Project Bins as by using these this would mean that it would be much easier for me to organise all of my clips that I would be using, and for this reason I created a My Source Clips project bin and this is where all of the clips that I had recorded would be placed to aid the production process of editing and compiling. Once the clips had been imported and placed in the project bins, this meant that I could then begin to make the selections as to what areas of the clips that I wanted to trim down and therefore keep. With this in mind I then created another Project Bin called My Trimmed Clips which is where I would then keep all of the individual trimmed clips that I was potentially going to use within the promotional video. 

For this first part of the original footage as previously mentioned I broke this down into five different stages/scenes, and therefore the explanation of editing and compilation will follow that same order too:

Scene 1 / 5 - Drive Past & Stop

Scene 1 / 5 Trimmed and Added

For this first scene from the outset of filming I knew that a lot of trimming of the clip was going to be needed and this was certainly the case. To begin with, the total length of this clip was 43 seconds long and this was because of the filming constraints that I had as I was filming this myself, meaning that the camera was set up on the tripod and I had to start and stop the recording once I had finished driving the car. This was not a problem, though, as by making use of the Mark In and Mark Out points in Premiere I was able to choose the exact selection that I wanted for this first scene. As this scene was a simple introduction there was not much happening, however it was important to take into consideration the details of not only the video by also that of the audio too. For example I needed to ensure that there was a few moments brief pause before the car came into frame as for the audio of the car speeding up and driving past being apparent. With this in mind the clip was trimmed to a Mark In point of 16:02 seconds and a Mark Out point of 20:00 seconds, therefore giving me a total of 3:98 seconds for this clip. Once I was happy with the selection then the clip could be firstly dragged from the Source Viewer to the My Trimmed Clips project bin, and then drag this to the timeline into the Video 1 and Audio 1 timeline areas.

Scene 2 / 5 - Criminal In Action!

Scene 2 / 5 Trimmed and Added

For this second scene of the original footage unlike that of Scene 1, not a lot of trimming was going to be needed. This was because I had full control of the camera for this scene and I was able to start and stop the recording at the points that I exactly wanted too. However, some trimming was going to be made use of however the original footage for this was a total of 11:02 seconds with my Mark In point being 01:08 and Mark Out point being 09:11 giving me a total of 7:12 seconds for this particular scene. Once I was happy with both the Mark In and Mark Out points I could drag the selection from the Source View to the My Trimmed Clips project bin, and then drag this to the timeline into the Video 1 and Audio 1 timeline areas. As can be seen on the screenprint, this was placed in sequence to the previous scene on the timeline so when played back they followed each other. After trying to play back the clips this worked fine and the second scene followed exactly after that of the first scene.

Scene 3 / 5 - Alternative Angle

Scene 3 / 5 Trimmed and Added

The third scene that I chose to film was once again filmed on my own and this, like Scene 1, meant that there would be a lot of trimming down needed for what would be a very short scene indeed. As this was simply just an alternative angle to that of Scene 2 this meant that it would be very short in appearance and literally just a quick cut to the other camera. As I was filming this particular scene on my own, this meant that the camera was set up on the tripod and I had to start and stop the recording once I had finished driving the car. Once again not a problem, though, as I could make use of the Mark In and Mark Out points so that I could select the parts that I wanted. This particular clip that I filmed was 37:02 seconds long, and my Mark In point was 12:28 and the Mark Out point was 15:00 giving me a total of 2:72 for this scene. Once again a rather short amount however as this was just a simple camera alternative angle then it did not need to be long at all. Once happy the selection could then once again be dragged from the Source View to the My Trimmed Clips project bin, and then drag this to the timeline into the Video 1 and Audio 1 timeline areas. Once again, as per the screenprint here, this was placed in sequence to the previous scene on the timeline so when played back this would flow and follow on from each other.

Scene 4 / 5 - Gene is Back

Scene 4 / 5 Trimmed and Added

The fourth of the five scenes for this part of the original footage was another scene that was going to require quite a lot of trimming down so that I was happy with the selection that I was willing to put forward to put into my promotional video. This scene was quite well involved in regards to filming and organisation, and further information about this can be found in Blog Post 62 whereby a description of this scene can be read. In regards to the editing and compilation of this scene, this particular clip was 41:20 seconds long, and my chosen Mark In point was 9:00 seconds and the Mark Out point was 15:22 giving me a total of 6:22 seconds for this scene. Once happy the selection could then once again be dragged from the Source View to the My Trimmed Clips project bin, and then drag this to the timeline into the Video 1 and Audio 1 timeline areas. Once again, as per the screenprint here, this was placed in sequence to the previous scene on the timeline so when played back this would flow and follow on from each other.

Scene 5 / 5 - Capri Drive By

Scene 5 / 5 Trimmed and Added

The fifth and final scene for this first part of the original footage was another scene that was going to need a fair amount of trimming as I filmed this on my own again. As I was filming this particular scene on my own, this meant that the camera was set up on the tripod and I had to start and stop the recording once I had finished driving the car. Once again not a problem, though, as I could make use of the Mark In and Mark Out points so that I could select the parts that I wanted. This clip was in total 43:23 seconds long, however as this was another alternative camera angle shot to end this part of the original footage I decided that a swift scene would be OK. With this in mind, the Mark In point was 18:03 seconds and the Mark Out point was 19:23 leaving me with a clip of 1:20 seconds of clip. Once I was happy the selection could then once again be dragged from the Source View to the My Trimmed Clips project bin, and then drag this to the timeline into the Video 1 and Audio 1 timeline areas. Once again, as per the screenprint here, this was placed in sequence to the previous scene on the timeline so when played back this would flow and follow on from each other.

With all five scenes now successfully trimmed down, added to the appropriate project bins, added to the timeline and playing back in the order that I wanted, arguably this meant that for this particular part of the Original Footage this was finished and ready to be used in my promotional video along with the yet to be finalised other footage and details. However, in the next blog post I will document some further modifications and enhancements.