3 Things Beginner Video Editors Overlook
Anyone that has ever completed a puzzle, could tell you that it’s not as simple as it looks. When completing a puzzle, there’s strategy involved. One person might tell you that it’s important to finish the boarder first. Another person might say that you should group together the pieces by similar shape or color. Whatever the initial strategy is, the end goal is the same, to complete the puzzle. Video editing is similar to completing a puzzle. It’s one of those things that require putting together multiple pieces to finish the project. This can be especially tricky for beginner video editors.
Video editing involves a ton of strategy too. It’s important to strategize your video before jumping in and making random decisions on a whim. Strategizing is an important puzzle piece for beginner video editors to adopt. The lack of planning could potentially effect the quality and direction of the video. Don’t underestimate the planning process before getting started on your editing. As a video editor myself, I’ve found that each project is going to have a different end goal, and that effects the planning process. In general these are the 3 things that I have learned over time that makes a huge difference in the video editing process.
1. Soundtrack and Audio
A successful video created for marketing includes tracking engagement and whether or not viewers took action. Believe it or not, selecting the perfect sound track is one of the most important aspects of the video and often overlooked by beginner video editors. 81% of marketers say their videos perform better with music. It adds to the storytelling elements and sets the mood. The soundtrack drives emotion and creates cohesiveness between the footage and audio. For example, if you’re editing a fast paced workout video, and your soundtrack has a slow tempo, the video wouldn’t make sense. The video wouldn’t send the right message and would confuse the viewers. Spend time creating or searching for the most complimentary soundtrack for the project.
2. Attention Grabber
As mentioned above, when videos are created for marketing, they are successful based on audience reach and engagement. With the amount of time consumers spend on their phone, it’s important to grab their attention right away. Otherwise they could just scroll past the post. Most social media platforms have the auto play feature turned on for videos in user’s feeds. Knowing this you can get really creative with grabbing their attention. For example, you could use captions, show an interesting clip from the project, ask a question, or show an extreme emotion or expression.
3. Don’t Waste Time
Once you grab the user’s attention, you want to keep their attention for as long as possible. With the rise of Instagram Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts, short form content is becoming the norm on social media platforms. Beginner video editors need to pay attention to the platforms their work will be promoted on. With a time limit of up to 60 seconds, you need to get your point across, and fast. Depending on the social media platform you’re posting your content on, you want to keep your video between 7 and 60 seconds, not exceeding a minute. It’s important to realize that less is more. Quality > quantity.
Video Example
I had the opportunity to film and edit an event for a company called Team Talent. Team Talent is small women-owned outdoor marketing agency, based out of Northern Illinois. The company came to me with three requirements: display our logo, highlight our sponsors, and share the location of the event. With this information in mind, I was able to edit a 43 second clip recapping the event that was posted to their social media accounts. The reason I wanted to share this video is because it emphasizes all three topics highlighted in this blog post. Soundtrack, creating a video hook, and getting the information out as quick as possible were some of the first things I focused on before moving through the steps of video editing.
SOUNDTRACK. The reason I went with this specific song was because it provided a friendly, upbeat tempo. It really fit the vibe of the event, but still created a sense of excitement for the viewer.
ATTENTION GRABBER. Instead of just slapping the client’s logo at the start of the video, I wanted to do something that grabbed the viewers attention. If this video was in a users feed, they would recognize the logo, but I wanted it to stand out. I created a motion graphic with Team Talent’s logo that looked like it was a fishing reel, since it related directly to the event and the company.
QUICK INFORMATION. Within the first 10 seconds of the video, I was able to hit on all the requests from the clients, logo, sponsors, and event location. The rest of the video includes additional sponsors and highlights from the event.
If you want to check out the full Team Talent Event Video, CLICK HERE.
