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Secondly, it briefly aims to give very basic and practical creative advice on how to
effectively communicate the heart of your trip or event on which you need to give
feedback. Please familiarize yourself with this information.
PLEASE READ:
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. CAMERA
You’ll need a camera that can playback the tapes upon which you recorded the
footage, preferably the camera with which you shot the footage.
2. CABLE
A cable to connect from your camera to your computer. Depending on your camera,
this is either a USB cable or a Fire wire cable. Most small Handycams make use of
USB cables, but some use Firewire. Not all computers have Firewire ports… i.e.
ensure that your computer can link to your camera.
3. COMPUTER
We are unable to provide you with a workstation at the Shofar Offices. We trust that
you will have the means to do this. Even if you have to borrow a friend’s computer.
4. HARDDISK SPACE
a) Footage
When you capture with Adobe Premiere Pro or any program that will generate .avi
files, then 5minutes of footage will equal 1GB of hard disk space.
I.e.:
60min footage = 12GB in total (60 / 5)
If your local harddrive is too small, then you can get an external drive, and put the
raw footage on this external drive.
c) Render Space
Also, while you are editing, your computer creates raw video files in the background
that allow you to playback the edits you are making. Without this, you cannot edit
your footage properly. I.e. you will need to make space available for these files as
well.
These files need to be on your local harddrive and not on your external drive, as the
connection to the drive will be too slow for realtime playback.
d) Total Space
Consequently, in total, you require:
FOOTAGE: say, 35GB (On your external harddrive if you have one)
Free space for Applications: 10GB (Local Harddrive)
Free space for Rendering: 10GB (Local Harddrive)
TOTAL (estimate): 55GB
5. APPLICATION (SOFTWARE)
This document specifically gives guidance with regard to Adobe Premiere Pro. But
the principals can also be applied to Final Cut Pro for Mac. Both these applications
are very simple to use, even though they are professional editing applications.
You can download a free 30-day trial version of Adobe Premiere Pro from their
website at the following address:
http://www.adobe.com/downloads/
Note that these files are over 1 GB in size. Alternatively you can collect a copy from
Shofar Headquarters. Please do not expect of your volunteers to download the
application themselves, but have it ready for them to collect from your office.
NB: This version is a fully working version, but only valid for 30 days, after which you
have to purchase a license. You will have to plan well and be disciplined to finish
your video within the 30-day trial period.
These files must be on your local harddrive, or on a drive that is inside your
computer, that is connected straight to your motherboard. The connection with an
external drive will be too slow to handle this real-time processing. ONLY your
captured footage can be moved to an external drive. (Your applications must also be
installed on your local drive, and not on the external drive.)
Where your computer captures your footage and where it creates the render files,
are usually called the ‘Scratch Disk’.
Now click on ‘Browse’ as seen below and set the location for capturing and
render/preview files.
2. CAPTURING
To increase the speed of editing and help you find the shots you want quickly and
easily, we suggest that you use Adobe Premiere’s ‘Log and Capture’ feature. This will
allow you to first look through the footage on the tapes, mark the shots that you
like, and then tell the computer to automatically capture those shots that you
marked, as separate clips.
Instead of capturing each tape in one full go, as one file, the ‘Log and Capture’
method will cause the logged clips to appear as individual clips in your footage list.
Then you can refer to these files easily and quickly... without having to scan through
long captured takes each time you are looking for a new shot.
Because of the thumbnail feature, do not log different scenes altogether. Log each
shot, or maybe, each scene, separately. The purpose of this will become clear when
you start editing. When you edit, you will be able to identify the shots you want based
on that first frame that it shows in the captured list of clips. Thus, you will save time
by not having to scan through all your footage each time you look for a shot.
1. First connect your camera to the computer and set it to ‘VCR’ mode.
2. Insert the first tape.
3. In Premiere Pro, go to File > Capture (or press F5) …see screenshot below
a) ORGANIZE
In Windows Explorer, create organized folders for the following: (This is now either
on your local drive, or on your external drive, if you don’t have enough space.)
1. FOOTAGE (The files you captured from the video tapes)
2. MUSIC (Any music files you want to use)
3. PHOTOS (If you plan to combine photos into your edit, copy them here first,
before you start editing them into your project.)
