Finally, your weeks of preperation and then the endless hours of filming have come to an end, so video tapes at hand, you come to the daunting task of editing your rushes (camera tapes) into a finely polished video. Unfortuantly the paperwork has not finished yet:
Once you have decided on where you want your footage you can produce an off-line edit. This is a rough copy of the way you want your video and allows you to play around with different styles, effects and graphics, so you can see how it will look before spending time on the final version. Pro's use off-line edit suites all the time as they are much cheaper than on-line suites which are used for producing the final version.
The actual process of edting video tape is to link up 2 VCRs via standard AV cables, one playing the rushes, the other recording the segments you want to keep in the order you want them to appear. This is known as assemble editing, as you are placing one scene after another. Professional edit suites use insert editing or the latest way is to use a computer for non-linear editing, I will be looking at this more in depth later on. You do not need expensive equipment, I started by connecting my camcorder to the VCR I used for recording tv prorammes and grew from there. As you get more proficient, and wealthy, you can add digital effects mixers between the 2 videos or caption generators to add a bit of spice to your videos. I will try to include some pages about such machines.
When you are happy with the off-line edit, produce the on-line version using the best tape you can buy, and take your time getting it right. Remember that it is this version that will be seen, so make it look good.
Most domestic VCRs now come with editing capabilities built in, the most useful being the insert options. Laying down a video insert means you are replacing the picture without altering the sound, an audio insert (more commonly known as audio dubbing) does the reverse, replaces the audio whilst leaving the picture alone. A video insert is used all the time, especially in interviews, for example, your interviewee talks for a while on a subject. You want to use the begining and end of his interview but not the middle. You assemble edit it together but at the point where the 2 pieces join there is a jump. This is called a jump cut. To cover it up you use a shot of the interviewer nodding, (called a 'noddy'). You insert this shot over the join, which leaves the speech untouched but covers the jump. These shots are known as cut-aways (looking at something which is not in shot, ie. a shot of the car he is talking about), or cut-ins (a shot of something which is in shot, ie. a shot of something on the table). These shots are vital, make sure they are included in your shot lists. Editors are always complaining about the lack of cutaways, and as an editor you will be to!