Compressing Time
This week we are learning how to compress time in video. Compressing time is basically what you see on TV everyday. We accept this as reality for two reasons: one, because we see it all the time and we know what is happening, and two, our brains are really good at filling in missing information even if it’s not correct.
We were tasked with filming a classmate working at a computer and then getting up and leaving the room and walking out of the building. Five of the basic shots we had to get were wide, medium and tight, action and reaction. We didn’t have scripts, we just made it up as we went along. Looking back, it would have made the whole process easier by a thousand fold if we knew what we were doing from the start.
I use the word “film” in the generic sense because it’s still the best word or phrase for “videoing” or “making a video of…”.
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I filmed a fellow student typing at a computer then answering the phone and reacting with surprise. She got up from her chair, put on her jacket and ran out of the room. From there she ran down the hall and out of the scene. I wanted to get a few more video clips to get a longer video and more content but the teacher wouldn’t allow it. He was too busy talking about himself.
When I got home, I put all the clips into Premiere Pro and editing them together to “match action” as he always tells us to do. It occurred to me that if we are matching the action on every clip, where is the compression of time? After editing all the clips I had shot, I had about a 30 second video.
The teacher probably wanted it to be a little longer, as did I, but there was no time to get more video. I asked how long the video should be then he went on a 30 minute rant about a different assignment. Now we are on to the next project.
Learning Premiere Pro was a steep learning curve but once you watch a few basic videos, you can pick it up quite quickly. Here’s the one I thought was the best, most easily understood. It’s by Javier Mercedes (not his real name) and it is called Create A Simple Photo Montage Slideshow Quickly — Premiere Pro. I just applied the same principals to video and voilà. https://youtu.be/hWZ6tcCODYY
