Editing

Here is the development of the editing stage - completed by Gio

I used Google Drive to store all the footage that was filmed using my Leica smartphone camera. I used movie ratio during filming directly so that I won't have to add an effect or change the ratio later on during editing.

I'm using Capcut to edit the Music Video (MV). Capcut offers many premade effects and editing tools. It's very easy to use, easy to learn, and practical. I have been using CapCut for almost 2 recent years, so I'm fairly good at it and still familiar with it. I have bought CapCut Pro which gives me access to more features and effects that I normally couldn't use with normal CapCut. So, with this membership, I'm hoping I'll finish things much more smoothly and without hindrance like the limitations of normal CapCut. I will be using my computer to edit on CapCut. 

Here is the overall timeline of the project in CapCut computer. 

SIGNIFICANT EDITING CHOICES AND METHODS

The Intro will have an opening title of the song, I used a text element and animated it for the title introduction: 

The title serves to give context to the audience. 

I changed the text's color to match the branding and overall lighting.

I chose a color that compliments the background lighting and scenery. It is important to make it visually appealing so that the audience doesn't feel odd or get distracted by it leading to not being able to focus on the content. 

I use filters to color grade the footage for better quality and make it more cinematic. 

The highlighted elements are the filters:

Color grading is a very important aspect of editing as it creates meaning and stories in the media. I could make the music video seem horror and scary with dark color grading, or enunciate certain colors to create the branding of the video. As for our music video featuring J Muse covering "Leave The Door Open" I go with a filter that matches the persona of J Muse which is laid back, cool, and down-to-earth, which is why I picked a filter that enunciates the warm colors like yellow and orange, as well as ones that compliments the lighting of the footage. 

I used markers to symbolize the beats of the music/audio. It helped me with matching the timing of footage cuts and transitions. 

The audio is at the bottom, the color is blue, and the markers are on top of the audio, the color is light blue:

MINOR EDITING CHOICES AND METHODS

I used special effects to give a dreamy look on the artist's face during part of the song where the lyrics talk about being clean-shaven.

This makes the visual more impactful and engages the audience more with the song and music video, as it immerses them better with special visual effects. 

Reflection: I am honestly surprised yet proud with how our final video turned out despite the quality of the recording being... let's just say it could be better or reach a standard, but Gio was able to piece together a really well-made final PIECE. in retrospect however, given my own experience with vdeio editing, I felt as though I should've lent him a hand in editing the video, as being the main director and filmmaker was probably a lot of weight on his shoulders, hence why he might come across as a bit more tempered than us when it came to the project, but I understood his fustrations.