Our Clubs editing Competition.

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stingman
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Our Clubs editing Competition.

Post by stingman »

Our club has an editing competition every year. You are given an hours footage and you can do anything with it as long as it`s not longer then 5 minutes.

This years footage is the worse i`ve EVER seen. It`s ******** awlfull! I`ve seen better quality on one of my VHS tapes that`s twenty years old! Anyway..... I`ve had the footage for 6 weeks and couldn`t think of what to do... I now have two weeks left to edit it. I suddenly had this brainwave.....

MY idear is to turn it into Black and White and make it look really old. Just like a Pathe News Film from the war. The footage is from the Admiral Cup (sailing) at Cowes.

Now the question. I will need to alter the sound of the background music to include crackles etc. (I can do the video old). Does any one have an easy way of making the sound old and horrible? I will include jumps and cuts in the music.
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Peter
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Re: Our Clubs editing Competition.

Post by Peter »

stingman wrote:Our club has an editing competition every year. You are given an hours footage and you can do anything with it as long as it`s not longer then 5 minutes.

This years footage is the worse i`ve EVER seen. It`s ******** awlfull! I`ve seen better quality on one of my VHS tapes that`s twenty years old! Anyway..... I`ve had the footage for 6 weeks and couldn`t think of what to do... I now have two weeks left to edit it. I suddenly had this brainwave.....

MY idear is to turn it into Black and White and make it look really old. Just like a Pathe News Film from the war. The footage is from the Admiral Cup (sailing) at Cowes.

Now the question. I will need to alter the sound of the background music to include crackles etc. (I can do the video old). Does any one have an easy way of making the sound old and horrible? I will include jumps and cuts in the music.
Some editing programs have this as standard. But in all editing programs you can restrict frquency response to sat 200Hz to 7000KHz or less. Also restrict the signal to noise ratio down to about 45dB.

You can also add another sound track and introduce some faked crackles and pops.

You can do sound crashes (like a turntable slowing down to zero) to match your jump cuts.

When I did this once in a holiday competition they were not amused! I must have come about last! But that's clubs, and competition judges for you, they hate you taking the p***.
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Post by Peter »

Talking of editing I've just shot my first video footage for over 2 and a half years!! It's only 4 minutes long, and its so well shot it hardly needs editing!! BUT, it's 100% boring - just a silly trip to Cambridge - a rather boring place anyway!

But one day I might shoot some marginally more interesting rubbish. (Notice the use of the word "might").
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Willy
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Post by Willy »

Peter wrote:Talking of editing I've just shot my first video footage for over 2 and a half years!! It's only 4 minutes long, and its so well shot it hardly needs editing!! BUT, it's 100% boring - just a silly trip to Cambridge - a rather boring place anyway!

But one day I might shoot some marginally more interesting rubbish. (Notice the use of the word "might").
Cambridge is a very beautiful place. When I was a teacher I took a course in Churchill College. I stayed in Saffron Walden for some time. In spring time Cambridge is one of the most beauiful places in the world. The river Cam, the daffodils, King's College and its painting made by Peter Paul Rubens (= He was a Belgian !), the bicycles everywhere. It's not easy to film every court yard. Photography is forbidden. So the atmosphere is still very serene. It would be fantastic to make a film about the life of a student at Cambridge University. Have you ever seen the interior of a colllege ? A dining room with enormous portraits of famous people hanging on the wall ? An interview with a student and his tutor ... that would be great ! The tutorial system does not exist on the continent. And then there is the boatrace Oxford-Cambridge !

So lots of things to do and film in Cambridge. If I could get the permission to do everything with my camera as I wish in Cambridge then I would already leave tomorrow and forget my trip to Scotland next week (bit joking).

And, Peter, Cambridge is a boring place in your opinion, but it is so British ! You are contradictory sometimes ! I do not understand you !
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Post by Peter »

Willy wrote: Cambridge is a very beautiful place. When I was a teacher I took a course in Churchill College. I stayed in Saffron Walden for some time. In spring time Cambridge is one of the most beauiful places in the world. The river Cam, the daffodils, King's College and its painting made by Peter Paul Rubens (= He was a Belgian !), the bicycles everywhere. It's not easy to film every court yard. Photography is forbidden. So the atmosphere is still very serene. It would be fantastic to make a film about the life of a student at Cambridge University. Have you ever seen the interior of a colllege ? A dining room with enormous portraits of famous people hanging on the wall ? An interview with a student and his tutor ... that would be great ! The tutorial system does not exist on the continent. And then there is the boatrace Oxford-Cambridge !

So lots of things to do and film in Cambridge. If I could get the permission to do everything with my camera as I wish in Cambridge then I would already leave tomorrow and forget my trip to Scotland next week (bit joking).

And, Peter, Cambridge is a boring place in your opinion, but it is so British ! You are contradictory sometimes ! I do not understand you !
Well, yes, I have done all those things and I was with an ex-student yesterday. I suppose as I was not feeling too well I was not in a good mood, but it was terribly crowded, and I find university towns a bit "precious." Same with Oxford, which is also beautiful. Well, both places are nice on the river, and I have been on a punt in Cambridge. Sometimes I quite like these places, other times I find them trying. It's also much colder than London, a bit like being at the North Pole!!

