Editing Diary

When editing our music video, I decided that as the song is a slow-paced love song an effective technique would be to slow down a lot of the footage. This actually worked in our favour as it meant we didn't have to do lots of rapid editing which can be extremely difficult and time-consuming. The parts I slowed down were all included in the black and white 'flashback' shots. The reason I used this technique is because the singer is clearly in love with someone and wants to remember everything about the other person. Slowing the footage down gives the impression that she maybe wanted those moments to last.

I edited the exposure and colour on the non-flashback shots so they would fit in with the retro theme of the video. I did this by slightly increasing the amount of red in the shots and slightly decreasing the amount of blue. The result of this was a slightly yellow tint which was the look I wanted to achieve.

At the start of the song I wanted to use a different image for each note of the piano. I used establishing shots and then lingered on a shot of the boy in the denim jacket, letting the audience know subconsciously that he is an important character in the 'story'.

I wanted there to be a balance of 'flashback' and lip-sync footage so the audience would be less likely to get bored. I think i achieved this and also used a good variety of lip-syncing shots. For one transition I used a close-up lip-sync shot of my face which I linked with a mid-shot of me lip-syncing in a field using an extreme closeup of my lips. The reason this transition worked so well is because in all the shots I am wearing red lipstick which creates familiarity nd theefore a more smooth transition.

For some of the song I wanted to take the lyrics literally. For example, for the lyric 'open up a beer' I used an extreme close up of the cap of a beer bottle and for 'play a video game' I used a shot of the start of a game of pac man. This techique helps tie the video to the song.

There is one extremely important shot where the lyrics are 'heaven is a place on earth with you'. In the shot the two characters are lying on a bed and laughing, looking more like best friends than a couple. This is an effetive shot because it suggests how in love the main character is.

I used quite a lot of shots of just the boy as if we are looking at him through the main character's eyes and seeing him how she sees him.