Project 1 Drawing Sequence: Learning How to Draw

Getting Started: Organization

Before diving in to the project, we started with organizing our files within Adobe Premiere Pro, but also within our hard drives as well.

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The images above are of my organized hard drive before I dove in to editing in Premiere Pro.

Once I had my hard drive was organized, it was time to do the same in Premiere. After importing all of the files, I created multiple bins in order to keep the clips organized as well as making sure they were easy to locate. Doing this ensured that the actual editing of my sequence went as smoothly as possible.

After organizing my bins, it was time for the assembly process. Thanks to the organizing that was done beforehand, it was very simple organizing the clips in the order that I wanted them in.

Assembly: Putting it all Together

The goal of this project was to inform our audience on how to draw. Therefore, the sequence that we created had to be simple and easy to follow, but still engaging at the same time. I feel as though I did very well in doing this. One thing that I did in the beginning was to utilize lower thirds to inform the audience of what each drawing tool was needed.

Aside from doing this, I stuck to basic editing and using simple transitions between the clip. I also utilized the music given to me rather than finding something else to use. As mentioned before, I tried to keep things as simple as possible so that it would be easy to follow along with.

Closing: Final Thoughts

Overall, I really enjoyed doing this project. I thought that it was a nice introductory assignment to basic editing. One aspect of the project that I was not too fond of was the fact that the clips we were given were choppy in the sense that they didn’t necessarily flow at all. I found it extremely difficult to pull out just one narrative to follow. I also found it difficult to incorporate the images given in a way that wouldn’t feel too gimicky and out of place. Thus, I included them in the intro because that’s where I felt they worked best. Overall, this was a great first project and it definitely warmed me up to other projects to come.

Project 2 “Of the Earth” Rough Cut

Getting Started: Organization

Much like the first project, we start with organization of our hard-drives. This project is different than the first in the sense that we were given even more paperwork to look through in order to help us assemble our short films. The paperwork included an editor’s log, the script to the film, and a look-book that gives more information on the what the short film is about. As mentioned before, I first organized my hard drive in the exact same way as before in the first project. One folder included the media that was given to us in class and the other folder, the project folder, included the actual premiere project.

As you can see, the bins I’ve created in Premiere are very similar to what I made in project 1. Within the bins, I renamed all of the video clips so that it’s easier to recognize the content of each clip. While doing that, I also created subclips of each of the takes that I wanted to keep. Subclips are very useful in that they make the assembly process go much faster. Another thing that was new in this project is that we had to edit two different sequences which was very new to me. I was unaware that it was even possible to have multiple sequences.

Pictured above are my two sequences, one being a little over nine minutes and the other being a little over 15 minutes. Both sequences were longer than what they were supposed to be, but I will explain why that is further in my reflection.

Assembly: Putting it all Together

After organizing all of the footage within bins and reading through all of the paperwork, it was time for me to actually assemble the two sequences. The whole idea of the two different sequences was that one would be shorter than the other, but they should both tell the same exact story. Using the subclips that I gathered, I arranged them into their respective sequences to hopefully tell the same story in each. In this project, I refrained from using video transitions because in short and feature length films, they rely on quick cuts instead. I wanted to stay true to that and stray away from using transitions, though that is what I am used to using.

Closing: Final Thoughts

I really enjoyed working on this project, though it was definitely more challenging than the first. I found that I struggled with quick-cutting the most in this project because I felt that I’d be leaving out important information. In the future, I will do more written planning and also just trust my gut when making decisions on what and what not to cut. Doing this would also help with cutting down the time in my sequences as well. Another thing that I would do is work on my audio editing a bit too. I would work on the placements of certain dialogue and play with V.O. a bit more to add depth to the film. Overall, this was the most challenging project for me to do, but I learned a lot of valuable lessons along the way. Maybe in the future, I will go back and make the fixes that I’ve mentioned.

Project 3: Trailer Project

Getting Started: Organization

Our next project that we had was to make a trailer out of one of three movies given to us. I chose to create a trailer for the movie IT. Like the other projects, I started this one in much of the same way. I created folders in my hard drive to separate the media from the project file. After doing that, I was tasked with watching the entire movie and taking notes on it so that I could make a written flow chart. The idea of the flow chart is that it will help us organize the story in a concise way to help the assembly process go smoothly.

