Construction post 4: Music video post-production

The software that we used to edit our video is called 'Adobe Premiere Pro.' This software is equipped with both the basics and the more complicated components required in order for our video to look professional. I liked using it because everything is very clearly laid out and displayed and there were lots of effects to choose from. This was good as we wanted our video to contain lots of quick cuts and edgy effects. 

Adobe Premiere Pro

Myself editing at the edit suite 

Useful Tools

Useful Techniques/Effects

 

Cross Zoom

For the start of my opening scene I wanted an energetic effect to act as a 'grand entrance' but also to match the energy of my verse. This effect made it dramatic and exciting which reflects the music itself. Here's how I did it:

Film dissolve used for dinner scene

This effect works really well with the sound of the song for this particularly scene. It is the breakdown/slowed down part of the song before the climax and so this connotes a calm, relaxed atmosphere.

Grading was central to enhancing the look of our video as it meant that our footage could go from looking good to great by making everything look more defined. It allowed us to be creative and establish a certain visual tone to our project. However, we often had to manually tweak the different clips in order to get  the best exposure and balance of light for that particular shot, which of course took time. Key tools in this process were the three way colour corrector and Procamp. With the three-way color corrector (pictured below) we could balance the shadows, midtones, and highlights of the footage using color wheels. With Procamp (also pictured below), we could adjust the brightness, contrast, hue, saturation, and split percent of a clip's image. 

Procamp

Three way colour corrector 

TARGET AUDIENCE FEEDBACK

• Feedback at early stages: at times Thakshana's individual part seemed too jumpy due to there being too many cuts, which made it confusing to watch
• Feedback at middle stages: people were impressed by the effects that we had used, particular Angela's one that looked 'really cool'
• Feedback at final stages: people were saying that we had a consistent look and a good variety of backdrops; they also liked how they all tied in with the red theme

Problems & Solutions

My Own Contributions

• Choosing shots for and editing my verse
• Choosing shots for and editing the dinner scene 
• Giving my opinion on the way the others edited their parts

What we did as a group

• Choosing shots for the chorus 
• Choosing effects 
• Choosing filler shots 

What I can improve on

• I should challenge myself more by attempting to edit the more difficult parts such as the chorus which involved lots of cuts 
• I should experiment even more with the various effects available to use so that there is a variety of effects and also so that the video looks cooler and edgier