Adobe Make the Cut
So I decided to put my editing skills to the test and enter the Adobe Make the Cut editing contest.
The band Imagine Dragons partnered with Adobe and allowed the use of their footage and song Believer. Then we were given an audio file and a lot of video files and told go wild. Recut the video however wanted and submit it by April 8. Our one condition was that we had to use Adobe Premiere Pro.
My Process
Well, I tried my best and the video below is the result. Before I started I needed inspiration. I went and watched a range of music videos from Seven Wonders by Fleetwood Mac to Bailando by Enrique Iglesias. Then I listened to the song on repeat like 10 times before I even looked at the footage. To me, a song is a story in and of itself. The lyrics tell one piece the actual music another. Then I reviewed a lot of the footage, I’m not going to lie and say all of it, and I’m sure that probably cost me but college student; time is a luxury I don’t have. So I reviewed a lot of the footage and began. The interesting thing was I started at like the half-way point when I began to finally put footage down. Then I jumped around and watched the whole thing about 100 times to make sure everything went together smoothly. Watched it again. Looked at more of the footage I hadn’t to see if anything else would work better. Changed a few things. Put in an end title and submitted it. I probably won’t hear anything for a while but I had to try.
Reflections
So now that everything is pretty much said and done I am going to share a bit about what I learned from this experience.
- Finish two days early ~ That way you can step away for a day, watch it again before it is “done,” and then turn it in.
- Watch all the footage ~ Like I said I was pressed for time but that is no excuse for sloppiness. I should have taken the time to watch all the footage at least once so I could see every opportunity I had to work with.
- Don’t watch all the footage at the same time ~ If you watch the same thing a lot of times it can sort of blur together. So watch the footage but take a break.
- Take a break ~ Step away. Leave the project for a bit and come back to it. You might have a new perspective and drive for the project.
The Video