Ahoj! Different video today. 10 cinematic b-roll video editing mistakes beginners make.
For the new faces, welcome. My name is Zdenka Darula. This channel is all about photography
and video, tech reviews, tutorials, camera challenges and hidden giveaways. If that's
something you're interested in, consider subscribing. Video editing is a skill you master
over the years. I've been editing for a few years and I don't consider myself an expert. I know that
I still have years ahead of learning new skills and only getting better and better and better.
Well, today I've put together a list of 10 mistakes typically beginners make and how do
I know? Because I've made them myself. Mistake number 1. Let's talk about the music. Typically,
before you start editing cinematic b-roll, you select the music first and then you edit the
clips to the music. Everybody is very different and I know that some people actually choose their
music first before they even start filming. The way I work, I choose the music after I film. But
before I film I make a decision about the tone of the final, of the video. That means that
I make a decision if I want the video to be full of energy with fast cuts and transitions
or if I'm gonna be filming a video which is gonna be kind of a dreamy and slow paced. That I decide
first. After that I'm looking for the music and here comes the mistake. Mistake would be
choosing a music which is not very suitable for the video and then making the video fit the music
just because you love the melody of the song, just because you love the beats of the song.
I usually download 4 or 5 choices even though I might think that there is one already which
fits. Then I actually place the music below unedited clips and I listen and watch video. If I
feel that it is a match to what I'm expecting from the edited b-roll, then I start actually editing
it. Finding the right music is tricky. It's not easy so don't rush it. You're not going to use
something like heavy metal for nature shots. Here are 3 different b-rolls I edited in the past.
One is Mustang. So here I use kind of like a rock music. The second one is nature, scenic
nature. So I went for a little bit of a classical tune. And the third one is just shoot of my friend
Martina where I wanted to look like a music video, so I went for a song with actual vocals.
Beauty lives in me. I know I don't yet know it so I trust you when you say... Mistake number 2
would be placing a whole bunch of clips in mixed order, in random order on a timeline and just
edit them and it does not even make sense. Better would be to create a story. Or if you are shooting
at scenic location, make it like a walk through. Start very calm and then build up the drama
and then calm it down at the end or end up with a big drama, with a big bang. Whatever
you want. If you edit a video with a person, it's easy. It can be a story. If you are showing off
a cinematic location, establish the location. Give the viewer more of a feel of how it looks
overall with big shots, then go to details and end it with something super epic showing the whole
place once again. Mistake number 3. Let's stay with the order of the clips a little bit longer.
One of the mistakes would be to place the clip first which is going this way,
then another clip which is going that way and this way again and then forward and then again this way
and then forward and left. You are going to make your viewer dizzy and it's not going to flow.
That is something you need to keep in mind when you are filming. Some of the people choose only
one direction, that would be me. I really like to go mostly to the right. I rarely film going
to the left. I have also seen other videos filmed in both directions but it was so well
edited, that it actually looked great. It was well spaced out. The direction was going to the right,
a little bit forward, then right again, eventually left and then naturally back to the right.
Keep in mind that you don't want to make your viewers feel like they're watching a tennis match.
Make it easy on eyes. Mistake number 4 would be always editing the clips on the same beat.
Very repetitive, so we know that the next cut will happen again on the beat. Sure,
you do want to edit kind of on a beat, but once in a while you want to change the pattern so you are
not going to be repetitive and we cannot guess, we won't know that the next cut will happen in that
second. What will help is to not choose the music which has very repetitive beat, very repetitive
melody. If you see this on a timeline, this is very repetitive and can unintentionally make
you edit more to the same beat. If you see this on a timeline where the music has many changes,
you will get a lot more creative opportunities to cut in different patterns. Mistake number 5
is the wrong length of the clip. Now, I get it. I also sometimes am very happy too if I film a
clip which has a very nice flow and movement and it just looks so good that I want to show off,
the whole clip. Or, you are missing two or three clips and you really want to edit to the whole
music and you're gonna patch it by stretching it a little bit so you're gonna make those two or three
clips a bit longer so it works out for the whole clip. Always film extra clips. More is better
than not having enough. There are so many clips I simply just toss away because I don't need them.
I don't show everything I filmed in my videos. Look at it in a different way though. Play the
part you already have edited and think if the flow is right, if it is going to keep the viewer
entertained. If the clips are not too long, if perhaps shortening it will make it better. On the
other hand, don't make the clip so short that the viewer must think what was that? When I'm editing
a b-roll, I watch it over and over and over and mainly what I'm thinking about is the flow
of the whole b-roll and the timing. Mistake number 6 would be not checking if the horizon
level is perfectly leveled or reframing the shot. If it's not already perfectly framed
out from the camera. Once I edit the clips to make sure it's perfectly timed,
the next step for me is checking each clip if the horizon is straight. Of course I make
mistakes here and there too but I'm trying to make it a habit to really make sure I check
every single clip. When it comes to framing the shot, if it is off center, tiny bit zoom in and
center the shot. Or if there is too much room below feet, zoom in and move it down. Mistake
number 7. So you just downloaded this pre-designed transitions or you learned in camera transition
and you are so obsessed with it, you love it, that you have to show it at least 10 times in a b-roll.
I've seen some of those b-rolls where I started counting how many whip transitions I actually see.
Less is more. Make one or two maximum three and then do something different.
Mistake number 8. Frame rates can be quite confusing for beginners. It starts with the camera
and setting up the right shutter speed. How many times I accidentally changed the shutter speed and
then I was quite upset when I was trying to slow down the clip in a post and the clip turned out to
be skippy. By the way I have created tutorials in the past on frame rates, how to shoot manually with
a camera and smartphone. I'm gonna link all those tutorials below in a video description. Learn the
basics. When you slow down the clips in a post with the wrong values, it's not going to look
that cinematic. The same goes with speed ramping. I've seen a really nice speed ramping effect which
flows with the video and I've seen way too much aggressive speed ramping which didn't go with the
video. Before you apply the effect, think about the flow of the whole b-roll. Mistake number 9.
Sound effects. And here comes personal preference. Either you are a person which loves sound effects
and you want them to be heard. Or you are a person like me, where I like the sound effects but I want
them a little bit subtle. All I care about is the music and the video. That's what I want in focus
but at the same time I want the viewer to feel like he or she is there too. So I like to add
sound effects like birds or waves or wind effects when it comes to the whip transition but not
too much. I generally bring it down so it's heard and people notice it's there, but it's not so
overpowering. Sure if I had a parts of music which are kind of quiet and where it is asking for adding some
loud sound effect then I would use it but for general music no. Mistake number 10. So you just
finished color grading a clip and you copy it, the color grade and paste it to the rest of the clips.
Or you create an adjustment layer and you cover all the clips with the same color grade
and you call it done. Or you bought a LUT preset and you apply it to all the clips and you think
you are finished. Lots of beginners make that type of mistake. You need to recheck each clip
if the brightness is the same, if it needs to be adjusted in any way so it looks all the same,
the same feeling. And the list can go on and on and on and on. There are so many mistakes I've
made in past and I'm still making mistakes these days. It's never ending learning process. You
learn something new. You look at your past work and you're thinking, why did I do it that way?
Don't stress about it. Do your best at what you feel is the best at the level you are.
Be creative, be yourself. Put your heart into it and mainly enjoy making videos. Enjoy.
There are no rules, just focus on what you are doing. Hit the thumbs up if you
liked today's video and subscribe for more. I've got potential giveaway coming
up. And if you have any questions and comments, simply want to say Hi or Ahoj,
you know what to do. Leave it below and I'll see you in the next video. Cau... Ahoj...