Hi there. Welcome back to video vibe Thursday!! I’m Donna Clark. This week I wanted to talk about video editing. It really can make a difference and make your video look more professional. My top three would be adding cutaways, using titles and graphics, and varying your shots.
Well-planned cutaways are going to add depth and dimension to your story and always make your videos more interesting. A cutaway is a shot that literally cuts away from the current shot and takes viewers to… another shot. There are many ways to use cutaways. You can move the camera around, use a different background or just drop in a shot of whatever you are talking about. For example, if I was talking about Toronto, instead of me just talking on screen, I could add in some pictures or video of Toronto. It makes it more interesting for your viewer.
Titles can be used in different ways. At the very least, you want to key your name on the lower third of the frame. If they didn’t catch your name, they can just go back and find out your information. You might want to also add more contact information like your website, email or phone number. At the end of the video you are going to want to add a closing graphic with your contact information as well. But there are also ways you can use titles and graphics. You can fly them on the screen, you can make them appear at different times, change the font size and colours. It keeps your attention and it emphasizes key points. It keeps your audience engaged.
My last technique is varying your shots. If you are shooting your video in one take and are talking about different tips for your viewer, you might want to use a cutaway, but if you just want to have you on screen, you will want to make a cut and zoom in. If you make a cut and don’t adjust and vary the shot, it will create a jump cut and those glitches can be distracting. I have shown an example in the video above!
So those are my tips for this week. I hope you find them useful! Would you love to hear more tips? Visit my blog at dcvideocreations.com/blog.
Have a great day!
Super tips Donna. You make it all look so easy! and professional.
I like the idea of adding in a photo to keep audience attention. Just wondering if making the title at the end takes a lot of extra work or is it a matter of planning color and font size and then just doing it? Thanks so much for these valuable suggestions.