archived-vidoes Do I have a future in editing?

[styx626]

So this is the first video I put real effort into, and not just putzing around with learning software. What do you think?

Please don't be afraid to hurt my feelings, I encourage any and all criticism.

 

[sfoster]

I really hate the "2nd place is the 1st loser" mentality.
Have you ever done any national competition. like seriously competitive stuff

where you train for hours a day all year for one tournament and then hundreds or thousands of the best people nationally/internationally compete?
You may have 1000 people there and only 1 winner

So what does this mentality mean, all 999 people should feel bad about themselves?
only 1 person in the entire world is allowed to feel good? being better than 99% of people is not an accomplishment?

The world is such a depressing place man.. life is so hard. even if life is easy it seems like its hard for humans we get so sad and lonely.
and then to just say someones 2nd place accomplishment makes them a loser.

ugh. i will make another post about the editing. it looks great to me so far.

 

[styx626]

I really hate the "2nd place is the 1st loser" mentality.
Have you ever done any national competition. like seriously competitive stuff

where you train for hours a day all year for one tournament and then hundreds or thousands of the best people nationally/internationally compete?
You may have 1000 people there and only 1 winner

So what does this mentality mean, all 999 people should feel bad about themselves?
only 1 person in the entire world is allowed to feel good? being better than 99% of people is not an accomplishment?

The world is such a depressing place man.. life is so hard. even if life is easy it seems like its hard for humans we get so sad and lonely.
and then to just say someones 2nd place accomplishment makes them a loser.

ugh. i will make another post about the editing. it looks great to me so far.

Thank you for your response! I purchased the speech for the video and was just trying to use elements in the video that corresponded with what the speaker was saying. But I do understand the point your making.

 

[sfoster]

Thank you for your response! I purchased the speech for the video and was just trying to use elements in the video that corresponded with what the speaker was saying. But I do understand the point your making.

Ah well part of editing is cutting out the bad stuff chop chop
could easily remove lines of dialogue that dont work. i assure you this is one of the most important jobs of the editor.

a premade speech is no excuse because everything editors get is premade. then they edit it

 

[Sweetie]

Don't worry about sfoster commenting on particular parts of the material that he personally doesn't agree upon. To grow as an editor, I believe you need to learn to work with material that you don't particulatly agree with. Or at least, be able to work in a way that you don't necessarily agree with. I get what he's saying but very few editors don't get to have complete control over the projects/material they receive. It's part of the working with others skillset.

It's ok.

The audio... ugh. The speech is horrible. Audio overloading all over the place is so distracting for the viewer.

I'm going to assume you're relatively new to editing?

I'd like to ask you what was (or was there) a thought process for the timing flow? Videos of this type typically have a cutting style to get the viewer uncomfortable at particular parts to push home the feeling for the speech. Eg. Cut it well and slower when you want the viewer to be comfortable and mis-cut (faster cutting, jump cut, wrong transition position etc) on purpose it when you want the viewer to be uncomfortable etc. That way you can mold the viewer into a journey.

 

[styx626]

I have dabbled in editing, but this is the first real effort of my capabilities. Part of the reason I joined this community is I have found it a lot easier to grow when interacting with those with a better understanding of the world I'm just dipping my toe into. I hope to one day be the one helping others out who happen to be wearing the same shoes I am right now.

 

[Sweetie]

Good stuff. Keep it up. It's a process. It usually takes a long time of constant work to become a good editor.

Is there any particular kind of editing that you're looking at doing?

Are you just testing the waters and see how it goes or have you already decided you want to become a professional editor?

 

[sfoster]

omg this speech is so bad lol.
"never needing validation from an outside source. do you want real followers, real supporters?"
What wait lol. getting followers is validation from an outside source!! this guy is directly contradicting himself one breath after the other.

i could really dig into this dumb speech more but you didnt write so ill stop there.
I watched the whole video and... it feels like 5 minutes of b roll, a lot of people doing pull ups. I got bored.

theres no characters or story or anything just a bad speech and B roll its not that interesting to me to merit 5 whole minutes of attention.
and it felt pretty static. the first minute feels exactly the same as the 3rd minute and the 5th minute.

 

[Sweetie]

sfoster, it kind of feels like you're taking a dump on him/her because you don't enjoy the subject matter. Things like this usually don't have characters. Most are made with B roll. The story is the speech. It's about the motivation of the viewer.

Particular words of the speech aside, it's a pretty standard take on a motivational video that you'd expect to see at some sort of training seminar or corporate retreat. You often see them at either the beginning to set the mood or at the end to drive home a feeling. It feels like I've seen a hundred of them. I've seen a lot better, but I've also seen a lot worse.

 

[directorik]

So this is the first video I put real effort into, and not just putzing around with learning software. What do you think?

I think you need another five pieces. I can see where you're going with
your first video. Now you need to practice more.

I can't add more to what Sweetie already said about this video; the
audio is terrible, your editing choices need refining. Keep at it.

 

[sfoster]

sfoster, it kind of feels like you're taking a dump on him/her because you don't enjoy the subject matter. Things like this usually don't have characters. Most are made with B roll. The story is the speech. It's about the motivation of the viewer.

Particular words of the speech aside, it's a pretty standard take on a motivational video that you'd expect to see at some sort of training seminar or corporate retreat. You often see them at either the beginning to set the mood or at the end to drive home a feeling. It feels like I've seen a hundred of them. I've seen a lot better, but I've also seen a lot worse.

