As Live Production | Editing the VTs

The editing process for the two VTs lasted a lot longer than I would usually expect an edit to take.  This was largely because we found we needed to make minor tweaks throughout the rehearsals that meant the  edit was constantly being changed.

'Old to New'

This VT took the form of a montage of shots of two models showing off different outfits based on different eras.  I edited the sequence together under George's direction and created a rough cut with the sequence in order:



I am happy with the overall pacing but I feel I could make some of the cuts a bit faster, particularly in the 70s section.  At the minute it feels a bit awkward for the shots to last so long, especially as I had not yet got around to adding the prices and details about the clothing items - I aim to do this by using motion tracking as the camera pans and tilts and overlaying the text over this.

The 90s section also needs a lot of work.  At the minute there is no real sequence to it, it is just random clips which I will need to sort out in the next cut.  I feel the music goes on for too long as well - it is quite a slow track, and leaving it on the same track for two minutes leaves the viewer feeling bored to some degree.

I will also need to ensure all the audio tracks are muted other than the music bed in the next cut.



In the fine cut I had added the motion tracking using Adobe After Effects as I had intended and I feel this makes the piece seem a lot more professional.  Looking back at the font, and with feedback from Helen and the producers, I agree with them that the fonts do not really fit in with the VT.  There are too many fonts going on and they are not aligned very well with the items so they look a bit clunky.  I will reconsider the font in the next cut.

I do however really like the glitch effect, I feel that I need to add more of an audio cue for that to come in otherwise it feels uncomfortable to just happen without any change in audio.

The 90s section has also improved dramatically - in a similar way to how Dan James cuts for Top Gear and The Grand Tour with the 'hold and release technique', fast cutting between the dark moody shots with the pricing shots works really well to break up the flow and looks a lot better aesthetically.

In the next cut I will address these changes, and I feel I need to change up the music a bit as it feels a bit boring for the moment.

In this fine cut I added colour grading to the different eras.  I opted not to go too heavy on the grading as I had in the mockup as I did not want to distract from the clothing, which George agreed with.  I also refined the text a great deal, ensuring each title sting was interesting a relevant, and that the other text elements fit in with the style of the VT.

I also added some camera shutter sound effects so that it is not just like a music video - this added to the narrative elements in the piece.  These sound effects also add another level of depth to the VT and it feels more real.

I improved the glitch effect a great deal as well by making it transition into another audio track as well.  I am pleased with how well this cut works and it reinvigorates the VT which was coming up a bit dry by this point in the earlier cuts.  I also aimed to cut more in time with the music, though I did not let the music drive the visuals.  As I have learned in my research, this makes the audience well aware of the cut and feels less natural.  By editing to the beat in a more subtle way, this adds a level of finesse to the edit which I am very happy with - to the point where I feel this was ready to feature in the show.

I made one tiny change to this VT during the rehearsals and that was to remove the fade to black at the end, and instead made the final clip last a few more seconds.  This is so that I had more time to mix or cut back to the studio cameras on the mixing desk, otherwise the VT would land on a still frame which would look very unprofessional.

DIY

This edit was much more straightforward than the Old to New VT.  The main issue I had at the start of the VT was cutting down the interview to fit into the time we had available.  I was aiming to cut the VT down to 2 minutes, but having made the sync assembly, the interview came to about 4 minutes.  Therefore I had a lot of dialogue to cut out.

I transcribed the audio, and with the help of the VT Producer, Conor, we went through and cut parts of the interview that we did not need.  We also liaised with producers, Katie and Melissa to see if there were any questions we asked in the VT that could be asked in the studio (as Bonnie was being interviewed in the studio after this VT as well).  I was then able to cut the interview down into a much more manageable sync assembly:



Now we had the sync assembly, the edit became a lot more manageable and I was able to cut between the interview and Bonnie's demonstration of making her top.



I am glad that we prepared as much as we had by shooting as much coverage as possible as I was able to cut in almost anywhere I needed with GVs.  I also recorded and added a voiceover with one of our presenters, Adeline, that Conor wrote to add more context to the GV when it appears in the show.  Some of the GVs did not quite fit in, they come in a bit too quickly or slowly and it makes the VT look a bit clunky, so I will alter these in the next cut.

The audio levels are also not quite consistent which is something I will need to rectify in the next cut.  George and I also agreed that we needed some sort of music track in the background because the VT feels a bit dry at the minute.  Adding a music track for the sections that Bonnie is not talking will help to maintain interest throughout the entirety of the VT.



In the final cut I had ensured that all the dialogue matched in terms of volume - speech should stay around -6dB and should not peak and I have ensured that this is true throughout this VT.  I have also tidied up the GVs so that they fit in better with the pacing of the VT.

I am particularly happy with how I have cut the music in during the first actuality shot after Bonnie speaks (when she is threading the sewing machine).  I feel this was a very natural cut and amplifying the music in time with it gives a very nice and steady flow to the VT.

Another last minute change was adding the lower third graphic in to the VT.  I was not sure whether or not to add this before as we introduce her with a lower third graphic in the studio, however upon conferring with the directors and producers, I added it in the VT as well as this would be the first time the audience sees her, and so I needed to signify who she was.

Overall I am very pleased with how the VTs have turned out.  Both of them were shot very well thanks to George's direction and Alex B's camerawork.  George and Conor also worked very hard on getting the research together to make the script and find the locations and contributors altogether making these two very strong VTs for the show.  I feel things may have run smoother if I had thought to do certain things earlier - such as liaising with Simon to get the lower third graphics, which I had almost forgotten about until the weeks leading up to the show.  Despite this I am happy with what myself and the VT team have accomplished here.

As a small thank you to Bonnie for helping with the show, I have agreed to tweak the final edit of her interview so she can use it for her own social media purposes.