Perhaps because it is so British that I can't really get too exited. The European Continent is much nicer and much more civilised.
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stingman
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Post by stingman »

Thank you Peter for your ideas on the editing. If I do this project, I will certainly try your ideas.
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Michael Slowe
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Our Clubs Editing Competition

Post by Michael Slowe »

Willy, I tend to agree with Peter on this one, it would be a boring film. I am always seeking new documentary subjects and I find that you have to take great care to get something different and, if possible, eccentric! Audiences get bored very easily and following a student round Cambridge would bore them early on in my opinion.
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Re: Our Clubs Editing Competition

Post by Willy »

Michael Slowe wrote:Willy, I tend to agree with Peter on this one, it would be a boring film. I am always seeking new documentary subjects and I find that you have to take great care to get something different and, if possible, eccentric! Audiences get bored very easily and following a student round Cambridge would bore them early on in my opinion.
Maybe you are both right, but do not forget that the atmosphere in Cambridge and Oxford is unique. We don't have such university towns on the continent. The problem is that if you chose a subject like education or an other serious theme that the audiences get bored. That's a pity in my opinion. Indeed we always have to try to find something special and if possible something very spectacular. Maybe you saw my film "Schola Europaea Symphony". It was screened at Biaff and in Guernsey. It was a film about the European Schools. I was an educational adviser at the moment and I got every facility to film in Varese, Karlsruhe, Culham (near Oxford) etc... I showed life of a student who has to follow his parents when they move from New York to Moskou and Brussels. It is fascinating to see how these youngers always get used to the new situation also in education. But the subject was too serious and the film was only interesting for teachers and other staff in schools. In Belgium one judge even said that the students a
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Re: Our Clubs Editing Competition

Post by Willy »

Willy wrote:
Michael Slowe wrote:Willy, I tend to agree with Peter on this one, it would be a boring film. I am always seeking new documentary subjects and I find that you have to take great care to get something different and, if possible, eccentric! Audiences get bored very easily and following a student round Cambridge would bore them early on in my opinion.
Sorry friends, I was typing my message and suddenly it was already posted. Strange, isn't it. I go on.

One judge in Belgium even said that students at the European School are very spoilt. That's why he didn't like the film. I think I already told you this. Of course that man was completely wrong. As a judge the kind of subject that has been chosen by the filmmaker must not be a criterion when judging a film. But I must admit also the other audiences will not appreciate such a film. When I am asked to show some of my films I never take my "Schola Europaea Symphony" with me because I fear this film is too boring. This cassette is covered by dust now. In some way I also understand Peter when he says that Cambridge is a bit like the North Pole compared with London.

Anyway, Michael, most documentaries are boring. We must always try to make special documentaries. In Belgium the National Competition is taking place. 140 films are screened during three weekends. Most of them are boring and stereotypical documentaries and travelogues. Luckily I have a good excuse not to attend this national festival. Maybe I will meet you in Guernsey on 12th-14th October. Now the establishment are doing their utmost to attract enough people to the natonal festival. The invitations look very "posh". Only dazzling, fascinating documentaries and thrilling fiction films may result in a renewed interest.
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Re: Our Clubs Editing Competition

Post by Peter »

Michael Slowe wrote:Willy, I tend to agree with Peter on this one, it would be a boring film. (RE: Cambridge student life) I am always seeking new documentary subjects and I find that you have to take great care to get something different and, if possible, eccentric! Audiences get bored very easily and following a student round Cambridge would bore them early on in my opinion.
Willy wrote: Anyway, Michael, most documentaries are boring. We must always try to make special documentaries. In Belgium the National Competition is taking place. 140 films are screened during three weekends. Most of them are boring and stereotypical documentaries and travelogues. Luckily I have a good excuse not to attend this national festival. Maybe I will meet you in Guernsey on 12th-14th October. Now the establishment are doing their utmost to attract enough people to the natonal festival. The invitations look very "posh". Only dazzling, fascinating documentaries and thrilling fiction films may result in a renewed interest.
Willy, I have to say that there are a lot of bad documentaries, and travelogues, made by professionals, and also by we "lovers of film" - and the reason is that it is so terribly hard to make a good film of whatever category or subject. This applies to drama as well, as proven by the terrible cinema releases we see all of the time.

I've made a lot of boring films. But I have yet to see a boring one from Michael. But then maybe I'm easy to please. I don't know. It's all so personal. There are on the other hand, many totally boring documentaries shown on TV every day. I do think that the TV companies have lost the art of making good documentaries, mostly because they chase the lowest common denominator and the biggest audience.
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Post by stingman »

Ok Guys, The film is finished now. It took me 3 days to edit it. The film has to be handed in next monday at club meeting and were know at the following club meet the results.
To recap....
We had an hours worth of really dodgie footage of The Admirals Cup, here on The Isle of Wight. The film showed footage of the boats being set up for racing and then 30 minutes of the boats sailing. This footage was from VHS converted to DVD, converted back to MiniDV via some claped out Cassablanca thats playing up!
First of all I had to enlarge the film a few points as there was a horrible watery line at the bottom. This made it more watchable, but it made the picture a bit more ropey!
It took me 5 weeks to come up with my final idea. I would make the footage look more crapier but make it look better :? ! HOW!! Well I decided to make my film in the style of an old MovieTone Newsreel.
My film would be based around that Great British song. `Rule Britania!` I layed this down. I then chose my footage. While doing this, more ideas come into the mind. I put a frame around my titles at the beginning and added abit of camera Roll and Horizontal Hold effects. I also cut the soundtrack a bit to give the impression of this projector missing a few frames.This gave the impression of a really bad film being projected on a projector.
I then wrote a script and recorded it on my camera and captured it into my computer. I spoke in a POSH, BBC Accent. I cut up the phrases and put them roughtly where I wanted them and in the right order. I edited the footage. I put some more titles at the end. My `Digital Dreams` Logowas turned into Black and White as was all the footage.
I then added a filmgrain to the whole film and added the sound of a projector working. I altered my voice and music by reducing the frequencys so it made it a bit more tinnier.

I cannot wait to see what the judges think of this one! And also what my clubmates have done for there entries.
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