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video Editing Advice, Please

Hello. I wanted to see if I could get some constructive criticism on this sequence I edited. Let me know if there is anything I am missing, should add, takeaway, etc. Anything is helpful.

https://f.io/h1uCwOc8

This link will take you to a video page to post comments on specific frames of your choice. It is a website called Frame.io; if you don't know much about it, a quick Google search will tell you that it's a pretty awesome website for sharing videos and receiving feedback. I have been using this site for a long time, and I highly recommend it.

One last thing, here is a screenshot of my timeline in case it is helpful. Maybe I can get some feedback on that too. The name of the film is "Handicapped John".
 

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I totally agree with Celtic Rambler, it would be nice to know a bit more of what you want to achieve!

From what I can see: everything looked really nice! You used J and L cuts (hearing dialogue from the talking character before or after he appears on screen), and I didn't feel there were too many or not enough cuts (for my personal taste, obviously).

Nevertheless, although I'm sure you wanted to focus on the montage and not on some other details, I'd take a bit more of time in Background Ambience. It's an office, so I'd add random people talking, phones ringing, that kind of stuff.

I didn't knew about this Frame.io site, so thanks a lot for sharing it!
 
Hello. I appreciate your feedback. My goal in editing this was to make this dialogue scene seem natural and flow nicely. I've done a lot of research on it, including J cuts, L cuts, and many others. Foley and other Sound effects, I was holding off on. I was almost about to add sound, but in my opinion, I should finish the editing before any toppings are added, such as sound and color.

Thank you so much! I like the feedback I received; if there is more, it is welcome here. Somebody mentioned Frame.io, and yes! It is an excellent site; I highly recommend it for personal work, school work (film school and such), and professional work. I'll keep this post up for a little bit longer, and I might even add to it, like with sound design and color. I appreciate the support.
 
Good old editstock sample scene.

The edit is ok. Slightly clunky/jarring. I haven't seen the footage for many years but I somewhat remember the gist of it.

There's lots of ways you can massage the footage to improve this. There was one or two places where there were pauses that should have been cut and other areas where it would have been good if you let it breathe. Also, I would have considered presented the paramedics before the line and see if you can get it to be cut on action with the eyeline look.

What I suggest is going back to the site. There are student examples of how they also edited the footage packages. See how they approached it. Just remember, it's a noobie piece of footage, so don't expect too much in the line of professional level editing.

If you want feedback, editstock themselves have a service where you can get feedback. Getting feedback on editing can be hit or miss. Most of the time, it's virtually impossible to know if you did a good job as you may have left the best footage on the cutting room floor. The best is feedback when learning is from people who also know the footage who can give you practical contextual suggestions.

Grab a bunch of other packages of theirs and practise like hell. Get to edit other material that doesn't quite fit together, which make you work hard to figure out how to get the job done. You'll get all this stuff with experience.
 
Thank you so much. All the points you made make a lot of sense. It is a little difficult to pick out exactly what you mean from text, though, I wish I could get some examples. I'll definitely keep practicing. Again, thank you so much for the feedback.
 
The problem with editing is when you're new, you learn the most when you're backed into a corner and need to come up with new solutions on how to get out of it.

After a while, you learn to avoid most of the landmines.

For this project, you're probably better looking at building a radio edit and build the visuals to match the flow and feel of the radio edit. Basically, laying out how it should flow, dialogue/found/feel wise. Another consideration is to hit the comedic points. Think of how you can ramp up the performers overacting. Hint: Focusing more on reaction shots can make a world of difference.

Another point, try not showing the person speaking each and every line. Learning this basic skill will help you out of many spots.

Next, see if you can try to change the genre. Maybe to a horror. It's not always possible, but it's worth thinking on the topic.

I say all this not because there's an issue with your edit as much, but to get you to look at a different way and get a different result. With a project, there are only a handful people that have as much impact on the quality on a project as an editor. A great editor can bring a project to not only its potential, they can bring it well past its potential.

Learning to become a good editor is a tough journey. Good luck with it.
 
I'm at work and haven't watched the video, but I can comment on your timeline. First, glad to see another Avid editor here :) Second, checkerboarding dialogue is good, especially for getting your J and L cuts, but your video should all be on one track unless absolutely necessary. This will come into play down the road if you have to conform in Resolve or something like that. Keep it up!
 
Excellent, thank you for the advice. I just started using Avid a few months ago. I took a LinkedIn Learning course to learn it in a month. It's crazy how essential that is. Anyway, thank you for putting in the time. They are much appreciated.

In fact, I would love to learn more about editing in Avid and coloring in Davinci Resolve. Any tips on that would be cool too. According to my research, I export my Avid timeline to an MXF file and then open it in Resolve? Skip to the coloring, and then re-export to DNxHD? or MXF? or am I wrong altogether? lol
 
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Also, you guys can add comments over at the Frame.io site I sent. When you watch the video, you can pause it to comment; there will be a marker exactly where you left the timeline; so I know exactly what, when, and where you are referring. I can also export those markers, and either import them to Resolve or Avid. Like I said before, Frame.io is an impressive site.
 
If nobody can help, that is alright. Let me know if there are any other sites where I can get feedback. Anything is appreciated. Thank you!
I left some feedback there, hope it's helpful. it was somewhat difficult to know what was an error in the edit without seeing the raw source material. There's a difference between a mistake you made, and a mistake the cameraman made.
 
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