It’s the Little Things
As the saying goes, “It’s the little things in life.” It’s also the little things in video editing that can totally change the overall quality of your project.
I won’t lie, editing my videos has taken me MUCH longer than I anticpated. But I should’ve seen that coming when I started to use Premier Pro instead of iMovie on my Mac knowing that it would be a game changer. So not only have I been taking more time to get the hang of all the nuances of Premier, I have also been taking extra time to go the extra mile and add that “wow” factor to my editing style.
As a motion designer at heart, I knew that a project wouldn’t be complete without adding my personal touch. I looked at my intro video and said “Wouldn’t it be cool if I added my handwriting onto my personal introduction?” And thus started a brand new branch of this project that I like to call “the personal touch.” I set to work on my first piece of personality by writing out the phrase I wanted to include on a piece of paper, taking a photo of it and then tracing it with the pen tool in After Effects. From there, the rest was fairly simple – trim paths & repeat. To add these animations would give my videos a light and authentic vibe which is always a bonus when it comes to connecting with audiences.
Here are some of the ideas that came to life through my love for motion graphics:
Handwritten introduction: “My name is Maddie”
Drawing outline of California
Drawing outline of a first place ribbon
Handwritten outro: “Happy Dancing!”
Motion outro: Dances “splotches” into and out
Just writing “Happy Dancing!” took me around 20 minutes from importing it into After Effects, tracing each word, timing out each trim path, and exporting it back out into Premier. I took the time to time lapse my process to look back on it. And even though 20 minutes to some people can seem like a waste, I have two words in response to that: Worth it.
Outside of the motion graphics, there are still many other aspects that make up a good chunk of your time:
Filming
Collecting additional photos & videos
Trimming and Editing Each Video Clip
Video Transitions
Text boxes
Timing
Background music
Additional graphics
These all take time, and honestly, for good reason. Slow and steady wins the race.
Editing truly is about the little things. Each detail can either make or break your video which is why it takes hours to record a 2.5 minute long video. Something my wannabe YouTube era did not prepare me for. But now that I know, I am better equipped to be able to create content that matches my vision perfectly while effectively communicating my research to my audience.