The Dandelife Blog

One of the problems that I have with video is that unlike a photograph there’s not much economy what you’re recording. In a photograph you’ve broken the event down into a single instant. On a video, you’ve got the beginning, the end and everything in between. It doesn’t leave much up to the imagination. But more than that, it’s just plain boring. Anyone who’s ever shot (or had to sit through) two hours of video at Disneyland knows exactly what I mean.
I’m just that kind of guy. So in order to spice up my videos, I figure out a way to condense 120 minutes of footage into a 3-minute music video. Here’s the condensed version of my technique (with a finished product at the end).

Dedicate 6 full hours

6 hours of work will help you condense an hour’s video into something you can watch over and over again. You will watch two hours of Disneyland footage exactly 0 times. But you will watch a 3-minute music video of your time at Disneyland countless times with countless friends and family. Spending 6 hours on a given weekend day off to make it is worth the effort. So pick a day and stick to it.

Pick a song

This is the first thing you do. Don’t go crazy with the selection. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it has to fit. Pick a song you like and one you will not get sick of. While you’re editing the video you’re going to hear this song over and again maybe 100 times.

Start and end with the song

Put your song on the timeline. That’s the entire length of your video. No more. No less. It’s a music video. This is the most important rule.

Click me to see the timeline in full-size.

Get headphones

For the aforemention reason. The song may not drive you crazy while you’re editing it, but it just might drive your family crazy while you’re editing it. Best that they don’t have to listen too. So put it on the headphones. Any old pair will do. I ain’t picky.

Import short clips

When you’re importing your footage, just import 10-second clips at a time. First what this does is force you to make editing decisions before you put pieces together. But it also gives you a lot of small, interesting clips to work with. Each of them will tell a story no matter how short it is.

Don’t overdo the transitions

When you’re piecing together your clips you’ll want to match your clips with the tempo of the song behind it. So you may have a lot of hard cuts as a results. On other parts, you might want to have a more smoothe transition. Your editing software has a lot of transition options. Almost all of them are complete crap. Avoid them like the plague. The only ones I use - ever - are the fads. Fade in - ok. Fade out - ok. Cross-fade - ok. But never, ever, ever, ever, ever user swipes, swirls, waves, zooms, or center-cuts. This isn’t a power point presentation. This is your life.

Don’t overdo the fonts

Comic sans is strictly forbidden. So is basically anything that you think is a “cool” font. Trust me, anything “cool” is probably just overdoing it. Keep it simple. Arial is good. Helvetica is great. So if you have any title cards you’re in good hands with either one of those.

Don’t overdo the title cards

Let the action tell your story.

Don’t worry about your imported video’s audio track

First of all, your video camera’s sound input is not stellar. Your home theatre is adept at point out its inadequacies. So let your song do the talking. That’s not to say that you can’t let the audio in at all. It’s a music video here, not a 3-minute drama.

Take photos

Spice up your video with photos from the same event. They can be your photos or someone else’s. I like to put in a nice photo sequence in the middle of the movie. It makes the video a little more visually interesting at the same time as giving you a different quality of image that can only come from a still camera.

Don’t leave it unfinished

You’re going to burn this video on a DVD and that’s what you’ll watch forever. Whatever you do, please make sure it’s perfect in your mind. Why? No matter what your intentions, this process is exhausting and you will never come back to this video to edit it more perfectly than what you are able to accomplish today. What’s more, if you ever do come back to the video, you’ll have forgotten every little mental note you were making along the way. Getting ramped up again will be tough.

What about shooting the video?

There are definitely better ways to shoot in certain conditions. But since you’re going to spend a while editing your family vacation down to a 3-minute music video, none of that matters. All of your clips together make for a pretty interesting experience. Condensing time into this quick video is the only special effect you’ll need.

Proof is in the pudding
Here’s a 3-minute video I edited with videos I shot on my phone. It’s a road trip Steph and I took up in the mountains east of San Diego.

Here’s a video I shot of a twenty-second building demolition. I stretched it a few minutes.

Enjoy!