Editing - My experience

I have done quite a bit of editing before working on this project so I felt quite confident in my editing abilities in an application called CapCut. I choose CapCut as it is an application with similar features with Adobe Premiere Pro with its timeline based and non linear interface in addition to a built in audio library which makes finding music for this advert more accessible and other features such as an audio extraction tool that only took two steps to complete. However, my only drawback of using this application is my experience. I have more experience using Adobe Premiere Pro than Cap Cut as such it was time consuming to look for the transitions and effects needed for the project. 

My first draft: 

At the start of the editing process, I inputted the shots from location 1 (the house). I deleted sections of the clip where unnecessary dialogue was spoken and shots that seemed too long. 

In the scene where the transition happened I used a match cut to emphasize the visual match between the two scenes, creating a connection between the them. It it also used to help transition into the next scene more seamlessly. Besides this transition between these two scenes, the rest of the clips mostly used simple cuts. 

My second draft (the changes I made from the first iteration)

After showing draft 1 to my teacher, he suggested I make the scenes shorter as the introduction took a whopping 30 seconds which is too long for a tourism advert. I took that advice and quickly speeded up the shots of each scene. It ranged from 1.1x to 1.2x. I avoided speeding the scenes to more than 1.2x to avoid audio issues as a faster audio means muffled dialogue.I changed the placement of the clips, moving the last clip in draft 1 to the front. I made this change because me and my partner encountered some miscommunication when we talked about the scene order online so as soon as we met in class and we agreed to change the order. 

Some of the reasons I switched the scene orders in my first draft is the fact that they were filmed in completely different time of day with very different lighting. 

For this reason I went to the adjustment tab on the right to adjust the lighting as if it was filmed in the exact same time. I manipulated the shadows, middle gray and tint to achieve this look and blend the two scenes together. 

Continuation of my second draft

 After stitching together the shots for scene 1, I moved on to location 2 where I use multiple jump cuts to connect the scenes. 

The pictures above are just one of the examples of our advert using a jumpcut where it went from a high angle shot to medium shot but still in the same location and  position. 

The Third Draft (Pre Final Draft)

For the end clip, I wanted to make a cinematic scene for the end but like what I stated previously I don't have much experience in this app as such I used to help me 

I made a new project in CapcCut and typed the text I wanted with the appropriate animation in it

 After downloading it I put it over the end of the footage and put a "mask" on it with some key frames in each scene where I want the the black square to fill in the whole screen

I also added a jumpcut between scenes according to the beat of the music. As you can see I made at the orange part of the audio to speed up the footage while making the action appear to leap forward in time.

Problem: When I edited these jump cuts, Capcut couldn't automatically adjust the audio position and video position to adjust to the clips that I cut. As a result I had to copy, paste and delete the footage after it so they can appropriately adjust with the change. However, because of the amount of times I changed these things I would forget to selects some items and would forget to copy them as a result when I bring it back the clips, some of the audio or footage would be gone and I would have to re edit and find it again which was VERY time consuming. From this VERY AGITATING experience, I learned to always make a copy of my work or to slowly check if everything is selected before copying and pasting it back to CapCut. 

Self reflection: Suggestion helped this video evolve into something better. I learned how to manage my time as well as how to line each shot.