Let’s just assume humanity suddenly disappears off the face of the earth – for whatever reason. YouTube-channel #Mind Warehouse figured out how that would impact our planet. Turns out, it takes about three hundred million years to completely forget we ever wandered around here.
In collaboration with Adobe, Vashi Nedomansky, one of the editing pros behind the insanely popular movie Deadpool, and Jarle Leirpoll, an amazingly talented editor who also creates free Premiere Pro presets utilizing the included effects built into the software, have released two free presets that were actually used in the production of the film. One is a project template, which changes the layout of the editing viewer and the other is a “handheld camera” preset that will add the subtle “shakey camera” look to a shot.
The filmmaking team at Red Giant have been creating great short films for the last few years, all of which have sort of served as a proving ground for the software, plug-ins, and visual effects tools that they sell. Their latest film falls right in line, and the behind the scenes content shows just how much planning during the shoot, and work in post had to be done.
There are so many things that can be done with POV action cameras like the GoPro, and as seen in this year-end reel, action junkies and storytellers continue to find creative ways to capture unique images with them. Fantastically edited as well, many match-cut edits are used, along with hidden cuts during jumps into water or snow.
Sven Dreesbach is a phenomenal filmmaker based in Los Angeles who teamed up with Robot Koch & Delhia de France to create a music video for their acclaimed song ‘Dark Waves’ (which was recently featured in the mid-season finale of How to Get Away with Murder). The music video is full of oceanic-based, dark imagery that goes very well with the tones of the song. “The moody atmosphere for the video was primarily set by the tone of the song. Robert Koch, the artist behind Dark Waves, approached me a while ago and told me about the back story behind how the song came alive in a dream while he was asleep,” Sven told us. “The blurry images he saw in his dream were involving dark mysterious shots of the ocean and also involved the lonesome surfer we follow around in the video. He pulled up one of my previous projects as reference for the overall atmosphere and basically asked me if I would be interested in creating something that feels similar for Dark Waves. I didn’t have to think about it much. Of course I was in for it. Particularly because the song was perfect for these kind of visuals.”
Sit back, relax, and take in the entire six-minute edit of movie trailers from 2015, masterfully cut together by Louis Plamondon, AKA YouTube user Sleepy Skunk.
A couple weeks ago I attended the first iteration of Adobe Video World, a combination of Adobe Premiere World and Adobe After Effects World, and a one week powerhouse of learning based in San Jose, CA. I’m not normally one for big teaching events like I thought this would be, but it turned out Adobe Video World was exactly what I look for in education: small, more personal and easier access to instructors who were teaching techniques I was genuinely interested in.
I have attended classes/workshops/lectures at Photo Plus, WPPI, NAB, CES and Adobe MAX, and my main issue with all of them is that because of the huge volume of people at the events, either classes are absolutely packed auditoriums and/or the subject matter was far too high level so as to appeal to a larger group of people. I never left any of the lectures feeling smarter or better about a particular skill set, and that left me instead with a feeling of regret and wasted time. Sure, there are exceptions, but for the most part I personally don’t learn well from these giant lecture halls. I think it might come from my education growing up, where my high school and college both prided themselves on small classroom sizes and direct connection with instructors.
That is exactly what Adobe Video World still is, and in my opinion, it makes it the best place to go and actually learn something.
Transitions are everything in storytelling. Moving from one shot to the next can completely affect the way a scene flows, how a joke is received, and the timing of an edit add an incredible amount of impact. A major player in this segue from one image to another are transitions, the most common of which is a “dissolve.” This video explores and breaks down some notable, historical examples of this transition, and beautifully articulates the value in using them.