Editing Tricks for Amateur Vacation Video #55

France 2004: Mont Saint Michel

This is a "horror movie" about the rocky monastery of Mont Ste. Michel.  Others might call it a "horrible movie"?  Chapter #6 of 23 ... it makes liberal use of sound and color effects.  Do you think I look scary when my picture is combined with the soundtrack from Phantom of the Opera?  Actually, nothing too scary here.  But it sure looks damp and grey.

A watchable little movie.  But I think it could be improved if reduced from six minutes to less than four.  In this case, It looks like I stretched the video material to fit the length of the music track.

Chapter #5 was an emotional look at Normandy Battlefields.  If watching the chapters in sequence, this video does a good job of slowly bringing the audience back into a cheerful mood.  The opening scene, with desaturated sepia coloration and sound effects is almost worthy os a "B" horror movie.

Lessons Learned:

Your editing software has lots of tools.  Use some of the effects to turn an ordinary scene into something unexpected ... like a horror movie.
Each vignette will have its own pace.  Place them into the project in a way that manages the flow of audience emotions.  

Suggestion:

Shorter is usually better.

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 2004 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.