Editing the Video

Stage 1 - Importing the Footage

When our filming was complete, I opened Final Cut Express and created a new project. This opened a blank screen like below.

I then uploaded the footage to Final Cut and it was placed into the browser, from which you would choose the part of filming you wish to cut down (e.g. Remi filming first part would be about 10 minutes long but would be cut down to find the part we wanted).

Stage 2 - Uploading the audio

After editing our song on garageband, it was saved as an AIFF file (the only format accepted on Final Cut). This was then imported to Final Cut into the browser and then put into the timeline.

This was important as the audio was what the footage would be timed/synced against.

Stage 3 - Viva Logo and Flashbar

After finding the VIVA logo and the flashbar that we liked, I added them to the timeline so that they would be shown over the video. This would create the look of the music channel VIVA. The flashbar would be added for the first 4 seconds (entering with a dissolve and then exiting the same way). The VIVA logo on the other hand would run throughout the whole of the video, so it was stretched to cover the whole length of the audio.

Step 4 - Creating the Video Using the Footage

First of all, I selected the footage I wanted to use in a certain part of the song (in this case the beginning) and dragged it into the viewer. I then dragged it into the timeline so I could time the lip synching against the song.

After placing the footage into the timeline, I selected the razor blade tool to cut part of the footage I wanted at this point in the song away from the rest of the footage. I then dragged it to the point in the song I wanted as shown in the next image.

This is what it looked like after making the first cut of the project.

This was what the video eventually looked like after all of the cuts were done.

After we had all watched the video, we decided that cross-dissolves would be better transitions than cuts. I selected cross-dissolves in the effects tab and then dragged them over the all of the cuts to make them into cross dissolves.

Step 5 - Professional Effects

Colour Corrector

The main effect I used to give our video a more professional look was colour correction. This alters the raw footage to be slightly coloured and any impurities in the original footage should either disappear completely or be barely visible.

I select the footage I want to alter (which was all of it) and go into effects->video filters->colour correction->colour corrector.

When entering the colour corrector, the two dials shown in the picture appear on a new tab in the viewer. You move the centre circle to the colour you want your video to be. We chose a bronze colour to give a similar effect to I Aint Thru by Keisha Cole

This is what the footage looked like after colour correction. It looks more professional, like it has been shot in a studio rather than a dingy car park.

Slow Motion Sections

For the parts of the video that are in slow motion (choruses and the end sequence) I had to change the speed settings for the raw footage. To do this I right clicked the footage I wanted to change and clicked 'Speed...'. The box shown in the pictures below is shown which allows you to alter the speed to how you want it (100% being the original speed).