4. OTHER (For any other designs or text that you might create)
c) IMPORT
Now IMPORT these files into your saved Adobe Premiere Project.
Go to File > Import; or
Drag the files from Windows Explorer straight in to the ‘Project’ workspace at the
top left.
VIEWER CANVAS
PROJECT
WORKSPACE
TIMELINE
Your files are now inside the ‘Project’ workspace in the top left window.
To view the thumbnails we talked about above, click on the small icons below the
‘Project’ workspace to switch between ‘List View’ and ‘Thumbnail’ view.
2. THE VIEWER
You will use the viewer to easily cut away most of the unwanted parts of the clips,
before you drag them to the timeline.
1. Double-click a clip in the Project workspace. It will appear inside the
‘Viewer’.
2. Press space-bar or click the play button below the viewer to play the clip.
3. On your keyboard, hit the “i" button where you want to start the clip, and hit
the “o” button next to it where you want the clip to end.
4. Click in the middle of the viewer and drag that clip either to the ‘Canvas’ to
the right, or the ‘Timeline’ below and drop the footage.
5. You will follow this process for each shot that you want to add to the
timeline.
3. THE TIMELINE
The Timeline is a ‘Sequence’.
1. Create different sequences as your project progresses.
The technical requirements above are as important to prepare you for a good editing
experience, as are the following creative considerations.
The bedrock or foundation of any film, is the story. Not the music, not the effects,
not the acting. All the rest just help to amplify or accentuate the story. If either of
these elements draw attention to itself, it means that the focus is not on the story,
but on the effect.
by Ben Ludik
ver: Jun_08
Content is king: A phrase that has become a slogan in the age of technology, where
every second person has a digital camera and produces cuts that (usually) are
distributed via the internet.
In this document I would like to share some insight I have been blessed enough to
gain around content production. The main ideas I will attempt to underline in their
importance are a) Difference between Content and packaging(editing), b) Planning,
c) Storytelling, d) Quality first, then quantity, e) Purpose and most importantly d)
spiritual/prophetic guidance.
So;
What is good content?
a fast paced highly edited cut/clip can sometimes deceive the viewer as being “worth the
watch”, but afterwards, when we ask ourselves what purpose the clip I just watched achieve,
these clips fail to impress.
Unfortunately good content can also be badly presented, but in the case of this years
missions videos, we will do our best to make sure this does not happen, by getting as
involved as possible in your editing process. It’s crucial though, that we see the
difference between content and packaging. Packaging (or EDITING as we know it to
be) happens only AFTER the raw material has been accumulated, and is often
limited by a lack of proper planning which results in little good footage to edit.
At this stage I would like to focus on the importance of the work of the Holy Spirit.
Exodus 31 gives us an amazing insight into God’s desire to be involved into what we
are busy with:
3
And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and
in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of
4
workmanship, To devise cunning works, to work in gold,
5
and in silver, and in brass, And in cutting of stones, to set
them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of
workmanship.
Furthermore Proverbs 16 (as well as confirming what I said about preferring a little bit
of good footage to a lot of bad footage) continues this theme:
8
Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues
9
without right. A man's heart deviseth his way: but the
LORD directeth his steps.
So, in fact, less can be more, and we need to seek God’s guidance from our pre-
production decisions through to the clip being showed in church.
These are all questions we need to ask ourselves, and trust God to give us a specific
strategy. This strategy can be influenced by our intercession before meetings, our
personal prayers and thoughts and feelings, but ultimately the ideal will be to have
agreement on what God is telling us about the specific mission. Strategies may differ
from team to team, but certain principles will apply in general, like for instance “the
video should be about what God is doing, not about us”.
In the end what you should ideally have before you go away on missions is a
document/script with certain keywords, key-WORDS from God, and ideas about
certain things that you could shoot that will tie in with these ideas. The document can
include what you will be shooting, how you envision it being used in your final clip
and why. Another good idea will be to include what things you are NOT going to
focus on (like endless traveling footage). I am going to include a questionnaire that I
would like you all to fill out and send back to me asap. I will give feedback on these
and we can brainstorm around whatever ideas you have got, refining your strategy.
Sharpening your sword, so to speak!
But be honest now, a 3minute video cannot achieve this satisfactorily. I.e. We will
have to look for creative ways to communicate the experience of the trip, something
that will help the viewer to remember the video. That will remind him of what he saw.
