[Setup Unit 8] Preparation for Final Project - Introduction to Video Editing & Sci-FI Weekender Condensed Reflection
I first began editing videos at 13 years old, starting out creating videos which consisted of photographs of my Bionicle creations edited to music. These were shared on my YouTube channel, OZKABOT, for which my dad previously edited the videos for. Over the 7 years my channel has been running, I have reached 788 subscribers, and I am still occasionally producing content for the channel. For my photography project in Art Foundation, I edited videos in this style which were later uploaded onto my YouTube channel.
On the left is the first video I ever edited. At this point I was still being assisted by my dad, however most of the video was my own work. The photographs shown here were taken and edited by my dad, as they all were up until this point. On the right is the first video I edited without any assistance whatsoever. I also took the photographs and edited them, which consists of adjusting the contrast, saturation and cropping it down to 1920x1080 resolution.
These videos are fairly basic, consisting of only still images. I would not go on to experiment with moving image until I was 15, the first being a video consisting of Quake III: Arena gameplay edited to music. I chose Quake III: Arena as it was the first game I ever played, first playing it at 2 years old, and its fast paced gameplay lent itself well to the style of video I set out to create.
[Quake III Video]
I created a number of these videos which I larer renamed Gaming Remix's, however these were removed from YouTube a few years ago.. I used footage from a number of games, including; Quake 4, Unreal Tournament III, Serious Sam, Doom 3 and Borderlands 2. I would show them to my dad before uploading them, and he began to comment that they were very similar and there wasn't much difference between them. I began to agree, as I could see the more confident I got with editing them, the lazier I became - resulting in the videos becoming more and more simple.
It was at this point that my dad offered me my first editing job. I had recently attended an event called The Gadget Show Live, at which I was able to play games such as Evolve and Sniper Elite 3, which were still months away from release at that time. At the event, my dads company, Area51, was invited to showcase their 'DigiLegs', a form of stilt which rather than simply increasing the height of the wearer, also gives them the appearance of having digitigrade legs - Digitigrade meaning an animal that stands or walks on its toes / digits, including Cats, Birds and Dogs.
I was asked to edit together a video using the footage shot there by my dad, just to see what it turned out like, with no intention of actually using it to promote the company. After 4 hours of editing (and a bit of YouTube) I had a finished video. Upon showing my dad, he was surprised at how fast I edited it and the quality of the final video, and said he would actually use it to promote the event. He helped me add some finishing touches before it was uploaded, and gave me a whole £20 as payment. Needless to say I was very proud of my first piece of video editing work.
After this point I was doing a lot of video editing, both for my dad and just for fun. I resurrected my Gaming Remix series, in the form of Minute Mixes. These were roughly the same concept as the Gaming Remix videos, however they were limited to one minute. This remedies one of the issues that arose with the previous series, in that they became too long and as a result boring. I only edited three Minute Mixes, covering the games Crysis 3, Wolfenstein: The New Order and Shadow Warrior. These were far better than my Gaming Remix's, as I was more experienced at editing at this point, and knew about a lot of visual effects that added to the video.
I continued to produce videos for Area51, similar in style to my first Area51 video, however each one getting better as I learned more about the program I was using, Pinnacle Studio 18. Unfortunately, not everything I learned was good. I began to learn about the programs tendency to crash, freeze and not launch, requiring an entire PC restart. These got increasingly more frustrating the more I used the software. One of the redeeming factors however, is that the program AutoSaves after every change, so when it does crash, I never lose anything. It also means power cuts don't cause me to lose any of my editing work as it will have already saved.
In 2016 and 2017, via Area51, I was given the opportunity to create a number of videos for a Wales based Sci-Fi convention called the Sci-Fi Weekender. I had been to all of the previous ones, at that point having been around for 7 years, doing the occasional bit of work with my friends. The year prior I was also asked to produce the promotional video for the event, however in 2016 and 2017 I was creating videos which were shown on the main stage throughout the day, introducing the guests and panellists.
From both 2016 and 2017 these are some of my favourite videos that I produced alongside a condensed evaluation of each video. For my 2017 videos you can find more in-depth analysis in previous posts under the "[Prologue]" section.
This was the first intro I produced for the 2016 Sci-Fi Weekender, and is the one I had the most fun editing together. Part of this was the subject matter, which is something I am passionate about, but also the fact this gave me the opportunity to use images and have them thrown onto the screen with the music. This is an idea that was inspired by a popular YouTube series called 'Game Theory', a large portion of the editing within the videos being based around images and video appearing on screen to accompany what is being said. It is executed in a cartoony / stylish manner, which is something I wanted to incorporate.
