How To - Media Production (Post-Production)

Owned by Erika Snell
Nov 03, 2023
3 min read

Part 1: Offload and Organize Footage

  • Whether using SD cards, micro-SD cards, or a phone, offload footage the day that you film it (either to a local drive, cloud storage, or both)

  • Meticulously label each folder that you put the footage in 

    • Can organize based on scenes or the date the footage was filmed, whatever is preferred and makes it easiest to access

    • Recommended to organize it to mirror the shot list and scripty notes so it is easier to know which takes are good or bad

      • Keep all the usable footage (good takes) in one folder labeled in order and have the ‘bad’ footage saved elsewhere so it won’t get in the editor’s way (but they’ll still have access if they need it)

        • Even if there is no plan on using a clip (it was a bad take), don’t delete it until the project is complete, never know what you may need!

Part 2: Basic Concepts

  • Establish Music Choice

    • Make sure music fits the tone of the video

    • The music will affect the pacing of the visuals and other audio sources 

    • Needs to be set so all other media can be adjusted accordingly

    • Adjust volume so it’s not overtaking any dialogue

  • Add additional Audio Tracks

    • Lay down the voiceover track or recorded dialogue next in the work area/timeline

    • If you have video attached to the audio being used that is totally fine

    • Adjust volume of each track

    • Once the audio is set, you can begin adding visuals

    • If the film has the audio as completely music or voiceover, put those on the timeline and edit first, setting the timing of the audio is more important and then easier to match the visuals to it

      • This also is important for audio recorded with video too, get the timing of the dialogue set and then work with the footage

    • Can also trim audio clips like you trim video clips and add audio transitions between them

    • When it comes to editing audio levels, make sure all voiceover/dialogue clips are at the same level

  • Special Effects

    • Less is more sometimes!

    • Stay on a shot for at least 2 seconds (unless the goal is fast action editing)

    • Basic Transition 1: hard cut, one clip right after another

    • Basic Transition 2: fade to black, clip fades to a black screen

    • Basic Transition 3: fade into each other, first clip fades into the second clip

  • Timing of a Cut

    • If the subject is moving in the shot, make cuts between clips occur while the subject is moving, creates a sense of flow

    • Trim (shorten) clips that don’t show important action

    • If using music, you’ll want to pay attention to the melody and cut to the beat if possible

  • Titles

    • Titles (theoretically) should be up for a minimum of 5 seconds

      • Not everyone reads at the same speed

      • Simple and easy to read is key

      • Play around with fonts

      • Sans Serif fonts are best

    • Triple check spelling!

  • Backups

    • Save project as often as possible

    • Set up an autosave function (Adobe Rush does this automatically when saved to the Cloud)

    • Once editing is completed, duplicate a copy of the project

      • Allows to make further edits without jeopardizing original

 

Part 3: Basic Steps

  • Use whatever editing software you feel most comfortable with

  • Open the software and create a project file, save it where your media is saved (local computer or external hard drive)

  • Import all media into the project

  • Make sequence/timeline and label the project title

  • Drag and drop media clips individually to timeline

  • Trim each media clip (beginning and end)

  • Move media on timeline and put by other clips

  • Decide the type of transition you need

  • Keep repeating!