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Anyone Here Like Making/Editing Movies or Video?

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Anyone Here Like Making/Editing Movies or Video?

Old 08-26-03, 07:19 PM
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Anyone Here Like Making/Editing Movies or Video?

I'm in a film type school, and I'm currently about to make a movie trailer (just for fun to get more into editing cause I like it--just importing a real movie into my hardrive, and then ediitng it down to a movie trailer and all)...

So this got me thinking, does anyone like making movies/videos or editing them? Do you have anything you can share?

If after I make the trailer(s) and anyone cares, I'll try and find a way to upload them onto this site...
Old 08-26-03, 08:31 PM
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Video and editing is my life. I've done it all through high-school, and now I'm heading to college for it.

I don't really know what you'd like me to share - experiences can be vastly different for various people based on software, hardware, etc.

Personally, especially on my larger projects, I almost always keep Premiere, After Effects, and Photoshop open and work with all three of them. I've placed an order for the Adobe Video Collection - Premiere Pro, AE 6, Encore DVD, and Audition and am just waiting for that to arrive. I also use a Canopus DV Raptor-RT card hooked up to an external NTSC monitor - excellent for previewing your results.

EDIT:
I suppose I could also share the kind of projects I've worked on.

I have created 3 of the promotional videos for my high school's plays (junior year I did one, senior year I did all of them, 2). The last one, for the musical 'Anything Goes' was probably the biggest thing I've ever done. I turned it into an hour-long behind the scenes documentary - the videos normally run about 15-20 minutes.

I also created my senior class 'Senior Video' - a montage of photos and video.

I worked for the school district's TV station for most of my high school years and also produced a news magazine show, in addition to editing most of it.

I also edited a short film for a friend and won an 'award' for the job.

I have also gotten into DVD creation, and am now putting many of my creations onto DVD.

Anything else you'd like to know?

Last edited by futbol; 08-26-03 at 08:51 PM.
Old 08-26-03, 09:39 PM
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Futbol,

I'd love to know anything else you are willing to share. I also did a senior video montage for my school too. Interesting how we both did that...

Can I ask how old you are? You stated you are going to school to learn and do editing--is this a film school, or a school that just will allow you the opportunity to do editing--or am I off here?
Old 08-26-03, 09:52 PM
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Been in the editing field for some time. I don't want to make this my career, but for the time being it's paying the bills. I've done my time in schools on broadcasting as a whole and learned just about everything I could get from those editing classes. Photoshop is also always opened here aswell. I mainly use Avid 3.5 which I would suggest to anyone out there.

I don't have any webspace to post anything up really. I'll see what I can do. as for my experience... hmm Go to as many conventions/expo's out there and you can get bargins on equipment by networking with the reps.

My claim to fame. I helped edit some game shows which I would rather not mention to keep some self respect.

Did my high schools senior video's, daily news show, and just about every project then needed.

Plenty of small projects here and there and currently working on some fair news projects on the side to keep my check book balanced

aswell as many other small stuff. I'm currently working on cutting down the rave scene from the matrix reloaded. Hopefully with that scene cut down Pixy will enjoy it more.

Anyhow. Little tips of advice. RAM, have plenty of it. External HD's are fine to keep your work on the go. as for editing software. People have different taste. I'm an Avid man myself. Some advice would be to take some script writing classes, some camera operation and Broadcast/film operations so that you can have a sense of what the director would want. It's all about keeping your client happy. Network aswell. NETWORK NETWORK and NETWORK some more. Gigs last only so long and you need to keep in mind where your next pay check will be coming from.

Always here and happy to talk about editing.
Old 08-26-03, 10:01 PM
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Originally posted by PacMan2006
Futbol,

I'd love to know anything else you are willing to share. I also did a senior video montage for my school too. Interesting how we both did that...

Can I ask how old you are? You stated you are going to school to learn and do editing--is this a film school, or a school that just will allow you the opportunity to do editing--or am I off here?
18 - fresh from high school and simply on my way to everyday college majoring in TV/Video.

