archived-videos some editing fun ...

oakstreetphotovideo

oakstreetphotovideo

This forum has been feeling a little down, lately. I decided to do a fun, 30 second edit to cheer myself up. I'm not sure if it will motivate anyone else to edit video, but I find this stuff really fun to edit.

I used H.264 compression on this video, so if you don't have Quicktime 7 and a fairly fast computer, I'm sorry. The movie file is 3.5MB. I didn't shoot this video, because I'm the one making all the noise. I directed it... sort of, and I set up the microphones in an attempt to get some great, stereo audio. Listen to this with headphones, if you have some handy. If you've never edited something like this, you should do it ... it really is fun.

The 30 Second Quicktime Clip
 
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That was pretty neat- archery rocks. I like to edit little snippets like that all the time. They usually end up somewhere in the unfathomable depths of my hard drive. C'est la vie.
 
what camera did you use for that, it's nice looking footage. Screen direction changes between release and hit a couple of times (I've fallen victim to it before), try flipping one of the pieces of footage (release or hit), you'll be amazed how much it changes the feel of the sequences to be more natural. If the arrow exits the bow moving to the left, it should enter the target in the same direction. Screen direction changes can be used to show the characters in a chaotic state.

My movie "hasegeschichte" has a scene where the rabbit is flying off screen, I flipped that in post as I had filmed it going the wrong way. Since your piece has no words anywhere on it...it would look like this...I hope you don't mind that I took liberties with your piece.

filmdoor2.gif
 
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Thanks, knightly. I'm afraid I spotted the left-to-right thing but didn't have the time to fix it. My true motivation for doing this shoot at all was to check out my new shotgun mic. In spite of the fact that I made a bit of a mess, I think this kind of footage is great to help someone learn basic editing technique. Essentionally, you've got a handful of camera angles and you can use the "thwap" of the arrows to sync footage. You can then roll your edit points for the best flow, etc.

I also mis-communicated to Katie a couple of the shots I wanted, but it's no big deal. I tried to explain a follow-focus shot I wanted, and I got a follow-zoom! We spent all of an hour on the shot, including setup and teardown.

Last time I did this, I also took the time to slow down the arrows to 1/2 speed when they were in flight and hitting the target. The slow-mo looks great and slowing down the audio really makes the impact sound powerful.

Thanks for the critique. I appreciate any and all input.
 
I like little tests like this, they are nice and targeted to learning one specific thing at a time generally...I've done this with lighting and camera movement. Good little practice excercises.
 
p.s. I'm glad no one mentioned my [lack of] markmenship. In my first volley of arrows, when the camera was close to the target, I was only trying to scare the bullseye ... you know, make it a little nervous! :)

p.p.s. I'm a strong advocate of focused test shots. It helps to learn the parameters of your equipment, and it really reinforces the basics.

I forgot to answer your question earlier: I used my Panasonic DVC-80 on a tripod, and 2 microphones. The shotgun concensor mic was mounted on the camera with the included, Azden shock mount, and my Shure, omni-directional, dynamic mic was on a stand about 20 feet from the camera. You audiophiles can compare the condensor to the dynamic by putting on headphones. I didn't mess with the audio at all. Channel 1 (left) is the condensor, and Channel 2 (right) is the dynamic, omni-directional mic.
 
I noticed while editing, that it looked like the dog was wandering in the line of fire. That was an optical illusion. I was watching the dog to make sure she was never in front of me, or near my line of fire. Just like the camera girl, who was made to abandon her camera when it was in front of me. The bow is an accurate weapon, but the loose nut holding it is, well.... a loose nut.
 
Yeah, i was waiting for someone off camera to go "owwwwww!"

Your a good marksman, if you can do an english accent you could make a good Robin Hood. :)
 
Thanks, Eddie. I am a better marksmen when I'm in practice and shooting straight arrows. However, I really can't act. I once played the Rabbi in "Fiddler on the Roof", and my parents disowned me; mazeltov.

Incidentally, my neighbor watched it, and she immediately suggested that I do a horror scene where I pin some girl to a cross with arrows! Now I keep my doors locked at night... creepy.
 
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