Blog Post 77 - Stage 3 - Editing and Compiling - Background Music

In the last few Blog Posts I have explained how and also why I went about compiling all of the different scenes of the promotional video and in theory I have a nearly completed promotional video that is a total of 1:00 minute long with a clear introductory scene, footage that I have filmed myself, footage that has been reused from previous series and also a clear ending/conclusion too.

At this point in time, though, I feel that it is important to fine tune the promotional video as for the end result to be that of as professional as possible. Back in Blog Post 61, for the promotional video research it was apparent to me that a lot of period soundtracks from the period of the 1970s and 1980s were used as to once again pass across the flavour of the series and that of the 1980s being "back" for this film.

Jean Genie

With this in mind I decided that I was going to use a couple of soundtracks within my promotional video and I chose these for a few different reasons. The first soundtrack that I chose to use was that of David Bowie's hit song of "Jene Genie". Probably the most obvious reason behind this choice was due to the name of the main character being Gene, and obviously this links in rather well to that of the song title and would give a nice context to that of the trailer with this playing in the background. Also, in the footage that I procured for that of the introductory Scene 1 for the promotional video, where I sourced this from on YouTube this was part of a fan compilation video and this particular person had overlayed the Jene Genie music too, and seeing/hearing this made me think that this was a good combination and therefore I decided to go ahead with this.

As mentioned, I decided that I would not be using the same piece of music throughout the entire promotional video as this is, I think, not a professional approach as the majority of film trailers that you see have a whole host of different music used within them. However, to begin with my source for that of the Gene Genie was here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGQo6zpVzt8) and decided that this would be perfect for the scene. Although I have yet to cover this in a Blog Post yet (although this will be covered in a future Blog Post) I was able to download this from YouTube by making use of a website called KeepVid (http://keepvid.com). As mentioned, further detailed information regarding this website and the issues surrounding that of downloading videos online will be detailed in a future blog post. Once this was downloaded I was then able to import this into Premiere in the usual way of File -> Import and then place in in the project bin called My Source Clips. 

I Fought The Law

In regards to the placing of the music of Jene Genie, towards the end of Scene 1 in the audio element there was already the start of the Jene Genie soundtrack which I had previously mentioned above. With this in mind it was lucky that I was going to make use of the track anyway as this would nicely link in. With this in mind, though, it meant that I had to make the precise selection of the parts of the soundtrack that I was going to trim and use, as to ensure that it nicely linked in. Once I had played back the song a few times I was able to work out that the exact time that I needed to trim the soundtrack clip to ensure that it linked in well. Once I was happy with this, then the clip was dragged to the timeline and into the Audio 4 timeline area, and this is because it was the underlying soundtrack I needed it to be clear that it was totally separate from all of the other audio tracks. In regards to length, I decided that due to it needed to link in and having made the selection it would start exactly after that of the Scene 1 audio had finished (at 10:19 seconds) and continue to 32:09 seconds which is at the end of the speaking scene (Scene 5). As I did not need the video element I was able to Right Click -> Unlink and then simply delete the video part, leaving just the audio element that I wanted. In a future blog post you will find information in regards to Audio Effects and Transitions that will be applied to this and the other audio elements.

Background Music Trimmed and Added

For the second piece of background music, I decided to go along the route of another play on words, and take the 1980s band "The Clash" with their song of "I Fought The Law". I felt that this was a nice play on words as to link in with the Police/the Law and would also suit the scenes too. As previously mentioned in the other editing and compilation blog posts after the talking scene of Scene 5 I decided that I wanted to up the pace of the promotional video and one part of this was in regards to the fast car chase scenes that were in place. I personally felt that a fast and rock inspired song would therefore word well with the rest of the scene. With this in mind I was once again able to make use of YouTube (www.youtube.com/watch?v=tR3XY6wfSBw) and decided that this would be perfect for the scene. Although I have yet to cover this in a Blog Post yet (although this will be covered in a future Blog Post) I was able to download this from YouTube by making use of a website called KeepVid (http://keepvid.com). As mentioned, further detailed information regarding this website and the issues surrounding that of downloading videos online will be detailed in a future blog post. Once this was downloaded I was then able to import this into Premiere in the usual way of File -> Import and then place in in the project bin called My Source Clips. 

In regards to the placement of this particular soundtrack I decided that I was going to place it after that of the previously placed Gene Genie soundtrack, and have it continue up to but not including the last scene. I was very critical as to the trimming of the clip, as in Scene 11 of the promotional video this was the scene were the criminal was apprehended and caught, and I wanted to make use one of the main lines of the song "I fought the law, but the law won". This, I thought, would be a good use of the soundtrack and also a catchy way to end that scene, prior to that of Gene in Scene 12 giving he thoughts to the criminal. As I did not need the video element I was able to Right Click -> Unlink and then simply delete the video part, leaving just the audio element that I wanted. In a future blog post you will find information in regards to Audio Effects and Transitions that will be applied to this and the other audio elements.

Now that the background music soundtracks are both in place, this meant that another element of the promotional video was complete, and therefore I was able to move onto the next stage of Audio Effects.