Editing Tricks for Amateur Vacation Video #32

India 2000:  Elevator Antics

This is an experiment that I tried using my new digital editing tool - Pinnacle Studio DV.

Our friend Tom had a room on the first floor of the Taj Hotel in Jodhpur, India.  After dinner he was frustrated by the elevator which refused to take him from the first floor to the first floor.

So we re-enacted the incident.  Soon, everyone had to get into the act.  Hotel staff were certainly puzzled by the five people giggling and having a great time in the elevator lobby!

I set the camcorder on a table, which created a steady-framed picture, then used cut and fade edits.  (Trying to achieve something like a Star Trek transporter effect.)

Music was well-selected, the fun Give Up the Funk by George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic is perfect for the comedy.

This was a great idea that begs to be shortened.  After 5-1/2 minutes of giving up the funk, the joke is tired and boring.  I think the re-edited duration should be about thirty seconds.  Perhaps it could be reprised as part of a longer production, for instance a ten-second version could be funny if it appears later in the movie.

Lessons Learned:

Seems like a repeating theme in this blog ... shorten, chop, be ruthless in the pursuit of well-paced video!

Good music makes video more watchable.

Suggestion:

Replace the music with a royalty-free selection.

Music Copyright Considerations:

This is a short excerpt from one of my older edited videos.  It contains some identifiable music that is regrettably used without permission.  But remember the time this video was created; in 1997 the audience for this production was usually sitting in my living room.  "Fair Use" allowed me to use the music without consideration of copyright.

Today, with digital distribution, artists' rights deserve more attention.  Since this video is intended for non-profit illustration and educational purposes only, I believe that valid arguments can be made for its "Fair Use" in this situation.  Please understand that I do not encourage improper use of copyrighted material.