Thursday 29 September 2011

Editing in music videos

Editing in music videos creates meaning, it shapes the video and tells us a meaning whether its narrative or performance based.
''The important thing to remember is that the purpose of editing is to reduce the source material down to a more manageable size and to try and create a story of the events you captured.'' quote by The Guardian.
There are many aspects of editing that are used in a music video, especially in a INDIE music video like the video we are making.
Aspects such as transitions, lengths of shots, long shots and close ups are used. Other type of aspects are also shown such as who has the star persona, use of close ups to show instruments and who is privileged in the shots.


Transitions
The way shots are joined together in a music video is called the transition. Transitions are very important. The most common transition is the cut, the cut transition means when one shot cuts instantly to the next, this is used in many Indie music videos, when telling a story within the video, it helps viewers understand the song and shows them whats going on in the music video. Cut transitions are used in The Scripts song "Nothing" showing how the lead singer is making his way home to apologise to his girlfriend. Other transitions such as cross fade, wipes and digital effects can sometimes be used.


( Here is the Transition of the member in Rizzle kicks looking down and the next cut shown is the girl looking up at him)

Lengths of shots
The length of shots is an important consideration that can greatly affect a music video. The purpose of editing any given song is to create a representation of the way the song might be perceived by the band. Shots with a longer duration can make a part of the song seem more relaxed and slower paced. Shots with a shorter duration can make a scene seem urgent and faster paced. Long shots and Close ups

Long shots are used when showing the whole of a band in a music video, this shows the whole band together, adding realism for the audience that this is the band singing. This is used often in a Indie music video because an indie video usually consists of a band and long shots can easily include the whole band. Close ups are also used often in indie video because a few close ups of each band member help sell the music video. The audience want to see as much of the band as they can in a music video because the band its self is the reason why they are fans, the more close ups of the band, the more the fans are going to want to watch the music video. There is a great demand fro close ups of the performers in the music industry.



Other aspects such as Use of close ups on instruments are used in an indie music video often. The use of close ups on an instrument when the instrument can easily be heard adds to the sound its making, because the fans can watch the band member making the sound that's making a huge positive difference to the music for example a note on the guitar could make the whole song.
Most of the time the main band member, such as the lead vocalist is most privileged in the music video.

Your footage might be great, but it'll only become a great video through editing. To do a good job you'll need patience, time and more patience. You'll need to decide the 'feel' and pace of the video. Will it be made up of long sweeping shots, or quick sharp edits? Do you want to follow the mood of the song and edit to the music or do you want the video to contrast with the track?
The following is a list of MTV video music awards winners for Best Editing in a Video.


2000 Aimee Mann "Save Me" Dylan Tichenor
2001 Fatboy Slim "Weapon of Choice" Eric Zumbrunnen
2002 The White Stripes "Fell in Love with a Girl" Mikros & Duran
2003 The White Stripes "Seven Nation Army" Olivier Gajan
2004 Jay-Z "99 Problems" Robert Duffy
2005 Green Day "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" Tim Royes
2006 Gnarls Barkley "Crazy" Ken Mowe
2007 Gnarls Barkley "Smiley Faces" Ken Mowe
2008 Death Cab for Cutie "I Will Possess Your Heart" Aaron Stewart-Ahn and Jeff Buchanan
2009 Beyoncé "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" Jarrett Fijal
2010 Lady Gaga "Bad Romance" Jarrett Fijal
2011 Adele "Rolling in the Deep" Art Jones at Work

The most recent one, Adele- Rolling in the Deep


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