Video can be an effective way to deliver
your core business propositions to your clients. From use as a presentation
tool at meetings to testimonials on your website, a short video that displays
the scope and capabilities of your company provides clients and customers with
a quick and effective explaination of what you do best. In this article, we’ll
provide you with basic video-editing tips to help you create a
professional-looking video.
The Timeline
When editing your footage, your
video-editing software will provide a storyboard with a timeline where you’ll
lay out and trim the video files in the project. The power of video is its
ability to “tell a story” with both compelling images and audio. You can blend
multiple video clips, voiceovers, and music to weave a story about your company
or a product. For example, let’s say that your company manufactures tools for
construction sites, and you want to create an informative video about the
products you manufacture. A video that consists of head-and shoulder interview
clips with happy clients delivers a positive message about the quality of your
company and products, but visually, it’s not very interesting to watch.
A better way to tell the story would be to
blend a sequence of clips that serves to promote further interest in your
products. For instance, you could mix the interview clips with cutaway shots of
the interviewee using your company’s saw to cut lumber and show close-up
product shots that highlight key features he may bring up in the interview.
Other good ideas for cutaways would be clips that show how the product was
manufactured, video displaying your corporate building with signage, and a
close-up of a happy reaction from the person using your product. Most
video-editing software will provide all the tools you need to merge the
different video elements into a smooth master video.
Most
editing suites provide a storyline view
A
timeline window allows you to view the various elements of your project
Filters & effects
Special effects are another way to make
your production stand out from the pack. Besides tools to make your video look
more spectacular, such as weather effects, motion graphics, and animations, you
can also use effects to cover up flaws and unexpected problems. For example,
let’s say that the exterior building footage you captured turned out to be
slightly shaky due to high winds on the day you shot it. Rather than
reshooting, you can use the video stabilization tools found in the software to
remove the shake from the clip. You’ll also be able to fix and change video
quality issues with video color, contrast, and brightness. (Be careful not to
overuse effects; a little bit goes a long way.)
Trim
clips to ensure that only the best footage makes it into your video
If
the color of your video seems off, try adjusting the video settings for the
clip
Some
video-editing applications allow you to stablize the footage to reduce the
effects of camera movement
Transitions
If you want to spice up your video and
seamlessly bridge clips together, you can use transitions, which allow you to
gradually replace one video with another, rather than simply cutting between
the two. Just a few of the common transition options include fade, wipe, and
dissolve. Note that you don’t need transitions between every piece of different
footage, because too many transitions can be distracting. There are a number of
good reasons to use a transition, including between cuts with different parts
of similar footage, to convey the passage of time, to indicate a new beginning
or ending, and to express a new atmosphere or environment. A conventional
example is when you move from a scene with action in the background (such as
moving vehicles or people walking around) to one with a relatively static
backdrop (such as an office or a living room), because in such circumstances a
cut may seem startling.
A fade is a two-part effect, with both a
fade-in and fade-out. The fade-in starts with a single color, typically black,
and the video slowly appears on-screen; the opposite occurs with a fade-out.
You generally use a fade at the beginning and ending of a project. In a
dissolve, two pieces of video will briefly appear on-screen, and the first clip
will fade out as the second shot fades in. The dissolve is ideal when you have
two pieces of footage that appear similar to one another. A wipe will split the
screen as one shot replaces the next, or as special shapes, such as stars, that
grow or shrink. Wipes are best used when the clips are changing physical
locations or to indicate that you’re providing a new viewpoint.
Use
transitions to eliminate rough shifts between video clips
Titles & graphics
At the beginning of the video, it’s often a
good idea to set up a title sequence with some graphics that help inform the
audience about what they will be viewing. You can also add titles or scrolling
text to the bottom of the screen to provide details about the on-screen
content, such as pricing and product specifications. Most video-editing
applications offer a variety of text animations, which help draw the audience’s
attention to the text. Common examples include crawl (a single line that moves
horizontally across the screen) and scroll (where text scrolls up the screen).
You can also incorporate graphics, such as your company logo, into the title
sequence by importing the images into your video-editing program. In short,
titles and graphics can help brand your video with the key who, what, where,
and when information the audience will need to know.
Add
text to your video to inform the viewer of key facts and details
Audio
After all the work you’ve put into
capturing and editing the video, the project’s sound can easily be overlooked,
which is a mistake. Selecting the appropriate background music can help set the
tone of the project, and adding narration can inform your audience of important
facts and additional details. Often, you may need to mix the sound from the
video clips with background music and voiceover. All audio should be crisp and
clear, and if there’s any extraneous sound, use the sound filters built into
the video-editing application to clean up any distracting noises. If the audio
still seems noisy, you may need to rerecord it or, if that’s not possible, you
could lower the mix so that it’s less disruptive to the project.
Inserting
background music and narration can improve the dramatic effect of your project
Practice makes perfect
If a clip or transition doesn’t seem quite
right, try a different option. There are no set rules, so feel free to mix the
video and audio as you think looks and sounds the best.
Tips for shooting video
If you want your footage to appear
professional, here are a few tips that will help reduce shake and improve color
quality.
·
Use your camcorder’s White Balance setting to
set the camera to the best color temperature and lighting for the environment.
·
Avoid backlighting subjects, which will
underexpose the person or object you want to see.
·
Use a tripod to steady your camera, especially
when you’ll need to pan or zoom.
·
Don’t pan or zoom too quickly, as it can cause
the video to appear jerky.
Smartphone & tablet video capture tips
You may not always have your professional
camcorder on hand when you need to capture footage. Here are some tips for
using your smartphone or tablet’s camera to capture video.
·
Steady the smartphone or tablet on a table or
chair, or failing that, use both hands to keep the video as smooth as possible.
·
The tiny cameras in smartphones and tablets
don’t provide great light-gathering capabilities, so try to shoot video in a
bright location.
·
Clean the camera lens to prevent fingerprints
and dust from ruining your video.
