14 September 2009

It appears that the majority of you have some experience working with Premiere and that a number of you are relatively expert in its use.  That's good because that means we can focus the class on the concepts related to good audio and video storytelling and we do not have to spend too much time with the technology itself.

I am wondering how much expertise you all have with AfterEffects.  Please let me know your actual level of experience and your level of confidence with both Premiere and AfterEffects.

As stated in class you will need to upload your 30 second edit to your own YouTube Channel before the start of the next class.  This means you will have to have an account so you need to let me know about your account so that I can subscribe to your channel and we will all be able to share in your work.  We are going to use your 30 second edit in the next class as we work with sound effects and music and learn about their role in the storytelling process.  This will be the audio exercise.  You will also need to start thinking about and working on your Audio Assignment.  This is going to involve creating a sound environment for a still image which you choose and then posting the resulting video to your channel.

Here are some of the things we covered conceptually in class today:

Definition of Sequence Editing:
The compression of an action, event, and/or place from real-time into consumable time.  Consumable time is that which people will tolerate with their attention spans and platforms will tolerate within their windows of opportunity.  With this compression the action, event, and/or place needs to be communicated in a way that is consistent with the truth of the action, event and/or place.  The truth of an action, event or place can be the apparent reality, the underlying meaning, the process involved, or the outcomes achieved.  The truth can exist within the subjects of the story, the place itself, the storyteller or the audience so it is not simply achieved.


Definition of Montage Editing: (not yet covered in class but will come up in critique of editing work).
The connection of audio and video which is temporally, spatially or thematically linked rather than sequentially linked.  Montage editing relies on the same elements of visual grammar as sequence editing but it is more free in the sense that the connection of shots is not based on the creation of an edited reality.


Remember:
The Basic Elements of Visual Grammar
Image   Shot   Sequence   Scene   Story



The Meaning found in Shot Transitions:


CUT: the most basic type of transition from one shot to the next
Change of View within a Sequence
Change of Time within a Story
Change of Place within a Story


DISSOLVE: one of many complex transitions from one shot to the next
Change of Time within a Story

Change of Place within a Story

Do not confuse these meanings.

Next Important Concept:

Audio is as important for storytelling as Video, when they are working together in a single story and when each operates independently.  Audio alone has greater storytelling power than Video alone.