Farzana Begum edited a music video over several weeks using Final Cut Express. She organized footage and audio on separate timelines, added transitions between clips, and applied effects like cross dissolves and soft edges. Flashback scenes were edited to be black and white and cut into shorter clips. Additional text was overlaid and the artist's face was zoomed in on. Throughout the video, multiple video transitions were used to give a smooth, professional flow. In the final credits, low key lighting was used with a black background to signal the end of the video.
2. STEP 1.
The program I used to edit my music video As I opened Final Cut I clicked on my documents to get
was called ‘Final Cut Express’, I used this all my footage that i had recorded over the last few
program other than the other mainly because weeks, As a result all the footage came on the left
this program has made my video look side of the screen. As you can also see when looking
profession as possible and I used an apple at the bottom, you will find a time line that specifies
mac laptop were this program was placed. the footage along with the transitions and audio
This program has all the special effects and underneath, this is mainly to keep a track of how far i
video transitions that programs such as Movie have created my music video, and what footage i have
Maker does not have. So as you can see, I am put onto the timeline. There’s also ways were u can cut
just opening up Final Cut, where I have edited the footage to make it look right. On the right you will
the footage for my music video for the past see numerous buttons and options which allows you to
few weeks. edit the footage to make it look better and
professional.
3. STEP 2.
In order to put my footage on the timeline, I had to drag the piece of footage I wanted as the
start of my music video onto the timeline, after I had to put the footage on the timeline, I
played that clip to see how it looked and to ensure it was the right clip. However, half of that
clip I did not like therefore I dragged the clip from my right side and cut to the part I didn’t
want as part of my music video and saved it.
4. STEP 3.
After I put the footage on the timeline, I had to render it enable to play it, I did this by going on
sequence, then going on render and then clicking needs render. I know my footage needs rending
because on top of my footage, there is a red line to show that symbolizes that it needs to be
rendered, I know its rendering because a information box pops up on the screen which says writing
video, it also shows how long its going to take to render. I had to render my music video the whole
way through, this is to ensure that its finalized, however i can still undo any mistakes or anything I
don’t want just by going on file and clicking undo.
5. STEP 4.
After this, I had to put the audio onto the timeline as you can see that there are two separate timelines, which one is
for the footage and the other is for the audio, therefore I put audio which was ‘Beyonce - Best thing i never had’, To
get the audio onto my timeline, I had to go to www.youtube.com and typed in the song I wanted, then I went on a
program which allowed me to download the song. However i realized that the song i downloaded was 4:30 seconds
long which was too long as my limit was only 3:30 so I had cut the song to the right time, which was very difficult to
do, but as a result I succeeded as i used the effects to fade out the song, I did this by going on effects then clicking
on audio transitions and I used the effect cross fade, which gave me a nice fade onto the audio which made it sound
like I didn’t cut the song which made it sound professional and realistic.
6. STEP 5.
After sorting the out the audio, I started adding As you can see on the left screen there is writing on
effects to the first footage that I already edited, I did the left hand corner, I did this by clicking a small box
this by going on effects and clicking default - cross which says ‘A’ and entered the text, which i had then
dissolve, the reason I choose this effect is mainly dragged to the time line. After this I had then clicked
because it gives a soft effect which makes it look on the window frame below and clicked on image,
abundant and professional as it is the start of the which I altered, making the text smaller and placed
video, I needed it to look effective so it could excite this in the corner of the video.
my audience to watch the rest.
7. STEP 6.
After this, I included a transition so that the credits will I then carried on editing my next footage, to make it
fade out of the shot. I did this by clicking on effects in easier for me, I added numerous clips on the
the corner and selecting the folder with dissolves which timeline and rendered it to see how it looked, this
are under the video transitions. I then selected the did not effect anything as i could undo anything i
‘Fade in Fade out‘ and dragged it to the area i wanted wanted to change. The shots I liked I put them to
it. Finally I rendered the clip/transition by clicking Cmd together and then applied effects by dragging it on
and R, resulting in a smooth of the credits. the clip, or you can highlight the clip and click on the
effect. After this, i had to render the selected clip,
giving me this effect once more.
8. STEP 7.
Here you can see many clips of the first part of my 30 seconds of the video, these were little 5
seconds clip which i put together, I did this by joining all the clips together, to make it seem
professional enough I cut the footage, I did this by clicking onto the clip and dragging it to the left. I
also used video transitions on each footage, and I did this by clicking on effects, video transitions
dissolve and then I decided to use the transition called ‘Fade in Fade out dissolve’ I used this effect
out of the other mainly because it gives a good dissolve effect which goes into the next clip.
