There are a few things in life that seem to happen with absolutely certainty. The Sun rises and sets in the sky, taxes are paid, children grow up, and American megachurches produce story films.
My church produces a lot of testimonies — as many as two a week. These are stories about beautiful human beings who have had a divine presence interrupt their lives. Videos are planned, shot and edited in two weeks or less.
Let me take you through a very real situation: You're a church video editor. (You probably are. That's why you're reading this.) It's a Tuesday afternoon, and two days from now you are expected to have transformed several hours of raw video data into a beautiful, poignant, and truthful crystallization of lifechange.
So how on earth do you do this in such a compressed time frame? Here are a few tips.
1. Use Multicam for Faster Talking Head Coverage
This first solution is quick but classic: Multicam. It's a well-known feature in the standard non-linear editing program (NLE), but it's one I've found to be under-utilized by some editors. After I import all of my footage, the first thing I do is assemble a Multicam sequence.
While the workflow differs between programs, a proper multicam feature should cause a sequence of footage with several angles to function as one shot. Any full-featured NLE should allow you to choose video files you wish to combine, and place them into a single shot or sequence. You should be able to manipulate and cut this shot like any other clip, but the program will preserve all of the separate angles and let you switch between them. This will save you time later on if you have to switch up a shot.
2. Markers Pay Off in the Long run
If you've never used markers before, you've probably seen them sitting idly some place in your NLE. It's pretty obvious what they do — they leave marks, titles or text on your clips. Markers are one of least interesting and most time consuming features in an editor. So why I am recommending them? In a word: context.
On a quick-turnaround project, it doesn't make sense to leave a myriad of detailed notes spattered across your footage. However, it can dramatically reduce edit time if you try it in moderation. After I've sync'd my multicam footage and listened through it once, I make one more pass to leave markers after each question asked by the interviewer. Having the visual cue of the markers present throughout the clip is what really matters. If 17 questions are asked, I make 17 marked segments built right into the clip with a title that summarizes the subject's response. This solidifies my memory of the sound bytes and keeps me from having to hunt down footage later in the edit.
3. Use Dual Sequences for Seamless B-roll Curation.
If your NLE has a flexible user interface, it probably offers you a host of productivity solutions you might not even be aware of. I do a lot of things with my UI in Adobe Premiere to make my process faster, but the most efficient solution I've found by far is dual timelines. If you have two timelines you'd like to access, you can open both in separate windows to allow for easy dragging and dropping.
This process is a life-saver for curating b-roll in large batches. After I've cut my interview content, I like to move all of my b-roll into a sequence window underneath my main edit. From there I can move between both timelines and drag over clips to my main sequence with ease. There are many ways to preview footage in any editing workflow, but this seems to work fastest for me while cutting a testimony quickly. If your current process involves watching clips one at a time, try sequencing them and see what happens.
4. Send Audio Clips to Audition for Single-clip Edits Before the Final Mix.
If a story focuses on one person, or only one interview, the odds are good that the final edit only has 1 or 2 audio clips that include the speaker. To quickly treat the spoken content, try manipulating the files on an individual level. Export the audio by itself and open it in a dedicated audio program. Software like Adobe Audition or Pro-Tools can help you make powerful adjustments to your clip that the stock effects and mixer in your NLE can't. In Premiere, I like sending interview audio into Audition to make use of its superior noise reduction and compression tools. I tend to avoid exporting full sequences to Audition or any other program as the workflow gets a little bit more involved when it comes time to reintegrate the files. Exporting to make a few specific edits to even a single file can help save a lot of time in the final mix.
5. Export Custom LUTs for a Fast and Beautiful Color Grade.
Suddenly the stress sets in. It's 9pm on Wednesday night. Tech rehearsal is tomorrow at 1pm. The creative/tech director's breath nudges the follicles on the back of your neck in the form of an email.
“Is it done yet?”
Almost. It's almost done, but it's not color-graded. Anyone who's ever been in this place knows it's difficult to get color done quickly. Thought you had time for that dedicated DaVinci Resolve color session? Nope. Not without pulling an all-nighter.
The good news is quick solutions are available. You're probably already familiar with your editing program's built-in color tools. Each platform has its share of dedicated color panels and plug-ins. However, depending on your suite, these can be rather limiting artistically. I have a hard time finding a really satisfying look with Premiere's Lumetri panel, fast though it may be. For me, the solution is to split the difference. If you want to get a more sophisticated look with minimum time spent, try sending just a few shots to grade in Resolve. (Or any other pro color software.) If you can afford the time to grade one or two shots from each scene, you should be able to apply the look you get onto your whole project. Try not to adjust messy white balance or exposure errors at this stage, you'll do that later. Upon completion, a professional color program will allow you to export look up tables (LUTs) that you can bring back into the edit. After you do so, you can use the aforementioned stock plug-ins for simple color correction and matching.
This process will require tweaking time, but in the end it'll keep you and your deadlines happy.
Well, faithful video editor, it appears you've arrived at the end of yet another successful project. And so the cycle continues. Next week, you will sit in your chair, cutting together yet another story film. Just remember that you get to share beautiful, poignant, and truthful crystallizations of life change — even if you have do it quickly.
