MiniVid Editing in Final Cut Pro

When editing my cut of the MiniVid I experimented with a number of effects to try and increase my knowledge of final cut pro and what looks good and effective. When we edited our film openings for AS it didn't require very many effects as we wanted to have a very strong verisimilitude. As for music videos it allows much more room for your own creative input and as they are meant to be viewed multiple times, it doesn't have to make sense on the first viewing. Here are some of the effects I found and thought worked effectively on Final Cut Pro.

After doing a basic linear cut I decided that one of the main parts that needed effects were the close ups of Jake lip syncing. This would show a contrast between the narrative and also suit the genre of music. The effects I chose to use were 'Graphic' and 'Cartoon'. I used them both on top of each other as I thought it gave a better effect, and I repeated this effect whenever this shot was shown. I altered the settings on these effects also as without altering they were too strong and ruined it.

effect used

effect settings changed

effect used

before effect added

after effect added

Another effect I used was layering. I used this also in our film opening, however that was done quite simply and within our group and I hadn't had chance to experiment with it. Here I started by having one layer of Jake's face behind the narrative. To do this you have to change the opacity levels so the layer shows through and is visible.

layering

opacity levels on layering

layering

I then increased the layering so there were 3 of Jake behind the shot. This took me a while to figure how to do as all the opacity settings of every layer had to be changed and I wanted them all to look equally opaque.

tools

My most used tool when editing is the blade tool. This is what you use when cutting clips which is needed to do a basic linear cut. It was also required when I created a jump loop. This is when you cut a clip and copy that small segment a few times so it is repeated quickly. This looked very effective in my final cut and I am glad I figured out how to do that through experimenting. However I chose to do this at the last minute to improve my editing which I am glad I did but after already editing the lip syncing sections it sent everything out of sync as more seconds of footage had been added. I just added a few more seconds that I had previously cut from the start of the track, and it fitted well again.

jump loop