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Video Production: Editing Exercise #2

Description
Students will work with a partner to produce a news report on the non-linear editing systems in the TV Studio. Students will choose a story from those given by the professor, shoot video together, then edit sequences, add soundtrack, and finish with a recorded standup individually. The partnership ends when the video is ready to edit.  The completed story segment should be 1 and a 1/2 to 2 minutes in length. Each student will turn in their final product on DVD-R disc.

Procedures
Students should complete the following steps in the process of producing this project:

 

 

 

 

1.  Begin by reading through the story options found on this Web site.  
2.  Make a plan to interview individuals who can provide information and comment on camera.
3.  Prepare to record your b-roll footage, soundbites, and stand-up by doing the following:

a.  Reserve a DV camcorder at the TV Studio for the time you want tape.     
b.  Make arrangements with your partner as to what you will tape and when it will occur.     
c.  Write a list of questions you might ask and think of a good ending for your story standup.   
d.  Dress professionally for the stand-up. (business attire or Sunday best)      
e.  Memorize the closing sentence and the reporter's tag. (Reporter's tag = "Reporting for
     Newswatch, I'm ….") 
f.  Pick up equipment from TV Studio - includes camcorder, mike, headphones, and tripod. 
    (You will need a mini-DV tape.)
g. Remember, your partner only helps you with shooting - not editing. You may not use the same interviews your partner used - so make sure you know whose is whose.

4.  Record your footage, soundbites, and stand-up on location. Use a mini-DV tape of your own.     
5.  Record any additional footage needed as required by the professor using your own tape 
     Remember you need to interview people related to the story so you can use one of their comments as      one of the two soundbites needed for your story. Use two soundbites with a maximum of 15 secs. or less each. If you want to use more than two soundbites, keep them shorter. Should be a maximum of 30 secs. of soundbites total. You are telling the story, not the interviewees.
6.  Begin writing a script. Remember to introduce soundbites used in the package. Don't say, "And here is so and so. . " - Introduce the person by name and say what their title or connection to the story is, then paraphrase briefly what they said in the soundbite. After that, edit in the soundbite itself. (Two soundbites are required in each project.) 
     The stand-up is added at the end of the story- do not put it at the beginning. 
7.  After rehearsing your script, record your voiceover on the computer using sound recording 
     software such as Sound Forge or Adobe Audition to be used as the narration for the story. Save this      recording as a .WAV file. You will find a mike and mixer in each edit suite.
8.  Reserve the edit suite of your choice (1 - 4) for the
     time you want to edit the package.  In the edit suite follow these procedures:

a.  Begin a new project in Adobe Premiere as NTSC DV 48 kHz.  This is a good time
     to create a folder for yourself on one of the data drives, not the C drive or My Documents (Name your folder yourname_coem232
b.  Capture all footage files from your mini-DV tape to your folder located on one of 
     the hard drives into your project. You only need your captured audio and video plus your      project file in your folder.
c.  Drag each clip to the left monitor window for cropping. Use the { and } buttons 
     to set start and end points. (If you double click the file, it will load in the monitor.)
d.  Drag the clip from the monitor window to the timeline window. Put the track on 
     video 1. Keep in mind that you need color bars, a slate, a countdown, and two seconds of black before the project actually begins.  (The pre-roll does not count toward story time.)
e.  Use the title function of Adobe Premiere to create the slate. (File, New, Title) 
f.  Drag your narrated voiceover file to the timeline on to one of the audio tracks. 
    (Use audio track 3) The soundbite should be placed immediately after your narration
    track ends. Use the razor blade tool to cut your voiceover into different clips, if necessary. 
g.  Place footage files on the timeline to illustrate the story narration. Shots of b-roll should be around 3 to 4 seconds each unless a special situation. 
h.  Crop files as needed using monitor window. Ambient sound will be linked to 
     each footage file. Do not delete these audio files, but you may reduce their volume 
     if they seem loud in comparison to the narration track.  Go to the effects controls tab.
i.  At the end of the soundbite, crop and drag your stand-up file. (If you haven't 
    captured your stand-up from tape yet, do it at this time. Make sure it records audio.) 
j.  When project is finished on the timeline, render the entire project by hitting the Enter key. 
    All footage and sound should be ready to play back. At this point you can Export to DVD or use the VCR/DVD recorder to create your DVD.
9.  If everything looks as it should on the TV and sound is good, export your timeline to Encore - use Burn At Once - (Look under File, Export menus.). The DVD recorders use only DVD-R discs. After burning your disc, try it out on a video DVD player to make sure it burned properly.
    Projects should be 1:30 to 2:00 in length. (min:sec)
10.  Label your DVD with your name and the project title with a marker, not a pen. You should put it in a case to protect it. Label the case too.
11.  Turn the project in on the due date. Keep your files on the computer until project is turned in. It is possible we may use your project for Newswatch and will need the original files.
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