9. STEP 8.
This is a footage of my artist lip syncing, in this footage I wanted to add some effect onto the
clip in order for it to attract my target audience, this is why at this footage my artist is
interacting and looking straight at the camera and singing. To add the certain effect I had to
click on effects and used video filters and decided to use the effect ‘Soft Edges‘ mainly
because it gave a nice soft edge with a tint of black as a boarder, after I dragged it on to the
desired clip, and pressed Cmd, R to allow it render.
10. STEP 9.
I was now on the stage where I started including my flashback scenes onto the timeline, I did this
by dragging the footage onto the timeline and clicking play, however the one problem was that
my first flashback was too long and i didn’t want to bore my audience, therefore I decided to cut
the flashback into 5/10 seconds flashback each and putting another footage of my artist singing
in between, and as many RnB music videos today have a smooth flow, I wanted something
similar as this means I am following the right codes and conventions for my music video to be a
hit, so I decided to drag a transition in between every flashback and lip syncing scene, which then
I had to render and as you can see from the print screen above I used the effect called ‘addictive
dissolve’ because it gave me a smooth flow to the next clip. Lastly to make it look as a flashback
I had to change the footage into ‘Black and White’ and this symbolize that its a clip from the past.
11. STEP 1O.
I was now on the part where I was half done, as you can
see this clip is in normal color, this is to show that my
artist is out of her flashback and into reality. This was a 5
second footage and I didn’t need any editing on it, this is
simply because the camera did all the editing for me, I
started the camera at the start of the sofa, and used slow
motion and dragged the camera slowly onto my artist and
held it there. However I did added double video transition,
this is because I wanted a fast move to the next clip. I did
this by dragging the transition on to both ends of the clip,
and then allowed it to render.
This is another flashback that I uploaded onto my timeline, same again as the other
flashback I cut the scene into little footage's and put another clip in between, as this is to
ensure that my target audience do not get bored. As you can see I also I changed the
color of that particular scene, this is mainly to show that its a footage from the past. I did
this by going on video filters and clicking on effects, and choose ‘Black and White’, this will
also make my music video interesting and eye catching as the scenes color's changes,
instead of it being one color. Also I added an video transition called ‘cross dissolve’ I did
this by going onto video transitions, this is to give a smooth effect onto the next clip.
12. STEP 11.
As you can see , in this shot her face in towards
the camera, this is to show and symbolize that
she has said goodbye to everything she shared
with her husband and she’s ready to walk away.
However, this footage was rotated on the side,
This is the next clip that I put onto my timeline, which wasn’t the rotation I wanted, so I had to
and as you can see the double video transition to rotate it the right way, i did this by clicking on
give that extra effect which make it unique and stereo and clicked on level, however this did not
attractive. I also the reason I used so many work, therefore I clicked on motion and played
transitions because i wanted it to overpower the around with the right rotation I wanted.
certain clip which made it look effective. This is
the part where the camera zooms in and out onto
her ring to show that she is about to leave the
ring and go. This shot highlights her new
profound courage in walking away from her
husband and getting what she really deserves.
13. STEP 12.
This shoot shows the ring that she has left, showing
that she ends every relationship. I wanted to add
effect to the part where my artist leave the ring and
leaves, however I chose not too because I did not
want to an obvious effect, therefore I just left it
natural. Unfortunately I found it difficult to film this As you can see, there is a video transition added, to
part as the rings wouldn’t stay together. Yet still, make it smoothly go onto the next clip, I did this
after trial and error I managed to get a good enough with three other footage’s before this, this is too
shot. I then imported the slips on to final cut and show that the husband can’t believe what his wife
added them onto the timeline, I then added a non has done, and can’t get his head around what went
addictive onto the clip so it gave me a dissolve effect wrong in their married relationship, it kind of gives
to the next footage, this made it effective and a dizzy effect, meaning that his head is spinning
contrasts to the smooth flow though out the whole because he cannot face the truth. Therefore i used
music video, making this one the most memorable video filters to show this.
scenes within the music video.
14. STEP 14.
Lastly, you can see that I have added yet more credits towards the end of the music video, as this is a
typical convention associated music video, I has written theses words within Photoshop that were then
saved as a JPEG and imported in to Final Cut. This, then added on top of the footage and added a
transition in order to fade it in to the next clip. However as the music stops, it makes my target
audience to think that the music video is finished although it hasn’t, this low key lighting makes the
artist look even more domineering to see what the next clip is. into a black background to show that its
the end of the music video, giving it a really good effect, and then the credits slowly fade in too by
dissolving at the end, making the husband realize his wife was the best thing he never had.