I feel this video would greatly benefit by being 3 minutes shorter, cutting out the dumb lines, ya know, EDITING IT
turn a bad 5 minute speech into a great 2 minute speech. utilize the power of editing. no one wants to watch 5 straight minutes of b roll and 2 minutes of people doing pull ups.

but sure im taking a dump on them

 

[styx626]

I think you need another five pieces. I can see where you're going with
your first video. Now you need to practice more.

I can't add more to what Sweetie already said about this video; the
audio is terrible, your editing choices need refining. Keep at it.

thank you directorik,
I know the audio is horrible.
I purchased the rights to use a motivational album, and this is one of the tracks. My plan was to use the audio from each track, make 18 different style videos, then see what my audience responds best to and offer them more of what they want. I find my biggest problem is finding royalty-free footage. I know what I want in my head but cannot find usable video to express it.

 

[sfoster]

thank you directorik,
I know the audio is horrible.
I purchased the rights to use a motivational album, and this is one of the tracks. My plan was to use the audio from each track, make 18 different style videos, then see what my audience responds best to and offer them more of what they want. I find my biggest problem is finding royalty-free footage. I know what I want in my head but cannot find usable video to express it.

normally i would never advise someone to use stuff that they dont have rights to, music, footage, etc
but honestly i think if youre learning editing you might want to consider practice with stuff that you cannot sell or profit off of legally.

youre so restricted with what youre doing!
this here is the first thing I ever edited. I definitely did not have the rights to any of the footage or the music!!!
stole them both, combined them into something wonderful.

 

[sfoster]

Here is something else to consider.. a form of editing practice.
This is a dude (not me!) that makes lana del rey videos on his channel lana del radio, assembled from different movie clips

This would have been great with tiger king lmao but its not bad with joe dirt

 

[Sweetie]

I find my biggest problem is finding royalty-free footage. I know what I want in my head but cannot find usable video to express it.

Have you taken a look at Storyblocks.com. I used them a while back when they were called Audio blocks and Video Blocks.

Try other forms of editing to get in some editing experience/practice. It'll bring out different skills into the mix that you'll be able to use, even though it doesn't seem like it right now.

 

[styx626]

Have you taken a look at Storyblocks.com. I used them a while back when they were called Audio blocks and Video Blocks.

Try other forms of editing to get in some editing experience/practice. It'll bring out different skills into the mix that you'll be able to use, even though it doesn't seem like it right now.

I'll look into that, thank you.

 

[ShortFilmSensei]

Have you taken a look at Storyblocks.com. I used them a while back when they were called Audio blocks and Video Blocks.

Try other forms of editing to get in some editing experience/practice. It'll bring out different skills into the mix that you'll be able to use, even though it doesn't seem like it right now.

Audioblocks is a good choice. You have to pay, but you get a lot of stuff, and the will dispute YouTube claims automatically now.

 

[Alcove Audio]

Look, to become proficient at anything you have to do it A LOT! As a working musician I "paid my dues" with endless hours of practice and numberless gigs in dive bars before I started playing "big gigs" as musical director for a prominent oldies band. When I migrated over to audio post I did over a dozen freebees before I felt I had a grip on organization and process, and I was an experienced music recording engineer, so I knew audio basics quite thoroughly. It was quite a bit later before I considered myself truly competent.

And you NEVER stop learning. If I don't have any paying work I make sure to spend some time "playing with my toys." I'm always studying films, reading books & articles and watching videos about audio post as well as other aspects of filmmaking.

You'll also need solid people skills (patience is a major one) and to learn to kill your darlings.

It's a highly competitive industry, and even extraordinarily talented people have to work very hard to keep their skills sharp and their attitudes open.

Good Luck!!!!

 

[Blaney]

omg this speech is so bad lol.
"never needing validation from an outside source. do you want real followers, real supporters?"
What wait lol. getting followers is validation from an outside source!! this guy is directly contradicting himself one breath after the other.

i could really dig into this dumb speech more but you didnt write so ill stop there.
I watched the whole video and... it feels like 5 minutes of b roll, a lot of people doing pull ups. I got bored.

theres no characters or story or anything just a bad speech and B roll its not that interesting to me to merit 5 whole minutes of attention.
and it felt pretty static. the first minute feels exactly the same as the 3rd minute and the 5th minute.

1. It's way, way too long.
2. Pick a better speech - this isn't motivational
3. Sound has issues - needs to be cleaned up
4. Shot selects are a little odd (un-motivational at times).

If this is just an edit experiment you've given yourself, that's great. But to see how well you can edit, what I'd suggest is that you do versions - 20 sec, 30 sec, 45 sec, 1 minute (max). That's what you'd be required to do at a studio, so give it a go.

Then try to do the same motivational edit with just the music. And do versions. This with make you think more about the visuals carrying the narrative.

 

[Kevin Flint]

Here's a suggestion: What you've tried above is an opus. It's a complete work as if you're an advanced and seasoned storyteller, but it's mostly a string of cuts. If you're trying to learn the art of editing, start with the fundamentals, the building blocks.

1) Make a viewer cry
2) Make a viewer angry
3) Make a viewer laugh out loud

To help build the skills, use opposite footage. That is, recut a Seinfeld episode into a horror. Recut an old Noir film as a musical. Try manipulating the beats of your favorite show. What happens to your emotions when you extend the time between a plant and its payoff? What if you remove a key piece of exposition?

These are the fundamental skills you'll employ as an editor. They all require a different approach to the cut and they all require practice. And they are just the tip of the iceberg.

What I'm saying is break it down to skills. Approach it like an athlete. Run drills. Learn the building blocks. Then when you come back later with an opus you will have used those skills to build it, and we'll be moved.

Editing isn't cuts, it's the manipulation of emotions.

Now go have fun!