Whether you’re a beginner or have some video editing experience, here are seven creative tips that will take the final cut to the next level.
Whether you’re putting together a short film, a YouTube essay, or a social media reel, how you edit your video will ultimately determine its effectiveness. The ways in which clips are pieced together, sound is leveled, and graphics are utilized is a delicate balancing act that takes time to truly get the hang of and can easily harm the final product if even one element is out of sync. On the flip side, video editing can be an invigorating and rewarding process that, when done right and with intent, can elevate a potentially mediocre project into a great one.
Of course, if you’re new to video editing, you’re bound to make some mistakes along the way as you get comfortable with the craft. With time, persistence, and dedication, however, you’ll not only make less of these mistakes, but will seek new challenges and ways to improve your work. Likewise, as the viewing habits of audiences continue to evolve, it’s important to stay on top of editing trends in order to maintain your audience and find work.
At the end of the day, the goal of the best editors is to find ways to enhance the story being told and do so in a way that will enrich and entertain. Whether you’re looking to increase engagement, add some flair, or are looking to approach some of the basic rules from a more experienced point-of-view, the following seven tips have something that every editor can benefit from hearing. Add subtitles and captions
If you’re on social media regularly, you’ve more than likely noticed that a common feature of short form videos is the inclusion of captions. Of course, captioning and subtitles have been around since the days of silent movies, but there’s a reason why, even today, videos with captions typically perform better than those without them.
Perhaps the biggest draw to using captions is that they increase your video’s accessibility by a significant degree. Those hard of hearing or who speak different languages rely on subtitles and captions to be able to watch and engage with videos. Others may be watching your videos on mute due to being in a public area and similarly depend on captions to understand what’s going on. Captions may even be able to pick up the slack in areas where your video might be lacking, such as if you’re filming in a loud location where your voice is hard to hear or if the subject of your video has a thick accent.
While many social media and video sharing platforms offer automated captions, they aren’t always the most accurate, so it’s best that you make adding captions a regular part of your editing process. Most software nowadays are able to generate captions and transcripts automatically, which you can then go in an edit to ensure their accuracy and make changes to font designs.Use creative motion graphics
In today’s content-packed world of increasingly decreased attention spans, finding ways to keep your content fresh and engaging can seem like a never-ending battle. However, no matter how much our viewing habits change, it’s important to remember that humans have and always will respond to interesting visuals. One skill that will bring this quality to your work and put you ahead of the competition is implementing interesting graphics and animations into your videos.
Motion graphics come in many forms, each giving off their own unique effect. A simple place to start is using lower third titles. Lower thirds are graphics positioned on the lower portion of the frame where text and titles can be inserted, offering a clean and stylish way of introducing subjects, listing facts, or promoting brands. You can then move on to animating shapes, text, and logos. You can go as simple or complex with this as you’d like, with the end product giving your videos an increased kinetic quality. There are countless other motion graphic avenues to explore, from advanced transitions to morphs and warping to infographic presentations and so much more.
