Storytelling is a fundamental part of our being. We construct internal narratives to make sense of the world around us. Stories are how we share information with others that helps create an emotional connection, make it more memorable, and understand each other.
Would you be surprised then to know how important storytelling is to the very craft of video production? A well-made video tells a story almost naturally, engaging our different emotions. It is in our nature to weave a narrative and look for them to identify.
So how do you use editing and post-production elements to master visual storytelling? Read on.
In post-production, raw footage comes together with many different elements and is pieced together to form a stunning story. Be it a corporate video, commercial, educational video, brand video, wedding films or documentary, the post-production process is critical to making it come alive as envisioned. The editing process adds the music, lighting, pacing, sound design and color grading – all setting the right stage for conveying the emotion.
What are the tools involved in a post-production process? Non-linear editing software that is powerful enough will have every feature required for the editing process. There are industry gold standards like the Adobe Premiere Pro CC, Apple Final Cut Pro, Avid Media Composer, and DaVinci Resolve.
Now, let us look at the different aspects of a video that can be manipulated in the post-production process to create a narrative.
Transitions
The way one scene moves to the next is through cuts and transitions. This is how editors move one camera shot to the next. Transitions like fades, wipes and dissolves were invented and mastered by the pioneers in the film industry. They have a significant effect on storytelling too. Let us look at a few examples.
- A Cut is a transition that shifts to the next scene without any effect. This is used especially in the “shot reverse shot” to establish a sequence of events or even two aspects of the same scene.
- Asynchronous sound is a movie scene transition where the sound is not synchronized with the video. This builds the anticipation and plays up the auditory aspect of the video.
- Crosscut is a scene transition where two shots are shown to be happening simultaneously. These are repeatedly shown to build tension, continuity and scale. These may be planned ahead of time by the director but implemented in the editing phase.
- The Contrast Cut juxtaposes two scenes to show diametrically. It can be applied visually, auditorily or sometimes both. Video editors use this cut to juxtapose two starkly different shots, to create a sense of dissimilarity, thus emphasizing particular moments or heightening the emotion of a scene.
Choosing Colors and Mood
The color palette in a video is an important part of the storytelling process. Editors and video producers use certain color palettes in videos to set the tone. The use of certain colors has cultural significance too. For example, gray undertones have been used to denote grief, red for passion or anger, yellow for happiness etc. Entire videos can have a color theme, or they may be confined to certain characters.
Color Grading
The camera does not capture color, light, or the human eye. It is the editing process where the colors come to life. The raw footage drastically differs from the final product we see on screen. The footage is usually captured in log color profiles, which gives better HDR range in the post-production, thus helping in as much details in highlights and shadows back. Using different techniques, the editors make the colors more vibrant and real-life-like. This is what adds cinematic quality to such videos.
Editors can highlight just one color to make it stand out in a scene, bringing in the meaning of that color with the video. This is used in many different ways to accentuate the mood of the scene. This manipulation of the given colors to affect the scene’s mood is called color grading, which is achieved through editing software like Adobe Premiere CC.
Music and Sound Design
The effect music has on a movie is incredible. Simply comparing a scene with and without music will show how different they are. Imagine a scene where a woman is walking down a dark corridor. If you add music that evokes dread and anticipation, it can seem like a clip from a horror movie. If you add solemn, emotional music, it can evoke emotions like grief. Emphasizing background noise such as footsteps in an empty place, utensils clanging in a restaurant kitchen etc. creates an ambient sound that viewers can easily recognize. Such instances show how music highlights, elevates and completely changes the mood of a video.
Another aspect of post-production editing is the addition of sounds other than music. Also called sound design, the editor adds or alters the sounds in footage which may be music, sound effects or background noises. All of these come together to give completeness to a scene.
Motion Edits for Your Editing Needs
Video is a powerful medium of storytelling. It can convey the right emotion, provide an instance to identify with, or even add credibility to a cause. You can create the best of videos only when it is paired with good editing skills as well. At Motion Edits, we have a team of incredibly skilled editors and powerful, industry-standard tools to achieve perfect post-production outcomes for videos across industries, niches, and genres. Reach out to us today to hire our editing expertise for your videos.
