Big things are happening in the world of video editing and post-production. If you ever thought you’d like to develop (or improve) your video editing and post production skill set (and get a chance to do so for free) read on.
What’s Changing?
We can do so much now with video editing and post production that was simply unimaginable even a few years ago. Mobile video editing apps allow us to edit video on the fly, with iPhone and Android apps like Fly and PowerDirector. With Twitter buying up SnappyTV, the video editing and sharing platform a couple of weeks ago, the world of video editing and post production is clearly going through very interesting times. While these apps won’t replace dedicated professional editing packages, it’s a sign of the ongoing democratization of the craft and structural changes thanks to advances in technology that we could barely have imagined ten years ago.
What About Clients?
Clients are demanding a faster turnaround than ever before. Same day edits – unheard of a few years ago – are becoming more commonplace. Faster consumption of digital video as we stream shows and video content on the subway, bus, plane, car passenger seat or camel as we head to work, has clients demanding more efficient, quicker final file delivery before the content becomes stale.
Engagement with the viewer is essential with the incredible volume of video being created, and being versatile in what you can deliver is key to delivering to our clients' needs. Having the ability to carry out some simple post production technique, whether it’s incorporating some 3D titles that “interact” within a 3D video environment using motion tracking, or some simple green screen and composite work are techniques we should all understand to add more and more versatility to our capabilitie. I had to pass on a job last year because the client wanted an editor who also had some green screen experience to help out with the shoot, which at the time I wasn’t able to deliver.
The bottom line is successful editors will need to pull on an ever growing arsenal of post production tools and techniques to give the client what they want, particularly those on smaller budgets who won’t be outsourcing work to dedicated post houses, and we need to be able to turn projects around faster than ever - which means working smarter.
Help Is At Hand!
In my small way to help give something back to the community here at Fstoppers that we are all so committed to supporting and developing, I’ve secured 4 tickets to give away to the Cutting Edge Workshop, a one day video editing and post production workshop extravaganza that kicks off this month and heads across North America on a whirlwind 32 city tour. Each ticket has a face value of $295, and includes Adam’s digital presets (a further $99 value) and the daytime DVD of the workshop (an additional $249 value). I'm determined to give back where I can so I grabbed as many tickets as I could to get as many of you guys into this workshop for free as I believe it's a great opportunity for others to learn and grow their editing skill set.
The tour is being led by Adam Epstein, the five-season veteran editor and post-production maestro of the Saturday Night Live Film Unit. With an insanely quick turnaround from receiving the footage through to final file delivery of an often overnight edit, Adam knows how to work efficiently – if he doesn’t, the show doesn’t air, so his deadline is set in stone every week. Being able to swiftly construct pieces that are often totally unrelated in terms of their style, whether it’s a parody of a movie, music video or a promo-style piece, he is clear on how you best communicate the story and narrative of your piece to maximize engagement with your audience.
How Do I Get Free Stuff?
The guys putting on the tour have set out a simple process to enter the competition:
- Follow the tour on Twitter (@CuttingEdgeTour)
- Tweet a couple of things – first, take a photo with your phone of a current project you are working on in whatever editing software you use. Attach it to the tweet. Second, ask Adam a question about editing or post production that you would love to know the answer to and tweet that with the photo.
- Finally – use the hashtag #CETedu in the body of the tweet in order to be entered into the selection with a chance to win.
This is a global competition. You don’t have to be in North America but bear in mind, you are responsible for all of your own costs (travel, hotel, food, taxis, butler service, private jet, llamas etc) to get to the workshop. Whether you can attend the workshop or not, you’ll still get the other goodies. You can enter as many times as you like, but please follow the steps above and if you enter more than once, remember to post unique project photos and questions - spammers will be disqualified.
Four lucky winners will be randomly picked by Adam on Friday July 18th 2014 and will be able to get entry to the workshop of their choice (full location and date info here). As usual, employees of Fstoppers, MZed and any other connected organization involved are prohibited from entering.
I spoke to Adam about his tour prep and why he thought this tour was so timely and he had this to say:
“As editors we’ve never been under more pressure to deliver more or be more multi-faceted in what we deliver. It’s incredible what its possible for us to do now with the tools we have. That being said, everything must be done in the service of the project and the story. It’s of the utmost importance that as editors we recognize that film making, big or small scale, is still a team making activity.”
Good luck and get tweeting!
UPDATE: Winners Announced
Our 4 lucky winners are:
@JordonPowers (Minnesota)
@Hendu38 (Boston)
@jonalex_films (Miami)
@Quintessential (California)
Congrats guys, hope you enjoy the show!
Enter into the contest, thanks!
When will the winners be picked?
This friday July 18th
When will they be announced? ;)