SPP3: Showreel - The Editing Process

Initially I intended to use my previous showreel and expand on what I had already created. However as I began I found that I needed to start again with a new project. This time I decided to choose the music first and edit the content in relation to the rhythm and the time of the music. I chose a royalty free piece of music by Kevin McLeod. Compared to the music in my previous showreel this piece had a faster tempo and an upbeat motivational mood. It also had distinctive beats that were easy to split into bars of 4, 8 and 16. I decided to distinguish the videos by allocating a particular number of bars for each. This helped me follow a structure and create excitement to keep the audience engaged.

Showreel Edit - Click to see larger image

I came across various challenges:

• Making sure the edit was precise - in time with the music. As the beats were defined it was easier to line the cuts in time with the music.
  
• Engaging the audience - I had to make sure that the videos were not too long or too short so to keep the viewer engaged throughout the 2.30 minutes.
  
• As well as the videos I had to create titles in Photoshop. With the flexibility of CS3 I was able to import them into Premiere easily. However it was challenging to place them in the right part of the video and ensure the transition was smooth. In order to ensure the consistency of the titles I decided to be precise with how long they were i.e. each transition was timed at exactly 4 seconds.
  
• To match the music I had decided to use eye-contact as a repetitive feature. This was difficult to time with the music but was very effective as the video and the beat complimented each other.

I found that it was very beneficial to keep coming back to the edit after a break as I noticed subtle time differences that I could change. In addition to this I asked peers for their opinions to see how effective the showreel was. The final challenge was to ensure the music levels were appropriate as I had integrated diegetic sound with the music. I felt that this would be effective especially for What NTU Can Do For You as I was Sound Operator. I thought it would be suitable to be able to hear the sound as well as the music. This techinque worked well so I decided to use it consistently as a feature with each video. I found that the diegetic sound ehanced the quality of the showreel and proved my ability to give attention to the sound as well as the image.