Video Editing
The beginnings
I didn’t know why but from childhood I really enjoyed edit videos.Of course most of them were for fun,capturing funny moments with my friends,doing projects for school and not with some video editing program.Good old fashioned Windows Movie maker.We are talking about 00′ and that thing was the only “video editing” tool I had.
The real deal was in my 12’s I was into WWE and colleting whestler figures and one of my friends (the times where the internet was the new thing) saw on youtube a stop-motion WWE figure fight video.I was so amazed that the same day I started to craft the idea of my own stop-motion video.The basic concept of stop-motion animation to be more accurate is a series of pictures that capture a movement.Stacking 225 pictures I took with my laptop’s front camera with the duration of 1 seconds in movie maker was the pain in the ass for me to make a 1:03 seconds video.It sounds really boring and yes it took me a whole afternoon to “film” it but when I saw the final result I was blown away at that time.And soon enough I had competition with my friend that showed me that video.
Well the “wrestling phase” did last until high school where my “metalhead phase” started.I got a guitar and obviously I tried to learn my favourite songs.Spending whole days looking at guitar tablatures and practising until my fingers go red.Well I was watching a lot of cover videos so when my mother got a tablet (that was so weird back then) and I had a ” portable camera” of course I thought of doing covers myself.Back then youtube was really no rules no copyrights so I was really enjoying making covers.
The Youtube Career
In 2014 right at the times where “youtubers” were a thing and “gaming videos” were really getting mainstream I had two other friends that are really thinking this “youtube” thing.With my video editing “exprerience” and their “expreritse” at videogames me(PS4),John(PC) and other Jim(PS4) made a youtube channel called “Παιχνιδόδουλοι”/”Gameslaves”.If you haven’t figure it out with my frequent use of ” ” then the truth is that the youtube channel idea was a funny bet that turned out a serious hobby actually.This channel made me really learn and admire the art of video editing.In our starting days thanks to the playstation 4 for recording the gameplay on its own,I was doing a very standard edit.Using Sony Vegas as video editing program I put the facecam of top cut this part,place a funny pic there.Most of the gameplays when like that.We didn’t have a huge fanbase or blew up because of a video.Mostly our views were two digits.But we had consistency because our enthousiasm was still on fire.
As we progressed we improved as entertainers and as creators likewise.We continued the gameplays,we started making unboxing videos as they became a really trendy but the most fun we had was in the livestream side.It was unfortunate we couldn’t be the three of us in the streams due to personal reasons so me and other Jim did the streaming part on the channel.Having no editing conserns and just playing a videogame and interacting with the audience was really enjoyable and made us feel that what we do has a meaning to others too.It sounds cliche I know but I cannot deny not feeling that.It is what it is.
Our second year was were the channel started to fall apart.John left the channel for personal reasons(we had a group conflict to be short) and other Jim left to become a marine engineer.So I was left alone with a youtube channel and the dillema was to continue create or not.Well the answer was a little bit of both.I continued the gameplays,statred playthrough and made project based on what I was interested at that time.Timelapse sketches,Reviews on Tv shows,Anime,Videogames,Unboxings all of that.Simultaneously I was studying computer science at a University near my town so my days were really packed.I was getting really fatigued of the repetiveness of the editing especially in the playthroughs and so I focused more on the other projects that gave me more space to greate.Premium figure reviews were the videos that really hooked me that time,I had to write scripts for my spreech to be more fluid and the edit need more creative.
Repetition was really getting into me as time passed.The videos became less frequent and I was getting tired of the youtubing.I focused on my studies and living my life.I did continue all my hobbies and at that time an old friend of mine wanted to become a youtuber.Not to drag to much his enthusiasm remined me of the old days so I made him a member of the channel and we did made some videos together.This didn’t last very long as he wanted to join the military camp and left the channel after a while.So the coin flipped on me once again.
That brings us to present times were I do not consider myself a youtuber anymore and I think I could be called a creator in the internet terms.I do post from time to time videos on the channel.As a creative mind I do have many ideas and the channel now is my video canvas.The fact that we never became a “huge hit” actually was a good thing because I do not have to be conserned about how the viewers wll critic my work.Not that I cared too much but I have to admit it makes a little more careless which in art is really important.I realized that editing was not only how to edit a video but crafting the place to make video editable.And that brings us to the next chapter.
Cinematography
No I didn’t became a cinematographer as the real meaning of the word but a kind of it.When I thought that I will leave youtube for good my brother got into bodybuilding.That was the good thing it didn’t effect my that much the “bad” thing is that after a while of watching bodybuilding videos he was thinking of creating a youtube channel with bodybuilding content.I guess youtube was haunting me again.I thought.In the beginning I did coached him on how to become a content creator and a youtuber.Yes those two are different.To be short he had a great start as a youtuber,formed a community and he was very interactive with his audience.Consistant and with a fine edit on his videos he started to become big.And after a while he became fatigued about youtubing and wanted to do something more creative.See the difference?Youtuber=consistant content,Content creator=creative content.That was where I come in and helped him a lot in his vision to make his passion as a series/documentary with a cinematic feel.Countless amounts of hours on Davinci Resolve and dozens of videos this period of time was so satisfing on the video editing side of me and to end of the day I saw the a glimpse in what being a cinematographer really means.
Like I said before I started to craft the place for me to edit.Placing the camera of a specific angle to transition the clip to the next,having a rythm in your mind on how a scene will flow.Fast movements=fast edit=rock/intense music,slow and steady movement=longer scenes,more simple cuts=slow,calm beats,ambient,no music at all.The training montages were my nightmare and my favourite thing actually.I had to make them entertaining or educational and I ended out with a mix of both.Using fast beat music I cut the clip right where the beat changes and using the fast motion clips I shot it blends really smooth.The exact opposite is with the educational montages.And to keep me out of boredom I tryied to switch them depending on the mood of the whole video/episode.Lucky for me DaVinci Resolve has great tools.Text animated cards,in depth light/color feature,many problem I found on Sony vegas where already fix on Davinci making my edit more enjoyable.
The edit must go on
I love edit and I do not think I will leave it that easily.I still try to work on projects and with the channel always being my black canvas it motivates me to experiment even more.Video editing in the age of internet is really important and as videos become so essential in our lives video editing will be standard.This thing it can be just cut clips and put them together but at the same time you can create something trully creative and inspiring for people to express themselves and that is for me the meaning of video editing.