Pictured above is the flow chart that I created for my project. It’s not as detailed as what it could be, but it was enough for me to go off of when assembling my project. As you can see, it’s organized in three act structure with the inclusion of an opening scene and a button scene at the end. Three act structures are great to follow when dealing with a narrative story like this. It also comes into play when creating sequences for the project. Each act was its own sequence.

After creating each sequence, I then created subclips from the movie that I wanted in each sequence based off of the flow chart that I created. This was a lengthy process due to the length of the movie.

Assembly: Putting it all Together

After creating the subclips for the trailer, it was time to assemble them into their respective sequences. While doing this, I also played around with music and other sound effects to add to the ambiance of the trailer. To be honest, I wish I had done even more of that and taken more time on it. When creating a trailer for horror films, getting the sound right is super important, but is also the most challenging part. In each sequence, I mainly relied on quick cutting rather than adding transitions in order to keep the pacing steady throughout the trailer. Other than that, the assembly of this project was very much like the other projects that came before it.

Closing: Final Thoughts

To wrap up, I thought that this was also a very challenging, yet rewarding project. I love that we focused a lot on story structure and utilizing multiple sequences when editing. It made the organization of everything very easy. If I could go back, I would put more detail in my flow chart and work on the sound of my trailer a bit more. I liked the clips that I included throughout the trailer, but I feel tat I may have put too much in the opening sequence. I really enjoyed doing this project and I will continue to improve my later work based on what I have learned here.

Project 4: Gnarly in Pink Documentary Project

Getting Started: Organization

For our final project, we were tasked with editing a documentary titled “Gnarly in Pink”. This was actually the second documentary that I would be creating, as I also edited one in high school. However, this was way more extensive and organized than what I have done back then. First, I started in the same way as all the other projects. I created multiple folders in my hard drive to separate the media from the project file. In this step, I also created a new folder for proxies which we had not done in class before. The idea of proxies was completely new to me.

I had to create a proxy for each of the interviews in the first folder of the project. Due to how long it takes to create proxies, I didn’t have to create one for every single video like some people in the past. During the organization process, I had to create another type of flow chart that demonstrated what I was trying to accomplish with the documentary. In this flow chart, I included certain interviews and shots that I wanted to utilize. I also had to describe what film model and mode I wanted to emulate in this project.

Within Premiere I created a similar folder structure to what I had done in my hard drive. There were so many clips to go through from interviews to B-roll. It was a lot to keep up with. One thing that I didn’t do, but I wish I did was create subclips for this project as well. I feel as though I got so intimidated by all of the footage that I talked myself out of creating subclips.

I organized my footage into two sequences; one for the opening sequence and another for the main content. This way, I could work on them separately and not worry about them affecting each other.

Assembly: Putting it all Together

After organizing the footage and creating my flow chart, it was time for me to assemble the documentary. Following the model and mode that I chose, it was pretty simple to put the documentary together. I chose to focus on what the Pink Helmet Posse is and what they hope to accomplish in the future. I utilized a lot of the parent’s interviews because I felt that they gave more information on the group. It was difficult to follow a narrative through the kids because it was hard to understand some of them and some others just didn’t answer the questions at all. While editing the documentary, I also included some visual transitions to add a little flare to the sequence. I thought that it made some of the clips flow better into each other and was just visually appealing. I also added lower thirds during the different interviews so that the audience would know who was speaking and their relation to the pink helmet posse. One thing that I didn’t add was music due to time constraints, but I wish I had. That would have helped in some areas of my documentary where it was just silent.

Closing: Final Thoughts

Overall, this was a really fun project, though not my favorite necessarily. Doing this project, I’ve learned that taking the time to make a detailed flow chart is essential. It’s also a great idea to go through ALL of the footage given, even though it’s a lot to go through. I would also definitely add music because that is essential in making sure there are no awkward silent moments throughout the film. I’ve enjoyed each and every project that I have done this semester and I have learned so much from them. I can say with confidence that I have become more confident in my editing abilities and I will continue working on my skills for years to come.