When I first began this studio I thought its aims were to progress our editing skills and give us tips and tricks of the trade to create edits usable in everyday life. Now, after completing this course I’ve learned so much more. This course has shown me how to work plan and create professionally. It’s also broadened my idea of what an editor can be, from freelance to personal film editor 

From this semester I have learned a process that works best for me to cut down my editing time and create products that are of high quality. I still think there are more quick keys I could learn but you could spend your entire life trying to memorize them. I’ve also learned how to explore concepts and use references, artists, and creators to further shape my own style. This helped me to find my own style and see patterns in my editing, such as my prevalence to edit to the beat of the music. 

The course definitely surpassed my expectations, I feel I have my own direction, and applicable principles and lessons that I can take outside of the course which is the most exciting thing. Having skills I will keep using over and over again is a great success for me.

I have surpassed my fear of digital labeling and have found a system that allows me to work efficiently but doesn’t feel too time-consuming for me. Hooray. 

 

In relation to the studio prompt, after completing my editing briefs I have learnt a lot about the power of the cut. The three edits to me have really shown me how you can transform footage into a story. I knew you could craft together something decent, but using only stock footage for my commercial, I created an entire world, an idea, and a story. Editing and cutting together images allowed me to turn basic images into something so much more and that’s pretty cool. I used to think that less is more, but seriously, with premiere, less is not more. More is less, and more and more is just enough. Editing is so sneaky, and you don’t even register half of the work that does into making a good piece of media. From my edits, I learned that subtlety doesn’t always register and that adding in ‘drastic’ changes makes it visible to the eye. Now I can’t watch anything without noticing every single cut, transition, and color grade, my eyes have been opened and I can’t go back. I struggled in my own edits to justify bold cuts and edits, but now I know that’s what makes editing good, bold choices, and deliberate changes, to make a piece better, otherwise, why edit at all? If it’s so subtle, just use the raw footage right?

My edit series is an amalgamation of the things I’ve learned, and I’m really proud that I created pieces that really show the transformative qualities of editing… my original drafts seem a world away from what my work is now. And that’s progress.

 

For my final work, I really hope that above all else, my work engages viewers because they’ve become engaging stories. Do they tell a crafted story, show intimacy to the people on the screen, and emotive connections? If the answer is yes (and it’s a big yes from me) then I feel I’ve done my job. I want to engage my viewers by making them think, think something they wouldn’t have thought before. For example- Commercial: Ohh, let me buy a new perfume. Narrative: Jeez I gotta get back to gyming. Jewell: What just happened, wait, was this a love song or not?.

Each edit should leave you with a different feeling, and hopefully, in the order, they are shown (Commercial, Documentary, Narrative) and these feelings should follow:

Excited/ Interested/ Compelled  —— Happy/Humours/Childlike/Inspired ———  Giddy/Mesmerised/ Warm/Stunned/Confused.

I can’t choose one emotion, because I think the power of these edits lies in the range of emotions they evoke because they are so deeply rooted in a story, in an arch.

 

If I were to keep working on these edits, I would like to do very different things for each. For ‘Jewell’, I would love to finish the entire 5-minute song, to take it to a music festival. I would mainly focus on the story, and make sure that it is beautifully crafted. The extended song has so much detail and beautiful space within its musicality so I would play with that. I’d also like to perfect the filter that created the dream-like qualities of this piece, Make sure they really encompass the feeling of sleeping, and being away in the dream, so that it really contrasts the stark and morbid ending of the song, and finally, working on matching the audio to clips. I think I did a pretty bang-on job, but there are a few clips I think could be milliseconds out, and with more time, I’d make sure they are perfect.

For ‘ToTheMax’ I’d like to go further into his day and show more of his tips and tricks, instead of an overview. To perfect this one, I’d pretty much start all over again with the filming and get a much higher-quality video. Although I really like the contrast of the animation, with the grainy background footage, it’s hard to watch for a while and it only works in my favor because it seems like a comic book intro, and that’s fitting for his channel advertisement, however not long term youtube channel. So a better camera is a must. I’d also want to include images of him in a suit, showing his transformation from office clerk to gym junkie. The animations are great, but I would’ve changed them, I think it makes the video much more engaging, and playful for the audience he is after, but I would fine-tune the transitions.

Finally, for my commercial, I wouldn’t take this one further, unless a brand wanted to use this for an actual product. It’s good enough for a pretend ad, but to use real products,  real branding, and a company would be the way I’d progress this ad, otherwise, I’m perfectly happy with the choices and edits I made and will use it to showcase what I can do.

 

Throughout this semester I found collaboration the easiest and quickest way to move past an obstacle. Asking my classmates for help and getting instant answers were amazing. Particularly Em and I have an exchange of work where she usually be assisting me throughout Abobe premiere and I could help with our blogs or visual ideas. Not only did this help get our work done but the exchange of personalities and ideas made me open my mind to trying new transitions or edit styles I would never do without help, of would’ve taken me longer than I have time for. So collaboration opened me up to new ways of doing things.

The collaboration of ideas was also great. I learned so much from hearing how other people visualize and contextualize ideas. My own practice grew the most from seeing other people’s ideas, it was inspiring. Not to mention gave me crazy ideas throughout our presentations. I went from being secure in my ideas to being flooded with new ideas on how to reshape my work, including making a spoof commercial instead of taking it so seriously. However, the lesson in that also remains to stick to your gut and allow inspiration to flow forward for a new project. 

A challenge for me was overcoming my perfectionism, sometimes I don’t want to rely on other people and their complete freedom to do as they please. However, in sitting back… forcibly, I learned a lot about going with the flow and actually ended up loving working eigh work that wasn’t my own and footage not shot by myself. I could work with it more when I couldn’t see the flaws of my own shoot. 

 

 

 

Attached is my Jewell Risk Managment Saftey Report

No reports were required for the other two edits.