I also produced the morning announcements news show for the school everyday. That was kind of a pain.
Old 08-26-03, 10:04 PM
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TV/Film is the way to go. Fresh out of college here and majored in TV broadcasting. Out in the world now after many of internships and side jobs and jumping on whatever project I can.
Old 08-26-03, 10:04 PM
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I do it for fun. I did it for school project videos and everyone seemed to love them. Its a lot of fun but I can't see myself doing it for a living.
Old 08-27-03, 01:15 AM
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My brother, my friend and I have shot a couple of movies/sequence that were about 5 minutes long. We got into it because my friend got a Digital video cam. We have primarily used Premiere. I used IMovie once since the reviewers liked it so much. Let me tell you, don't waste ur time using it, it's just good for editing home movies. Everything that I've learned came from an instructional book i bought at barnes and nobles and through testing.

A couple of questions for u guys. What do u use Photoshop for?
Also is there a cable that has analog on one end and a usb on the other end?
Thanks.
Old 08-27-03, 01:45 AM
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Photoshop is for basic graphics. I find the tools that come with the editing software to lack a little when it comes to graphics. Best bet is to export a graphic to the software after altering it to your liking in photoshop.

as for the second question. maybe this will fit your needs:
http://www.synchrotech.com/product-1...verter_02.html
http://www.cdromshop.com/cdshop/desc...887170004.html

best bet is using the firewire hub.. then again you asked for USB.. so that might not have been helpful.
Old 08-28-03, 04:41 AM
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Hey Jackskelington - I knew you must be an industry guy, I've seen you include shop-talk into other discussions before ("lower thirds", etc.)

Cool to know there are other editors on DVDTalk.

- Mike
Old 08-29-03, 06:02 PM
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I'm new to the movie editing field. About 6 months ago, a good friend of mine made a short film and had no one with the time, and right price (aka free) to edit it. I knew the basics of most of the programs out there due to my internet/multimedia career, so he brought his DV camera over my place, we plugged it into my PC and 8 weeks later the whole 30 minute movie was done I used Adobe Premiere for most of it, a bit of after effects, and Photoshop for the still images. I also used Vegas Video from Sonic Foundry to make the 5.1 surround sound and their DVD archetect to make the DVD. When all was said and done, I decided I liked Vegas a lot more and wished I did the whole thing with it

Anyway, we just decided to form an indie movie company with another friend and are about to start shooting our first full-length movie. I just placed an order for a brand new fully loaded $5000 Apple G5 Mac, with 500 gigs of hard drive space, all for the next film. I'm going to be doing the movie with Apple's Final Cut Express (hopefully I won't need Pro, cuz it's too expensive) and DVD Studio Pro to make the DVDs.
Old 08-29-03, 07:45 PM
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I've been producing and selling my own railroad videos since the beginning of the year, shot with a Canon GL1 and edited on Final Cut Pro. While they're little more than travelogues, it's been quite a learning experience.

I worked in the editing lab when I was at Penn State (late 80's, all linear), and greatly enjoyed my production classes. Unfortunately, I've ended up in a job that's more administrative than production oriented. But I still enjoy working on my own projects.
Old 08-29-03, 08:22 PM
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Originally posted by Jason
I worked in the editing lab when I was at Penn State (late 80's, all linear)
Ouch. I hate linear editing. I'm not sure how much of it I could put up with.
Old 08-30-03, 02:52 AM
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I've been wanting to attend USC's film school for a long time now, even got as far as putting together my application last year. Never could figure out how I could remotely pay for it though.

I'm going back to get my undergrad in advertising at UofOregon, since it's the most useful thing they offer similar to the field while not offering film production. Of course, I'm still hoping for USC in my future as a grad student.

After learning the archaic tape>tape linear editing while spending loads of time at the public access station in high school, I spent 3 years shooting/editing for local news in Honolulu. That was very useful in teaching me lighting/sound/shooting/non-linear editing that I have been able to transfer over to my own projects. Last week I shot a short zombie movie on DV that should come out to a pretty nifty <5 minute piece.

