It took me around 8 hours to edit this video, 8 hours including the whole viewing and selection process for deciding which clips we wanted to include in the video. We didn’t use that many shots in this video, but boy was the selection process long… This is seriously the video I am most proud of!
I used my Canon Rebel t3i and 50mm f/1.8 most of the time (seriously one of the cheapest dslr videography setup). I believe all of the shots in this video was actually used with the 50mm. It’s a very cheap lens that I really do recommend including in your kit!
I didn’t do much editing in terms of color grading and effects, all I really did was turn a shot black and white using the effect “calculations (highly recommend)” in premiere. And slow-motion for most of the clips. No fancy color grading or contrast/brightness or filters whatsoever. Oh wait, actually I used a certain blending mode called “pin light” (I believe) for the last shot with the crowd and shot of Mehdi on top of each other. But that’s about it!
Comment below if you have any questions, or would like to give me compliments or critiques of the video!
I appreciate all kinds of feedback!
Please watch in high quality: 1080p, 320p doesn’t do any video justice. This was a quick video I shot and edited for Amanda Darling when she was DJ’ing one night. I’ve only been doing club stuff since March 2012 but I get better with each video I complete. I edited most of this video in about 2 hours while I was on a plane to Philly! Ahaha, you can get so much productive things done while you’re flying, I swear. Reason is that you’re isolated miles in the clouds and you have no where to go and nothing much to do except sleep, read, or work with whatever you brought on board. I always bring my laptop fully charged up with me so that I can work on things for those couple of hours of flight.
I film a LOT but once I lay footage around for too long, I forget about it and don’t get around to editing it. Which is a habit I will be ridding myself of. I learned a lot from just actually finishing this video (what shots to get, what shots not to get, how long I should get certain shots, etc). So even if you think the footage you shot isn’t up to par and don’t want to finish it because you think it’ll look bad anyway, just DO IT! Along the way of editing it, you will learn the mistakes you made and take note of trying to not do it again! Trust me, I learned SO MUCH from my mistakes.
How will you ever learn from your mistakes and not make them again if you don’t go back and inspect what you did exactly, in the first place?
Event Videography Tip: The thing about club (or any type of event, really) videography is that you have to be very quick on your feet and spontaneous. It is quite difficult to plan your shots because you don’t know what exactly will happen, someone might decide to crowd surf and you might be somewhere too far to capture it, who knows? All I know is that you have to always keep yours eyes peeled for the money shot when you’re not currently getting a shot. And you got to be prepared and ready and fire when you need to.
I’m proud of myself on this video! I shot it in a bit under an hour. Along with edited it in an hour! I think the product is DEFINITELY really good for doing both tasks in around an hour!
One of my favorite videos so far! I just get better and better each time I pump out a new video!
The sharpness and quality of my new camera (Canon Rebel T3i) is INCREDIBLE!!! I am absolutely in LOVE with it!!!!!! I will be carrying my camera wherever I go now!!!
Filming today for my cousin’s fashion blog went very smoothly. I decided to fasten my camera onto a tripod and move the camera around on it rather than holding the actual cam in my hands. I find that the shots are a LOT more smooth way. So that’s a tip for anybody who’d like to get into low budget filming.
It was getting dark today and as I have said in my last 2 posts, I absolutely DESPISE shooting indoors. I was trying to figure out ways to NOT shoot indoors and as I said earlier also, if I REALLY wanted something, I would find a way to do it. And today, I REALLY wanted to film something. So I found myself multiple locations that I never thought of filming at that had really good lighting outside. One was outside in front of the grocery store under the hallway lights. Another one was outside of a bank under the bright lights that surrounded the building( I happen to choose this location in the end). Another was under the bright street/parking lamps (that didn’t really work because it was NOT bright enough, unfortunately).
Today I learned:
- Not to be too hasty and move around too fast with the tripod. I noticed that my panning is a lot quicker now because of how easy it is to handle, which isn’t what I was going for.
- To put more effort and plan out how I will edit the shots.
- To film in order so it makes it easier for me to organize and edit.
- To think of more variety for the shots, how to innovate my videos and make them more interesting. I don’t like sticking in the same patterns over and over.