The concept alone for this video was exciting. An introduction for Brian Blessed!? For this segment, Brian Blessed was to be interviewed by Professor Elemental - a gentlemen rapper known for his music lovingly mocking British culture, dressed in a safari uniform. In order to give a sense of scale and epicness to the show, I wanted to edit the intro like a dramatic and action packed movie trailer to build up suspense for the big event. When it came to being showed at the weekender, the entire main area was packed with people awaiting Blessed's arrival, so when the "Brian Blessed" title came up in the intro, alongside the Flash Gordon theme music, the entire room was filled with roaring cheers and clapping. It was a really great moment, even if they weren't specifically cheering for my video.
This is one of the last intros I edited for the 2016 Sci-Fi Weekender, however it was on the more fun end of the enjoyment spectrum. Of the artists shown in this video, I had only previously spoken to Glen Fabry, however at the 2016 SFW I managed to talk to all the artists shown here, and received a drawing from Clint Langley which is being kept safe from all human hands but mine. For the intro I opted to use images from comics who the artists illustrated for, and used footage from Dredd (not the Stallone one, we don't talk about that) to give the intro some more movement - for which I increased the saturation and contrast to look more like a comic book.
This is one of the last videos I produced for the 2017 Sci-Fi Weekender, mainly because I was still not sure what direction to go with it. However I later decided that it should be louder, heavier and angrier than the last. Partially to portray the anger experience by fans ever say we wake up without a Dredd (again, not that one) sequel, but also represent the rebellious nature of 200AD, and the aggression of some of its characters like Judge Dredd. For the musical choice, I opted for BFG Division from the DOOM soundtrack, due to it sounding like it's made of pure liquid aggression squeezed from the armpit of an angry Tyrannosaurus Rex with rocket launchers for eyes. To match this more aggressive tone, I desaturated the Dredd footage just enough so that key bits of colour were still visible, but it was primarily in gray-scale - a style that can be seen in the 2000AD comic series, Shakara. Examples below:
http://4thletter.net/2011/04/this-week-in-panels-week-80/
The original version of this wasn't too great - the main problem being a lack of variation in footage. I had opted to solely use footage that featured Chris Barrie's character, Arnold Rimmer. The problem with this is that it lost the essence of the show and had no energy to it whatsoever. After looking on YouTube and finding full episodes of the newest series of Red Dwarf uploaded, I inter-cut some of the more intense moments from the series and the intro with the footage I already had, as well as updating some of the footage I already had of Chris Barries Arnold Rimmer to clips seen in the latest season. The end result was a vast improvement, becoming one of my favorites from that year.
Monsters. Finally. In truth, this was one of the first few that I edited and opted to probably spend the most time on this one out of all the intros. This was definitely fun to work on. All of the footage is from various Doctor Who episodes, which was becoming increasingly more scarce the later into editing I got, as there wasn't a lot of footage of the monsters he's played available YouTube - so I ended up using pretty much everything I could find. The song used is Destroyer of All Things by Blue Stahli, and I'm glad I chose it as it was very enjoyable to work with. The only thing I was told not to do was mention his upcoming role as R2-D2 in Star Wars Episode 8: The Last Jedi. I did it anyway, kind of.
The main difference between these two years is the final video that I produced.
2016 Final SFW Video: For 2016 I made a promotional style video using footage that I recorded at the event. The intention was for it to be alike my Area51 videos, however with some more artistic qualities - such as more texture on the screen in the form of glitch effects which appeared synchronized with the music. The main problem with is was the footage, as I am used to editing with footage shot by an experienced photographer, however this was my first time ever filming at an event - resulting in footage that was subpar compared to that which I've used previously. This was made as part of my A2 Art Exam; the video introductions working as preparation and research, while the final video was edited in college under exam conditions for the exam.
2016 Video here:
2017 Final SFW Video: In 2017, the final video, and the introductions before it, were part of my 'Create an Experience from an Experience' project - for which I converted my experience at the weekender into a condensed video using footage which I recorded. For 2017 I wanted to use this experience to help prepare myself for my final major project, taking inspiration from various 'behind the scenes' documentaries. The intention was to give an alternate look to what is usually shown, showing what people do when not at the event, and instead hanging around back at the cabin. I set up a few situations as my final project is to be a Mockumentary, meaning I will need to prepare myself for directing people and planning out situations - including what the best way would be to film it.