Now that I've moved back to Oregon, I'm currently looking for work at the local production houses. My friend and I are considering starting up our own production company once we can afford a full-on editing suite.

If there's any video hobbyists in Oregon, let me know- I'd love to do some fun stuff with ya!
Old 08-30-03, 09:12 AM
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Just wondering... for you folks that make a living out of doing this... how much is a reasonable price to charge for editing services? I'd like to try and get a few projects to work on, I'm guessing if it were to happen I'd be doing things like commercials or training videos, that sort of thing... for my graphic/web design freelance work, I charge $50 an hour for pretty much everything. Is that a decent price for video work too? Should I charge more? Less?

just looking for a general idea
Old 08-30-03, 03:21 PM
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Even though I know this is a normal practice, I wouldn't feel quite right about charging editing fees by the hour. Something about the idea that a less qualified editor with an inferior machine would make more money on the same project as a fast editor who spent more money on their suite to make sure it performed quickly. IMO, editing fees should be according to the form of project, amount of raw footage, etc. Sorry to say that I don't personally have a structured model to offer...
Old 09-01-03, 09:35 PM
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Linear editing actually isn't a bad introduction into the editing world. It puts you in the mindset that editing is an artform, not simply a trial-and-error format.

Sadly, since non-linear gives people such instant gratification, many editors are expected to be button-monkeys without an opinion of their own, simply there to do whatever the director wants.

I still think that non-linear offers enough benefits to be the one and only way to go, but I would argue that everybody should learn to go linear first.



To filmerp:
I hear what you're saying, and idealy I would like to do the same, but you're really putting yourself at the mercy of the producers to keep re-cutting a movie until they're happy.

I have a buddy who worked on a Roger Corman movie for a flat rate. He was supposed to finish the flick around May, and he did. He turned in a fine cut that was polished and met all of the requests of the producers. Unfortunately, the movie wasn't getting distributed until September, so the producers decide that they want to keep playing around with the cut. They ask for more reshoots (again, the DP was paid a flat rate), and try cutting in more gore & boobs. He worked a total of 6 months for just under $2,000. That's hardly fair, no matter how green an editor may be.

The union editors make an hourly rate, no matter what the production's budget is. That's the only way I can safely accept work.
Old 09-01-03, 10:23 PM
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Is anyone here familiar with Pinnacle Studio 8 editing software? I'm having a small problem, and am just looking for advice. Let me know if anyone is familiar with the software.

Thanks, I appreciate it.
Old 09-02-03, 04:15 PM
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I've been in the field for about 14 years. Went to film school, we edited on flatbeds. Moved to Chicago, wehre I was part of a music video company, we made some *****ty music videos, and a few cool ones. Edited many off line, on 44o controllers, and then went into on-line suites and edited A-B roll. I remember the first non-linear edit I did, was for a Soul Asylum video, and it frustrated me.

I've made over 60 music videos, and now I edit at home on a PC based Avid DV Xpress system. Even though I'd prefer to use Final Cut. I've also worked on many commercials, and three features, in art department.

Currently I have a salary job as an executive video producer for a foundation. We make health related documentaries. I love filmmaking.
Old 09-03-03, 11:12 AM
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I've got some minor experience in this field, but only because I'm a fledgling screenwriter and someday, I want to direct the screenplays that I write. i'm learning slowly, through friends who are in film school, so hopefully, I can make i happen. That is, of course, unless I find someone willing to film what I write....
Old 09-04-03, 06:17 PM
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jackskeleton and i have worked on a few progects
here in L A. Personally I am filmaker with my own editing bay
jack likes avid i prefer final cut pro3.if there is one thing you must always do is network, network, network. i used to work at a post house here in burbank, after i left i had so many connections that right now i am in the process of shooting a short that i will hopfully take to the film festivals. ohhh festival go to as much of them as you can check out others peoples work get to know them because they are just like you 'hungry.
network becouse you will always run into these people in the industry sonner or later.

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