NEXT-GEN Nescot Year 4 HND - Secret Agent Video. (Premiere Pro Test)

For this small assignment, we were tasked with editing together multiple clips given to us as stock footage. The stock footage we were given consisted of a series of shots that included a woman sneaking around a building before fighting a group of henchmen. These shots had many different takes to choose from and allowed for lots of versatility, however, I must admit the acting was rather difficult to work around.

We were also given an example of a basic script which said:

"MATCH CUTTING - exercise in rhythm and pace

INT. WAREHOUSE – NIGHT
JESSICA, 20’s with sawed off shotgun, enters the room. She hears a noise and turns.

HENCHMAN #1 attacks her, and she knocks him back.
HENCHMEN #2 attacks and she easily breaks his arm.
HENCHMEN #3 and HENCHMAN #1 attack as she ducks and they hit each other.
HENCHMEN #4 attacks and she pulls her pistol and shoots him as he runs toward her.

MATCH CUTTING"

As a basis as to how the video should play out.

For this project we used Premiere Pro to take the compiled stock footage videos and cut segments of the sequences into different sub-segments (shots). Once I had the different shots I wanted, I began to layout a series of events using the existing shots and adding or removing new shots and segments to the edit depending on the feedback I received.

During the development of the video’s editing, I was given lots of feedback. During the earlier scenes I originally had a close shot cutting into another close shot with forced perspective. This transition seemed sudden and unnatural and I was given constructive criticism saying to place a new shot in-between the transitions. As a result, I decided to add a wide shot of the girl aiming her gun, which fitted well within the shot and flowed more fluently than the previous transition of shots.

I also got other feedback during the fight scenes, including Bad Guy 1 falling and getting back up and the transition and time-lapse of shots.

While Bad Guy 1’s fall mostly worked well, it was slightly noticeable that there was a small dip in momentum. As a result I edited the timescale of the second shot to have more momentum and fall quicker. This worked well because it hid any misplacement of positioning as it was very fast while also maintaining the same momentum that was shown in the previous scene.

As for the change in scene transition, I was advised to place the scene of Bad Guy 2 getting beaten in between Bad Guy 1’s fall and Bad Guy 1 getting up. While I don’t like the transition personally because it slightly slows the pacing, it does look somewhat better in the timescale and scene transitions. Before the transition between Bad Guy 1 falling and Bad Guy 1 getting up again was sudden and very similarly positioned making the shot seem like the perspective suddenly jolted.

Over all, I believe that I did well on this small project. This is because the final edit melded each shot together effectively and I manage to fit the action sequences with the beat of the song. However, if I could improve on anything I would have better shown Bad Guy 2 being defeated because they were only shown on screen for a very small moment.

Premiere Pro Footage:

Final Edit Video: