This week we had our first look at editing footage using
Avid. All of what we covered helps us with learning objective 1, and will be
very important to helping us with the editing parts of our assessments for our
individual and group film.
Firstly it was good to look at what editing is. Editing is
“the art of telling a story by putting together two or more individual shots to
form a sequence”. We edit to cut out boring bits, lead the viewer, create
impact and evoke emotion.
We then looked at selecting material. When looking through
the footage, it is important to use the ones that have good framing and
composition, focus, exposure, colour temperature, steadiness and
continuity. This makes me think about
the importance of setting up the camera correctly, thinking about the shots and
getting enough footage, which we looked at last week. I think that it was good
to be told that you have to look at your own or others footage objectively, so
that the best material is used.
Last week for our directed study task we shot the rushes for
a 90 second film “The Journey”. So this
is what we used this week to learn how to import footage and edit it. The first
step in this process is to connect to the server using Editshare. The server is where we will import and save
our footage and files to.
We then opened Avid and looked at where to create a new
project, and what format to create it in. If the project is not created in my
personal private files on the server, I could lose my work and footage. To connect the Solid State Drive (SSD) to the
computer (which has the footage on), it has to be in a dock connected to the
iMac. To import the footage “link to AMA
files’ has to be selected, which then shows the files on the SSD. The clips
appear in a bin when imported. These clips then need to be consolidated, with
the target drive being Media_1. This
moves the footage from the SSD to the server, so the old files can be deleted.
Once the footage has been imported and consolidated, it can
be useful to rename and add a description to the clips once they have been
watched through, so when editing the clips together, there is no need to watch
them thoroughly more than once, and clips are then easy to find.
Sometimes I think that with so many important steps to
follow and with the risk of losing footage it can be overwhelming and can make
me feel anxious. However knowing there is a written guide that I can use makes
me feel more confident with the process.
To get to grips with editing in Avid, we looked at the basic
tools. When editing footage in an assessment or professional situation, it’s
important to know what tools there are, how to use them and where they are. We
looked at the mark in and out, which marks on a clip which part of it you want
to put in the sequence. This means you
can choose the best part of the clip. To bring it into a sequence, you would
use the ‘splice in’ button. We also
looked at scrubbing, so that you can go to any part of the clip, or the
sequence. I think that it would be good to go over again the basic tools, as
they will be important for assessments and for when working in a professional
environment.
Our directed study task this week was to finish editing our
90-second film (The Journey) and practice burning it to DVD. I found editing my
film quite easy, however I know that it could have been better. In the future
when editing I would pay closer attention to detail, so that the flow of the
film is better. In reflection when thinking about my material, I think that
some of the shots could have been better composed. I also think that I should
have double-checked my camera settings, as some of the footage was a little
grainy or not quite right in terms of white balance and exposure. This is
something that in the future I would be keen to improve.
By following the instructions, I also found it easy to burn
my film to DVD. This makes me think that
I am a better learner when reading and then doing. To burn a finished sequence
to a DVD you have to firstly export the sequence file and send it to ‘QuickTime
Movie’. You then have to open the Toast
Titanium application and drag and drop the exported sequence into the app.
After pressing the ‘Record’ button the file is then encoded and burned to the
DVD.
*Module learning objectives:
- Use key technical equipment on location to originate televisual material and use non-linear digital editing equipment to organise and manipulate televisual material
- Exercise editorial judgment and an awareness of the professional practices, and the language and grammar of the medium to produce a short television package
- Taking a specialised production role, work as a team to research, originate and organise televisual material, organise technical facilities, work to deadlines, produce professional documentation where appropriate and respond creatively to a brief
- To be able to critically evaluate the relative success of their practical work, and role within the production
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