- TO REVIEW AND CHECK MY FOOTAGE ON THE CAM BEFORE I END THE SHOOT. IN case I need to re shoot it because some footage might be too shakey to work with…
- Pay more attention and detail to the background and symmetry of the shot
- I must not go onto facebook whilst waiting for the video to render. It’s a waste of my time and I always get sidetracked for way longer than I plan. I will do something productive like read my textbooks or articles instead.
- REMEMBER TO UPLOAD IT ON THE RIGHT CHANNEL. -__-
My friends were playing billiards so I decided to record them playing! I also had a friend record me playing. Unfortunately I am very bad at billiards…….. This is my second time playing it and it was absolutely pathetic. BUT IT’S ALRIGHT! If I keep playing it, I will become great at it! So I’m going to stop putting myself down for it. Don’t want to be self-manifesting anything negative!
Today I learned:
- That I should be very quick with setting up the shots especially for something spontaneous as games. Although pool is something you pause on and off, it messes up people’s focus and momentum when I have to yell out, “OH WAIT, WAIT!!!!! DON’T SHOOT YET!! I NEED TO FOCUS!!!” If I do more of these kinds of things, I will get a lot of practice in become more quick and efficient at setting up!
- I need to be more thorough and get some more detail shots.
- Vary my angles, make it more interesting.
I found out today that this is THE kind of stuff that I want to film (lifestyle/youth culture) for now! I freaking LOVE rewatching and editing the footage! Captured and archivable memories!
I plan on filming and photographing the parties I attend! And also plan on filming and photographing music events that my friends happen to dj or perform at! I’M SO EXCITED!!!
I was invited into a bar by one of the ladies that knew the band (she saw me shooting the lead singer from the side door) today to photograph a local rock band that was playing! I WAS SO FREAKING EXCITED and NERVOUS (because I was under 21) so my shots didn’t come out as nice as I’d like them to be. BUT the experience was SO AWESOME while it lasted nonetheless! NEW DOORS OF OPPORTUNITY ARE OPENING UP FOR ME!!!!
I filmed this on January 28, 2012 for my niece Trinity’s birthday at a petting zoo.
I am SO GLAD I told myself to come, even though I got there around less than an hour before my neices’ birthday event ended. I do not support or advocate the use of animals for recreational purposes as this, by the way. I’m just filming and documenting the day as is. Next time I encounter something that is against my values I will not film it.
WOW! This took me the longest time to edit out of all of the videos I’ve done thus far. I spent the most time on this because it was a present for Trinity and her parents. I really really really wanted to make this the best I can make it! I freaking LOVED IT!
The beginning of the video kind of reminds me of some kind of life insurance commercial…. Ahaha….
I hope you guys enjoy this!
My proudest video yet!
Today I learned:
- To figure out my values and have a choice in whether or not I film something according to those exact values. This is just a small and miniscule example that violated something I didn’t believe in. Note to self: Do not film things in the future that are against your morals and values ESPECIALLY if you’re offered lots of money for it. You’re not going to say, “whatever pays me” or “as long as I get the dough (money for it) I’m fine doing it” REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE!!! REMEMBER!!!!
- With film I am a LOT more observative and connect even DEEPER with my subjects, especially when I review footage. I learned how sad my neice was because she didn’t get the attention she desired. I would have never learned this if I wasn’t following her around. I also would have never noticed how sad the horses really were, being tied up against their own will for human’s recreational purposes, if I wasn’t filming the shot with the horse tied up to the tree.
- How manipulative film and editing can be. It really seriously has to be one of the most misleading things out there. You can always edit out things that might make the footage look bad, or look good. Either way, you can completely change a story and the perspective JUST by the smallest edits, leaving the smallest things out, or inputting the smallest things in. This realization definitely makes me wary of the news, especially mainstream news. Nothing’s really “objective” on the news when you think about it. If they are injecting even the SLIGHTEST opinion into the newsstory, it’s NO LONGER OBJECTIVE!!! NOPE!!!! Oh and by the way, I edited out a lot of shots that showed Trinity’s sadness or disappointment, because this is suppose to be a happy video……………………. She was sad or disappointed about 40% of the time. GOOD EDITING DIDN’T LET YOU SEE THAT PERSPECTIVE DID IT!?! HMMMM???? I DON’T THINK SO!!!
