Editing in the Classroom

Titling

A TV screen is not the place to display significant amounts of text. Keep it abbreviated, highlighting the important information.

Use a print style or font that is clean and simple... the elaborate style will become difficult to read, especially when making dubs or copies of your project.

As a rule of thumb, text should be kept on screen so you can read through it three times fast. This gives the slow readers enough time to digest the material, but is still quick enough not to bore fast readers.

Audio

The soundtrack is often neglected part of the project yet is responsible for half of the impact on your audience. Your digital editor enables you to add and mix from a variety of sound elements:

Narration - remember to let the pictures tell the story. Use narration to fill in with important details. It's OK NOT to have a running narrative IF there's natural sound (the sound recorded with the original video footage) that's interesting or if you have background music.

Music - the addition of music has transformed many an otherwise bland video. Music should be appropriate to the project, in both tempo and lyrics. If you want your viewers to listen to your narrator or onscreen talent - your background music should be instrumental. Products like SmartSound and Music2Hues provide royalty free (no copyright worries) soundtrack music without the hassle of lyrics.

Sound Effects can be 'home-made' or from a prerecorded album, CD or cassette. There are several companies that provide cassettes and CDs with sfx for video producers.

Viewing and Evaluation

Once the production is complete - the video will need to be exported into the desired format for viewing and evaluation. The use of a scoring rubric can be a valuable tool for both the educator and the student alike. It is a great idea when viewing projects as a class to create a chart of the things that worked well and the things that your student producers would do differently on their next project - so they can make those improvements and grow in their skills.

Chet Davis is a veteran educator, staff development facilitator and author of the 10-Day Video Project Guide (Published by MacroSystem US, Boulder, CO (www.casablanca.tv), C2001).

Digital Video Editing in the Classroom

Chet Davis

The use of digital video projects in the classroom has become an increasingly popular and effective method to integrate core curriculum, to engage the learner, to foster collaboration and to put a powerful communication medium into the hands of students. Digital editing solutions with low learning curves and high reliability like the Casablanca Avio have found increased use in classrooms in recent years.

To help your students start producing digital video projects or to grow in their effectiveness, here are some tips to help in the editing phase. It's this stage also known as Post-Production where students log their field footage (scenes videotaped with a camcorder), trim and assemble footage into the finished story, add transitions and effects, titles and mix audio into a finished presentation.

Preparing for editing

To make the process go smoothly, it is advisable to have students log their video footage. This is where they view the recordings and make notes on the length and quality of their footage. A video logging station can be as simple as a VCR and - it can even be a camcorder (although a group of students will find it difficult to all look into one tiny viewfinder).

Next have the students make a 'paper edit'. They take the script and determine which footage best fits the project. You can even add up your times and get a rough idea of how long the finished project will be. These steps will help prepare your students - insuring your editing station is being used to its potential!

Editing Aesthetics

Here are some tips to create a production that is pleasing to the eye:

Each scene conventionally begins with an establishing shot - a shot that tells the viewer where 'we' are and other important information.

The editor should be very familiar with the script so there is a definite continuity to the project and to make sure the communication objective is being delivered.

The editor should judiciously select and use transitions and effects. Just because you have 164 transitions available on your editor does not mean you should use them all in one video. Most beginners err on the use of transitions/effects that produce 'eye-candy' with little or no substance instead of using transitions that enhance the story.

It is important to maintain an appropriate pace to keep the audiences' attention. In today's TV commercials the average shot lasts about 3 seconds. While that is too fast for most documentaries - pacing should be intentional.

• Editing in the Classroom

Editing in the Classroom