Learning to video edit...

[zumjosh]

Hello everyone.

I've been working on acquiring some skill to editing some videos. I have done a lot of freelance work for friends and church events. But now I'd like to broaden my horizon and get into filming cars. I've ordered equipment so soon I'll have my own original footage. The videos below are just a collage of my favorite footage on the internets.... I hope you enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unJf9pj4ZSE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0l9HwMK1V8

[Oh Damn, it's Sam]

It's sort of hard to be a fair judge here or offer constructive feedback from a collage of others' footage, since I didn't always know what was your editing and what was in the original video. To me, the most successful car videos tell a story or have a narrative feel, even though they don't have a plot per se. They capture an energy, a feeling from the event they're recording or they record the emotion, experience, and presence of a particular car. To that end, the 1013MM x LTMW Behind the Scenes video is among the most impressive that I've seen. It manages to capture the mystique of the cars in a wonderful way, giving a different feeling between the more luxo white one vs the racey blue.
At the same time, its editing is not flashy, but quite subtle, in keeping with the feeling of a contemplative photographer working to create art from art. The opening reveal of the white sedan is fantastic, timed perfectly to the music, and it captures, to me, the feeling a photographer might have upon seeing such a gorgeous subject for the first time - a sort of "well, look at that" awe. The color grading of the video gives a gritty nocturnal urban feel that makes for a wonderful contrast against the brilliant paint and bright HIDs, and the music feels at home in an urban space while simultaneously reflecting that same contemplative feel. It's an astoundingly effective presentation.

I understand that since you're working with extant footage, composing that sort of narrative is difficult, but as you work on your first automotive projects, that's something I'd concentrate on. For example, the flashy stuff on your first video is largely unsuccessful to my eyes because it's adding an aggressive energy to scenes that don't really feel energetic. In contrast, the slow-motion effects on the drifting 1-series in the second video are much more effective, since they quite nicely capture the feeling of the "time compression" feeling I get when in a car that's on the edge of control.

None of this is to say you have to copy the video above - in fact, I would much rather you develop your own style - but I do think your editing choices ought to always be made with the kind of precise deliberation that the above video displays. When you're doing a transition that incorporates more than a straight cut or a fade or you're adding an effect to the film, ask yourself why. Why this effect or transition? What's it doing here? What is it telling the viewer? What effect is it intended to have upon the viewer's interpretation and feeling? If the answer is "because it looks cool" or "because it goes with the music," then I think you ought to really reconsider.

One last thought: don't be so aggressive about muting the sounds of the cars. Crowd noise, sure, but the sound of tire squeal and exhaust is a wonderful part of the experience of a car, and you're missing some key sensory data if the cars are always muted to favor the music choices.

I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with using your own footage!

[CarlosFley]

Soooo what software do you use to edit your vids mang? Not bad. But Sam's got a point, it's much better to have flow than be flashy.