- I think I will be truthful next time I edit, and put in even the negative parts of the story also. I like being objective……. Although sometimes, it’s not something we want to see, it HAS to be seen so that we become fully aware of everything. Not just the things that others choose to tell you. Ignorance is not bliss.
The point of this video is to show-off/showcase my cousin’s outfit. I film for for her fashion blog (style2bones.blogspot) as my side project (www.youtube.com/user/stylefilmer)to give her an advantage and make her stand out amongst other fashion bloggers because fashion bloggers usually just have photos of their outfit. But as for my cousin she has BOTH photos AND film. It’s a side project of mine that I have a lot of fun doing! I have improved a lot ever since the first video I shot for her back in October/November 2011 too.
This time around though I’m not quite happy with the shots. I wasn’t in the mood to film because the area we were shooting in was just frustrating to work with (the backdrop kept on falling down).
My hands were also not very stable that day (thus the shakey shots).
But other than that I’m becoming better and more efficient at editing! It doesn’t take me very long anymore! It’s only been the second day too! I can’t wait to see how efficient and pro I will get on day 30! I’m super excited!
Also, I feel SO SO SO PRODUCTIVE with all of this filming and editing! This is the second day in the row and that is usually unheard of from me! The most I had ever edited in a week was 2 times! I will be breaking THAT record tomorrow, by filming/editing for the 3rd time this week! WOO HOO! I am very proud of myself and progress! ^___^
Today I learned:
- That I love shooting people a lot more than anything else I’ve tried so far….. There is just something so fascinating with human being interaction and movement and everything…
- To try out and move with the camera on the tripod whenever I do any kind of panning. I think it will help stabilize the camera and give me smoother less shaky shots.
- To invest in some good lighting. I hate working with fluorescent lights (normal light bulbs in households). It makes the shots all yellow and gross looking.
- To actually plan out how I would be doing the video so that I get more quality and detail down.
- To shoot earlier in the day so that we don’t have to shoot indoors. Indoor shots are annoying and I barely have any room to move around.
- To be more creative with my shots. I NEED to figure out less cliche/generic angles to use.
- To add in more movement around the subject not just panning up and down to make it look more interesting.
To start off the Chinese New Year’s I wanted to install some productive habits like filming and editing everyday and going to the gym every morning on the weekdays.
It’s said that whatever you do during the first 10 days of Chinese New Years will predict your habits and patterns for the rest of the year.
I’m not a very superficial person, but HEY, I might as well use that as an excuse to instill some healthy and productive habits! Perhaps, it will put some kind of placebo affect on my subconscious… I don’t know! But it certainly doesn’t hurt to try!
The plan was to film right after the gym in the morning. I got sidetracked and didn’t start filming until 7PM.
I learned to STICK with my plans rather than veer off, because when I veer off, it usually sets the momentum to continue on on veering away from my set schedule/goal. Tomorrow I’m going to learn how to strictly commit to a schedule and see how things go for me.
It took me almost an hour filming this since I shot it all by myself and had to keep on going back and forth adjusting the angles and focusing.
Now for editing.. I am still in the process of editing as I’m writing this actually. Rendering (waiting for each shot to convert) usually takes up 90% of the editing time. No joke.
NO MORE PROCRASTINATING.
Today I Learned:
- To do a trial of strictly sticking to a schedule to see how productive it will be for me
- To have some type of storyboard plan (pictures or words) of what I’m about to film because I forgot to do one vital shot of a close up of me pressing the timer [IT'S MADDENING]
- To pick a song way ahead of time BEFORE I film (I spent about 1 hour searching for the perfect royalty free song to fit to the rhythm of the video). I could’ve avoided wasting so much time if I found a song BEFOREHAND and shooting my footage in RHYTHM with the song (not sure if that makes any sense to you).
- ccmixter.org is a great place to find royalty free creative commons licensed music to use for my videos.
- It is a MUST to be completely thorough and detailed when filming a shot, it’s ALWAYS better to have more footage than less footage (more resources to pick from than less). It also makes transition from shot to shot a LOT smoother.
- To invest in a better and taller tripod.