Making this video has taught me a lot for my final project; primarily to film everything. There were a lot of moments which missed out on being in the video due to my forgetfulness on the subject of filming. As I was not used to filming events (the last time being exactly a year prior) it was still not a natural reaction to film something funny, and I would only realize after that I missed out on some great footage. Something else that was brought to my attention while sorting through the footage was the shakiness of the camerawork. This is something I'd like to keep on top of when it comes to filming my Mockumentary, maybe using a Dolly tripod where scenes require a moving camera.
The aspect of filming everything is something I will definitely need to work on for my final project, as it is essential that I film things that I haven't planned for - even if the structure will be a script. It is likely events will occur that will work better than scenes that I have planned out as they'll be natural. If I am doing this, I will have to find a way to blur the lines between scripted and natural scenes, otherwise, it could jarring and take people out of the experience. Something similar to this can be seen in the second season of the UK Office, in which a 'blooper / outtake' is left in. All things considered, the actors handle it incredibly well, and instantly a brought back into the scene as their characters.
I can't find the isolated scene uploaded onto YouTube, however the entire episode that its in is. The episode can be seen below, and the moment in question can be seen at around 4:45.
[Quake III Video]
I created a number of these videos which I larer renamed Gaming Remix's, however these were removed from YouTube a few years ago.. I used footage from a number of games, including; Quake 4, Unreal Tournament III, Serious Sam, Doom 3 and Borderlands 2. I would show them to my dad before uploading them, and he began to comment that they were very similar and there wasn't much difference between them. I began to agree, as I could see the more confident I got with editing them, the lazier I became - resulting in the videos becoming more and more simple.
It was at this point that my dad offered me my first editing job. I had recently attended an event called The Gadget Show Live, at which I was able to play games such as Evolve and Sniper Elite 3, which were still months away from release at that time. At the event, my dads company, Area51, was invited to showcase their 'DigiLegs', a form of stilt which rather than simply increasing the height of the wearer, also gives them the appearance of having digitigrade legs - Digitigrade meaning an animal that stands or walks on its toes / digits, including Cats, Birds and Dogs.
I was asked to edit together a video using the footage shot there by my dad, just to see what it turned out like, with no intention of actually using it to promote the company. After 4 hours of editing (and a bit of YouTube) I had a finished video. Upon showing my dad, he was surprised at how fast I edited it and the quality of the final video, and said he would actually use it to promote the event. He helped me add some finishing touches before it was uploaded, and gave me a whole £20 as payment. Needless to say I was very proud of my first piece of video editing work.
After this point I was doing a lot of video editing, both for my dad and just for fun. I resurrected my Gaming Remix series, in the form of Minute Mixes. These were roughly the same concept as the Gaming Remix videos, however they were limited to one minute. This remedies one of the issues that arose with the previous series, in that they became too long and as a result boring. I only edited three Minute Mixes, covering the games Crysis 3, Wolfenstein: The New Order and Shadow Warrior. These were far better than my Gaming Remix's, as I was more experienced at editing at this point, and knew about a lot of visual effects that added to the video.
I continued to produce videos for Area51, similar in style to my first Area51 video, however each one getting better as I learned more about the program I was using, Pinnacle Studio 18. Unfortunately, not everything I learned was good. I began to learn about the programs tendency to crash, freeze and not launch, requiring an entire PC restart. These got increasingly more frustrating the more I used the software. One of the redeeming factors however, is that the program AutoSaves after every change, so when it does crash, I never lose anything. It also means power cuts don't cause me to lose any of my editing work as it will have already saved.
In 2016 and 2017, via Area51, I was given the opportunity to create a number of videos for a Wales based Sci-Fi convention called the Sci-Fi Weekender. I had been to all of the previous ones, at that point having been around for 7 years, doing the occasional bit of work with my friends. The year prior I was also asked to produce the promotional video for the event, however in 2016 and 2017 I was creating videos which were shown on the main stage throughout the day, introducing the guests and panellists.
From both 2016 and 2017 these are some of my favourite videos that I produced alongside a condensed evaluation of each video. For my 2017 videos you can find more in-depth analysis in previous posts under the "[Prologue]" section.
This was the first intro I produced for the 2016 Sci-Fi Weekender, and is the one I had the most fun editing together. Part of this was the subject matter, which is something I am passionate about, but also the fact this gave me the opportunity to use images and have them thrown onto the screen with the music. This is an idea that was inspired by a popular YouTube series called 'Game Theory', a large portion of the editing within the videos being based around images and video appearing on screen to accompany what is being said. It is executed in a cartoony / stylish manner, which is something I wanted to incorporate.