Look below the surface. Look for the small things that people in our own community
can relate to. E.g. see point 3 below.
3. WHAT IS MY STORY?
Ask yourself, ‘How did this experience change me?’ Or ‘What perceptions changed in
me through taking this journey?’
The obvious story would be to show a dark country, the missions team arriving, and
ending with a changed and enlightened country. We can agree, that this is hardly
what happens.
Did you go to India? How did my perception change of food? The viewer will
automatically identify with the concepts of overcoming one’s boundaries and pre-
conceived ideas. OR, consider the colorful clothing. OR the dirty streets.
Did you go to Namibia? How did you experience the slow moving, vast open spaces?
Will you now change your daily schedule and slow down your life? Do less, and what
you do, do it more efficiently?
Did you go to Europe? How did you experience the efficiency of the transport system
as compared to ours? Is it all a smooth ride, even though everything is so efficient?
4. SELECTING SHOTS
Because one did not shoot with a precise story in mind, defining your story is as
much a discovering process as it is planned.
First get the feel of what footage you have. Scan through it a few times.
Look for similar shots. Similar moods. Build-up a memory in your mind of shots that
go together.
Drop a few possibilities on the timeline. Put them together. Does it work? Do you see
a progression of events, i.e. a story? If not, loose it, and start again.
Don’t be hasty in the beginning. Each time you find something that doesn’t work, you
limit your options and you are slowly but surely moving towards an end result. But if
you don’t know what doesn’t work, you won’t know if there were better ways of
putting your story together.
First find the story and develop that. Get feedback on this before you continue to
focus on each shot and the music and the style of your edit.
Because, if the essence of your storyline changes, then each precious second and
minute spent on getting the timing right, or getting it on the beat of the music, is
lost.
Remember, if you wish to make a ‘Remembrance DVD’ for your fellow missionaries,
then that is something else. In such a video you will show a lot more scenes of your
friends having fun and basic shots that won’t be of value to the viewer in church.
7. LENGTH OF A CUT
It is said that the average length of a shot, angle, or cut, on an MTV music video, is
0.7 seconds.
Our society is very well educated with regards to film and video. We perceive very
quickly what a certain scene or shot wants to communicate to us.
E.g. When we show a man walking over the street, we barely need a second to
communicate that information. Or a hand stealing an apple. Or a women in despair.
Or a person rejoicing. A split second is all that is needed. If it lingers too long… it
can easily loose it’s impact. Not always of course, but generally speaking.
After you have completed your Rough Cut, even a few Rough Cuts, and you have
chosen one that you are happy with, try using the following technique to ensure your
shots are the right length and that they communicate exactly what they should in
the least possible amount of time.
This will also help you to shorten the video significantly and not to tire your
audience. The viewer will keep focus, because his mind won’t wander off to
something else, because you are showing him only what he needs.
Then look at the video as a whole, and throw away everything that communicates
redundantly. Communicate what you want to say with as few as possible shots.
Remember, your video will communicate best, if there is nothing left that you can
cut away. Ruthlessly cut away.
8. MUSIC
If you can use music from the country that you visited do that. But more importantly,
consider your story. The story dictates what you want need. Don’t let the music
overwhelm, allow it to subtly accentuate what you want to communicate.
NB: Please steer clear of mainstream worship music. Rather use classical,
instrumental, film soundtrack music.
9. AMBIENT SOUNDS
Don’t strip all the local recorded sounds from the scenes. Just soften them, to be
heard under the music. This brings out the realness of the visuals. Where
appropriate, even soften the music and amplify the ambient sounds.
10. EFFECTS
If any effect draws attention to itself, so that the viewer says, ‘Wow! That was a cool
effect,’ then it means that ‘effect’ failed in its purpose to accentuate the story. If
the viewer sees and focuses on the quality of the effect, it means they are not
focusing on the story and they are distracted. You’ve lost the viewer and you have to
work hard at getting him again emotionally involved in the story, and not the style of
the presentation.
11. FEEDBACK
Get as much feedback as possible from people that are good at editing. Please ask
your Shofar representative who will provide the necessary feedback for your video.
Thank you for studying this document. Happy editing. Shofar Media.