1

I am new to video editing. I recently made this video and I was wondering which edits of my video is good and what improvements I can make for any future videos. I used VideoPad if you wanted to know which video editing software I used.

I would appreciate any feedback! Thanks

1 Answer 1

4

Since you asked for general feedback, here's a few things I noticed:

  • 0:00 The logo animation is too long in my opinion, especially since the video itself isn't that long.
  • 0:12 Make the text much smaller, use the same font and font weight as in the inspire of the logo, it will look more coherent and sophisticated. Text doesn't need to fill most of the screen. It also doesn't need to be centered. If you have enough good B-roll footage, you can also use that as a background for the text, makes for a nicer introduction.
  • 0:19 In general, for this kind of impression videos, it's not a good style to use a shot that starts with camera movement (e.g. a pan) and then stops. It looks like the cameraman started out with a pan and then didn't know what to do with the camera. If a shot starts with movement, end the shot before that movement stops. Inversely, if you have a still shot, cut it off before it starts moving, it's much less distracting that way. In this case this effect is increased by the shaking of the camera, could probably use a bit of stabilizing.
  • 0:28 Why is the font green now? Lose the color and the stroke. If the text is hard to read against the bright background, use subtle shadows, not thick strokes. It's optimal if you can read the text without a problem, but don't notice a stroke or shadow on it without a closer look. Also it sounds like you cut the Mayor off after 'to be honest', could probably end the shot after 'what a great idea'.
  • 0:30 This looks like you just put the poster for the event into the video, it doesn't look good. Better use text annotations to communicate what the event is about, or just use the Logo with background footage. Nobody is gonna read the text in the green field or the smaller text below, so you don't need it. The poster is not very good in itself, but that's a different topic. And if you absolutely want a poster in the video, make a dedicated 16/9 graphic that only contains text and images that can be read/perceived within the 3~5 seconds for which it is visible.
  • 0:36 In general I like the text in front of the blurred video, but there's a few problems with it:
    • It's clearly visible that the blur was applied in post editing. It's much cooler to use a video where the cameras focus was intentionally off by a large factor. This way you get nicer bokeh (if you use a good camera/lens combination) and graduated sharpness.
    • The blurred video stays in the background for too long and there's too much movement. This draws attention away from the text and onto the video. In this sense it's quite frustrating that you can't make out anything because of the blur, especially at 0:38 where the camera is centered on the little girl. For text with blurry background video, you wanna use static shots, for example a static camera that records people coming in or out of the hall at the start/end of the event. If you only have footage like the one seen in the movie available, don't use blurry video at all, just make the text smaller and put it in one of the corners.
    • At 0:48, if everything is blurry it makes no sense to divide the video in four parts. Again it draws the attention away from the text and onto the video. I like the composition of that scene in general, but make the text smaller and lose the blur for that part. You overuse the blurry background/text combination anyway, so that would be a good place to start.
  • 0:52 The transition of blurry to sharp is cool in general, but again it's cooler if it happens during filming than as an effect. You can do this by setting the camera to manual focus, focus as close to the camera as possible, start recording and then slowly and steadily move the focus onto the subject. There's a name for this technique, but I can't recall it at the moment.
  • 1:03 You can't hear what they say very well. You want to lower the volume of the music whenever someone talks. Use keyframes for gradual volume transitions (about 0.5 ~ 1 seconds), never hard volume cuts.
  • 1:10 Not sure about the text here. I get that you want to underline his statement, but in this version it's not visible long enough to actually read this and it's too distracting from the video itself. Maybe try putting the quote in front of a black screen or again blurry footage after the man has finished talking to put more emphasis on the statement (not sure if this will look good, you will have to try it out). Or make it smaller and put it on the bottom as a caption. And again, in general be more consistent with your usage of font/color/strokes.
  • 1:27 - 1:57 Get rid of that part entirely. It doesn't help your video in any way. Also it's way too long, it takes up 1/4 of the entire video. If you insist on having this kind of outro, make it 10 seconds at best.

General stuff: The video could use a little tone/color grading. You don't have to shoot for a high-profile Hollywood look, but adjust the brightness a bit to correct for the overexposed shots (e.g. the food scenes). Be a bit more subtle with the text, slow it down a bit, it will look more relaxed and professional. Try to be consistent with font, font size/weight, colors/strokes and placement/alignment of the text. And most important, use one shot/scene for every point you want to get across. The blurry scenes with the text do to much (communicate text and show video) and ends up being distracting.

1
  • Good advice. I agree with most of it. As a critique of the actual shooting I would add that the framing is a little too broad in some spots.
    – user3643
    Jan 25, 2017 at 16:15

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.