Movie editing

      Movies and short films are becoming more and more popular with places like You Tube and Google videos. Home films are becoming hobbies. Editing movies is probably one of my favorite hobbies - aside from scuba diving.

Do you want to learn how to make awesome action-packed, suspenseful, or dramatic movies? Then, 

Read this!

The first thing to do is find a good editing program. Most people use Windows Movie Maker, or I movie. These are good free editing programs to make your home movies. Personally, I use "Cyberlink Power Director", because, hence the "power" in "Power Director" it is a powerful editor with (mostly) good transitions and effects, and the ability to make your own FX if you're savvy with other editing programs. (Like "Adobe Photoshop.) So basically, find an editor you like!

The second thing to do is film your movie, or get clips or photos off of somewhere. 

Tips: 

1: Do not use jerky filming in your movie!!! I can not emphasize this enough. Put the camera on a tripod, desk, or anything stable. The only time to jerk the camera is when a fight scene goes on, something or someone gets hit, something flies by the camera, or in a fast action scene. 

2: Fast-paced scenes: change the camera angle A LOT. At least every 1-8 seconds. Use special transitions on some scenes. Make sure you use fast music with this, too! ^_^ 

3: Slow scenes: These obviously need slow music. Change the camera angle every 5-15 seconds. A very slow zoom, or pan, with the camera will work well here. 

4: Choosing music: Music without lyrics is good if you don't want the audience to be distracted from the video. Music with lyrics is really good if it somehow resembles the video, or if it's simply a really cool song. 

5: The editing phase: You could be using tons of different software, so I won't go here with you. That's what the help section and You Tube is for. The best three tips I can give you with this are:

1: Don't use cheesy effects, and: 

2: Try everything. Look at professional movies and get your ideas (both for your scripts & editing) from them.

3: Be unique! Don't do everything everyone else on the planet is doing. The best movies (example: the first Pirates of the Caribbean, or Star Wars) is unique. Nothing like what they did was around when these movies came to the theater. They were new, and they were extremely successful, popular, and cool! 

*Stop motion tip* 

     If you are filming a stop-motion video, put the camera on a tripod, don't move it, and don't move the background & set you're filming on! 

GOOD LUCK!