Reflective Log

Within my editing work I have completed and created numerous projects. Within these projects I believe there have been things that have gone well and things that may need improving.

Blogs:

The first task that i completed for editing was to create and write an editing blog. At first i was daunted by the prospect of writing about my own individual thoughts on different editing techniques and conventions. I felt daunted because i had come into editing not knowing much about it and getting confused with all the technical jargon.

As i began to set up my blog i decided to conduct some research into the topics i was going to write about. Therefore i researched conventions, codes and types of editing in film and TV. I came across lots of video examples that i used within my blog. This taught me a lot about editing and gave me a much greater understanding of how and why it is used within the industry. I learnt about the effects different editing techniques had on a piece of film and how an edit can convey emotion to the viewer. I felt that self research and gaining a more creative understanding of editing was a very strong point for me when writing my blog.

However i do feel improvements could be made. I felt i could have included a wider range of examples to back up my points. I also think that if i was to write my blog again i would have been more calm and less daunted by the task and therefore would have written a higher quality blog. I could have also focused more on different types of editing and provided more detail on each post, this would ensure that the reader of my blog could gain a full understanding of what i was trying to explain.

Documentary Editing:

The main editing task that i completed was the editing of my documentary. The editing programme that i used for this task was Avid Media Composer. I had only basic knowledge of this software package before beginning my edit therefore i was worried about the quality and time it would take to edit.

The main strength of my documentary edit was that i gained a great deal of knowledge regarding Avid through being practical and through trial and error. I learnt how to add rolling credits, how to overlay titles onto a video background and also how to mix music and audio. I feel as if overall, my documentary was very well edited. I was creative with the way that i cut the shots together. I used a mixture of both harsh cuts and transitions as well as using music to add mood and effect.

I also came across many weaknesses during the editing of my documentary. I was very impatient when it came to using Avid. With any software packages, slow starts and unresponsive screens are natural, however Avid crashed on me a few times and i felt my patience wearing thin. To improve on this i should next time be more patient and calm if it crashes, i should also regularly save and update my work to avoid loss if a computer crash does occur. Another weakness of mine throughout the project was the speed at which i edited. I feel as if i could have researched more Avid editing techniques or short cuts in order to speed up the process and not rush last minute due to time restrictions.

Conclusion:

In conclusion i feel that i have gained a mass of knowledge and experience of editing throughout the unit. I have been practical with my work and have also used initiative to bring knowledge upon myself through research. There have been some weaknesses to my work, i feel i should have added more detail to everything that i have completed and i also need to work on my patience skills.