Editing Lesson Blog

When filming and using the camera there is a lot of things you can do physically that you don't have to do with editing. The camera is going to be held hand so a lot of tracking shots and moving shots can be easily achieved with your bare hands. There is also a tripod that can be used when there isn't anyone around to hold the camera and it also allows for a more steady shot. The tripod can be adjusted in many ways. It can be raised up, which can allow a better view of the subject. It can be tilted, which can allow the filmmaker to introduce a Dutch shot into their film. It can be manually turned left to right and vice versa. This allows the implementation of panning shots. Lastly, the tripods allow an up and down movement, which can be used creatively for many shots.

During this lesson, I learned about the fundamentals of editing in the software, Pinnacle Studios. Before editing can start, you obviously have to film your commercial first. When filming you will obviously have a lot of footage to go through. Most takes won't be used in the final product so editing is necessary when trying to make any film. I learned that after filming you will have to dump all the footage onto a folder titled commercial footage. You will dumb all the footage by plugging in the SD card into the computer. After plugging in the SD card you will have to access the footage through the DCIM  folder. If the footage isn't found there you will have to go through the folder "private" then "AVCHD" then "next" then "stream" and that is where you will find your footage. Once you've found your footage its all about dumping it all into a folder on the computer that will be accessed at a later date. This is when you begin your editing process

When doing your editing process on Pinnacle Studios you will have to be extremely patient. The software isn't the best so when using it, you shouldn't touch anything while any audio or video or anything is loading because the software will crash. When realizing this flaw you then can Import all your footage and audio onto the software. Then, you will have to click and drag it on the track to start your editing. You can cut your footage because not all the footage will be needed. You can add FX to your film. This can be from color changing like black and white to animations. The FX can be minor or great. I also learned how to add a voice-over, when editing you can separate the audio from the video. Doing so will allow you to delete the audio from the footage and add another piece of audio, for example, a voice-over. You can also add a title to your film, by clicking the T icon on the software you will be allowed to. You can change the font, color, font, size and duration of the title allowing you to do a lot with it.