Editing processes for short film

1. Editing Processes
BY SIMON CHESHIRE

2. Adjustment Layers
• A adjustment layer is something which will be added on
to the top of a particular clip, doing this enables me to
edit and manipulate the clip depending on what I feel is
suitable for the clip.
• The main adjustment layer which I used throughout my short film is called three
way colour corrector. Using this enables me to alter the colour of my footage and
because my short film is based around the sport genre I have altered most my
footage to have a blue tinge, this gives more of cool and sporting effect to my
clips. I do this by clicking the master button and then altering the colour on the
wheel which in turn alters my fonts.
• After I have done this I have also often altered the output levels which means
more or less light is in the clip, for some clips I have lowered the output to add a
more dramatic affect, however in other clips I have altered it to have more light
on the clip, it completely depends on each one.

3. Speed/Warp Stabiliser
• Throughout the editing process of my short film I have used the warp
stabiliser setting, using this tool benefits some of my clips because if they are
a bit shaky then the stabilizer tool helps them become a lot more smoother
and gives them a more professional look. For example in this particular clip
the footage was very shaky however due to the warp stabiliser setting I was
able to improve it giving it a lot smoother finish and as a result it looked a lot
more professional.
• Furthermore I have also edited the speed of some of my clips to make them a
lot more dramatic. Doing this gives them a more slow motion affect, which is a
lot more dramatic. For example this clip with the boot was filmed on a high
resolution camera which enabled me to click on speed/duration and slow it
down to 10% and it has given it a very dramatic finish, I feel this also benefits
my short film a lot as the scenes at more drama to it.

4. Cutting and Trimming Footage
• Cutting a trimming my footage has enabled me to make my clips a lot
shorter which has benefited my short film a lot. This is something which I do
by using the razor tool, for example the GOPR0 footage has been cut using
the razor tool and makes my footage sharper and straight to the point. It
also stops my footage from becoming boring and helps it remain fresh.
• As a result my footage can be cut from around 10 seconds long to 2-3
seconds which is a lot quicker and benefits my short film a lot more.
• I have also used it with my soundtrack because it was cut and trimmed so it
only lasted the time of the footage rather than the footage finishing and the
song carrying on which gives my short film a even more professional feel.

5. Transitions
• Lastly on Adobe InDesign when I was editing my short film, I used many
different video transitions to enable my footage to fit together in a
better and more unique way. I felt that straight cuts was the best type
of transition to use for my most of my short film, however there were
some specific cases were I used the transitions, for example I used the
wipe transition for my title scene which gave this clip a unique look and
it then linked to the next clip in a lot better way which benefited it
greatly.
• Doing this also made my title stand out compared to the rest of the
footage in my short film. However I wanted the short film to link
together in a more basic way and I felt most of the transitions
complicated a lot of the clips which made them look very amateurish
rather than standing out.