The concept alone for this video was exciting. An introduction for Brian Blessed!? For this segment, Brian Blessed was to be interviewed by Professor Elemental - a gentlemen rapper known for his music lovingly mocking British culture, dressed in a safari uniform. In order to give a sense of scale and epicness to the show, I wanted to edit the intro like a dramatic and action packed movie trailer to build up suspense for the big event. When it came to being showed at the weekender, the entire main area was packed with people awaiting Blessed's arrival, so when the "Brian Blessed" title came up in the intro, alongside the Flash Gordon theme music, the entire room was filled with roaring cheers and clapping. It was a really great moment, even if they weren't specifically cheering for my video.
This is one of the last intros I edited for the 2016 Sci-Fi Weekender, however it was on the more fun end of the enjoyment spectrum. Of the artists shown in this video, I had only previously spoken to Glen Fabry, however at the 2016 SFW I managed to talk to all the artists shown here, and received a drawing from Clint Langley which is being kept safe from all human hands but mine. For the intro I opted to use images from comics who the artists illustrated for, and used footage from Dredd (not the Stallone one, we don't talk about that) to give the intro some more movement - for which I increased the saturation and contrast to look more like a comic book.
This is one of the last videos I produced for the 2017 Sci-Fi Weekender, mainly because I was still not sure what direction to go with it. However I later decided that it should be louder, heavier and angrier than the last. Partially to portray the anger experience by fans ever say we wake up without a Dredd (again, not that one) sequel, but also represent the rebellious nature of 200AD, and the aggression of some of its characters like Judge Dredd. For the musical choice, I opted for BFG Division from the DOOM soundtrack, due to it sounding like it's made of pure liquid aggression squeezed from the armpit of an angry Tyrannosaurus Rex with rocket launchers for eyes. To match this more aggressive tone, I desaturated the Dredd footage just enough so that key bits of colour were still visible, but it was primarily in gray-scale - a style that can be seen in the 2000AD comic series, Shakara. Examples below:
http://www.2000ad.org/?zone=news&page=newsimage&choice=shakaraii
http://4thletter.net/2011/04/this-week-in-panels-week-80/
The original version of this wasn't too great - the main problem being a lack of variation in footage. I had opted to solely use footage that featured Chris Barrie's character, Arnold Rimmer. The problem with this is that it lost the essence of the show and had no energy to it whatsoever. After looking on YouTube and finding full episodes of the newest series of Red Dwarf uploaded, I inter-cut some of the more intense moments from the series and the intro with the footage I already had, as well as updating some of the footage I already had of Chris Barries Arnold Rimmer to clips seen in the latest season. The end result was a vast improvement, becoming one of my favorites from that year.
Monsters. Finally. In truth, this was one of the first few that I edited and opted to probably spend the most time on this one out of all the intros. This was definitely fun to work on. All of the footage is from various Doctor Who episodes, which was becoming increasingly more scarce the later into editing I got, as there wasn't a lot of footage of the monsters he's played available YouTube - so I ended up using pretty much everything I could find. The song used is Destroyer of All Things by Blue Stahli, and I'm glad I chose it as it was very enjoyable to work with. The only thing I was told not to do was mention his upcoming role as R2-D2 in Star Wars Episode 8: The Last Jedi. I did it anyway, kind of.
The main difference between these two years is the final video that I produced.
2016 Final SFW Video: For 2016 I made a promotional style video using footage that I recorded at the event. The intention was for it to be alike my Area51 videos, however with some more artistic qualities - such as more texture on the screen in the form of glitch effects which appeared synchronized with the music. The main problem with is was the footage, as I am used to editing with footage shot by an experienced photographer, however this was my first time ever filming at an event - resulting in footage that was subpar compared to that which I've used previously. This was made as part of my A2 Art Exam; the video introductions working as preparation and research, while the final video was edited in college under exam conditions for the exam.
2016 Video here:
2017 Final SFW Video: In 2017, the final video, and the introductions before it, were part of my 'Create an Experience from an Experience' project - for which I converted my experience at the weekender into a condensed video using footage which I recorded. For 2017 I wanted to use this experience to help prepare myself for my final major project, taking inspiration from various 'behind the scenes' documentaries. The intention was to give an alternate look to what is usually shown, showing what people do when not at the event, and instead hanging around back at the cabin. I set up a few situations as my final project is to be a Mockumentary, meaning I will need to prepare myself for directing people and planning out situations - including what the best way would be to film it.
Making this video has taught me a lot for my final project; primarily to film everything. There were a lot of moments which missed out on being in the video due to my forgetfulness on the subject of filming. As I was not used to filming events (the last time being exactly a year prior) it was still not a natural reaction to film something funny, and I would only realize after that I missed out on some great footage. Something else that was brought to my attention while sorting through the footage was the shakiness of the camerawork. This is something I'd like to keep on top of when it comes to filming my Mockumentary, maybe using a Dolly tripod where scenes require a moving camera.
