Thursday, September 13, 2012

Editing Tricks for Amateur Vacation Video #19

Ireland 1996:  Quiet Man Locations


The Quiet Man, my favorite John Ford movie, was filmed about an hour north of Galway in the Irish village of Cong.  Residents literally operate a "cottage industry."  Entrepreneurs have constructed a furnished replica of John Wayne's thatched cottage, happily selling Quiet Man souvenirs and maps to filming locations.

One drizzly afternoon in 1996 we tracked down all of those locations.  Some were remarkably unchanged; others, such as the original cottage, were blasphemously unpreserved.  Naturally my camcorder never stopped running.  When we got home I attempted to match my clips to scenes from the movie.  The result is this 9-minute movie, which is somewhat successful.


Watching it today, I'm depressed by my camerawork but amazed that the cuts between Ford's movie and my video clips are relatively smooth, without framing artifacts.  Those familiar with the movie might recognize each location; others would benefit from titles.  In a digital edit, perhaps some side-by-side or even superimposed images could help tell the story.  An advanced editor might even try to match the feel of John Ford's Technicolor.

Overall, this is a fun concept and a good idea for a travel story.   

Lessons Learned:
Good early effort at a juxtaposed scenes.
Unique idea for a vacation travel story ... match your video to scenes from famous movies.

Suggestion
Digital editing techniques will make this type of story easier to illustrate.

Copyright Considerations:
No music was used in this clip.  I did not have formal permission to use clips from The Quiet Man, however I believe that this educational repurposing of the movie falls under the guidelines of "Fair Use". 
Note that this short excerpt from one of my oldest edited videos is intended for illustration and educational purposes only.  Please understand that I do not encourage improper use of copyrighted material.

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