Recently in Australian VideoCamera magazine we looked at the very basics of editing using cuts, slips, slides and ripples. Now, Managing Editor David Hague looks at some more advanced techniques.
Once the basics of editing have been mastered, no doubt you will want to move on to some more exotic ways of adding zip to your movies. Note that this does not mean swamping your audience with special effects and visual wizardry; as we said last month, in the majority of cases the ?masters? of editing rely on subtlety and technique, not eye candy.
Music
One of the most effective ways to add mood and atmosphere to your movies is by using music and sound to emphasise situations or locations. Who could forget the tension built up by the music in Jaws, the imperial march of Darth Vader in Star Wars, or the associated menace of the banjo in Deliverance?
Adding music is not hard, mind you; applications such as Acid, Sonicfire Pro 4, Garage Band and Cinescore allow you to ?compose? soundtracks fairly simply, plus there are truckloads of royalty-free music you can buy through the Internet. But there is a special and very simple technique for adding music that is far more effective, and when you discovered you?ll alsmot certainly have a Homer Simpson ?D?Oh!? moment!