The aspect of filming everything is something I will definitely need to work on for my final project, as it is essential that I film things that I haven't planned for - even if the structure will be a script. It is likely events will occur that will work better than scenes that I have planned out as they'll be natural. If I am doing this, I will have to find a way to blur the lines between scripted and natural scenes, otherwise, it could jarring and take people out of the experience. Something similar to this can be seen in the second season of the UK Office, in which a 'blooper / outtake' is left in. All things considered, the actors handle it incredibly well, and instantly a brought back into the scene as their characters.
I can't find the isolated scene uploaded onto YouTube, however the entire episode that its in is. The episode can be seen below, and the moment in question can be seen at around 4:45.
While this isn't quite the same as what I was describing earlier, it does represent a break in the illusion of it all being real - and is the only one in the entire show (trust me, I've seen every episode more than I can count on three fingers). As my Mockumentary is intended to feel real, it is essential that there are no breaks in the 'reality'.
Something that is important in a Mockumentary is to tell a story. My closest attempt to a Doc / Mockumentary is the Sci-Fi Weekender video, which, while being focussed on a small group of characters, there is no storyline or character development. My only video which includes themes similar to this is my A2 Art: Coursework video, which is a retrospective looking back on all of my A2 Art coursework (primarily sculptures) and showing how they developed and relate to my childhood.
While on the surface it may be entirely different to a Mockumentary, its is very much a personal story, showing development and giving insight to myself as a person at the time of writing, but also me as a child. Transitioning from a calm and innocent intro sequence backed by Pink Floyd to an intense experience intercut with horrific DOOM gameplay and edited to music by Mick Gordon (DOOM) and Sonic Mayhem (Quake III, Doomsday EP) - a visual and audible representation of my change as a person, despite the interests and subject of my artwork changing very little.
While this may be too personal for my Mockumentary, it is important to learn from, and show a development in character as the film progresses - not only to keep viewers interested but also make it more entertaining for the actor and director. This is one of the things that keeps Doctor Who feeling fresh, as there is a new doctor every so often via the regeneration process - so while it may be the same character, you can see their development into visually different people.
Before working on my Sci-Fi Weekender video, I created a learning resource which would teach the viewers the basics of Pinnacle Studio 18. This was my first foray adding humour into my videos, and is what initially lead me to wanting to make my Sci-Fi Weekender video humorous. as the resource was received well by my art class, and the humour went down well except for the first real 'joke' of the video, which is a fairly obscure reference to YouTube in around 2007... around that time most tutorial videos had text written in notepad with the SAME SONG IN EVERY SINGLE ONE (it was pretty much the only song YouTube offered to users at the time, compared to know where there are hundreds spanning multiple different styles and themes.)
Something that is important in a Mockumentary is to tell a story. My closest attempt to a Doc / Mockumentary is the Sci-Fi Weekender video, which, while being focussed on a small group of characters, there is no storyline or character development. My only video which includes themes similar to this is my A2 Art: Coursework video, which is a retrospective looking back on all of my A2 Art coursework (primarily sculptures) and showing how they developed and relate to my childhood.
While on the surface it may be entirely different to a Mockumentary, its is very much a personal story, showing development and giving insight to myself as a person at the time of writing, but also me as a child. Transitioning from a calm and innocent intro sequence backed by Pink Floyd to an intense experience intercut with horrific DOOM gameplay and edited to music by Mick Gordon (DOOM) and Sonic Mayhem (Quake III, Doomsday EP) - a visual and audible representation of my change as a person, despite the interests and subject of my artwork changing very little.
While this may be too personal for my Mockumentary, it is important to learn from, and show a development in character as the film progresses - not only to keep viewers interested but also make it more entertaining for the actor and director. This is one of the things that keeps Doctor Who feeling fresh, as there is a new doctor every so often via the regeneration process - so while it may be the same character, you can see their development into visually different people.
Before working on my Sci-Fi Weekender video, I created a learning resource which would teach the viewers the basics of Pinnacle Studio 18. This was my first foray adding humour into my videos, and is what initially lead me to wanting to make my Sci-Fi Weekender video humorous. as the resource was received well by my art class, and the humour went down well except for the first real 'joke' of the video, which is a fairly obscure reference to YouTube in around 2007... around that time most tutorial videos had text written in notepad with the SAME SONG IN EVERY SINGLE ONE (it was pretty much the only song YouTube offered to users at the time, compared to know where there are hundreds spanning multiple different styles and themes.)
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