We have all faced it. We all know what it’s like. You sit down and open your favorite editing program. Two hours later, you still haven’t done a thing.
One of the biggest problems with a video, when you haven’t got a clear mission worked out, is starting. At least that’s what I have experienced. There are many little things that trigger editors block. Let’s take a look at them. They are not necessarily in the order I present them; it all depends on the way you work.
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1. Fandom, pairing and idea.
What fandom will I choose this time? Will it be a romance video, an overview, or something else? Will it have a story? What emotion do I want to give it?
Sometimes, you might have a perfectly clear look on what fandom and pairing you want to use, but you just can’t get a hang of what you want the video to be about. I suppose something that people often do, is jump over the idea part, and get to the song choise right away: that way they can just follow the story of the song, and they don’t have to look for a specific kind of song.
I do that too sometimes. But most of the time I want to have at least the emotion figured out.
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2. Music choise.
This is where I get stuck most of the time. I can spend hours just dragging different mp3 files down to the timeline, listen for about ten seconds, and then remove it. Then I go search the internet for some time, search for fanvideos with nice bands, or just look up a band I already have in mind. I might get more than one song back with me, but usually none of them was what I was looking for at the moment.
Choosing the wrong song or music for your video can in my opinion truly kill it. No matter how good the colouring, pacing and storyline is, if you have a sad, heart tearing idea, it won’t work with the song “You touched my Tra-La-La” in the backround. Well, if you aren’t a genious, it won’t.
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3. Colouring & other effects.
Some of us have a permanent choice of effects, that we use with many videos, but many like to vary the look of our videos. Sometimes choosing the right effects can cause heavy headaches, when nothing seems to fit.
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Solutions.
- Give yourself time to think. Look at all your options, if you already have the idea, but lack the fandom or character. Go with your feelings. If you have made a “vision”, don’t let go of that, but don’t be afraid to change things the way you go. Use your emotions as inspiration, and try to make a video from the heart.
- Don’t give up. There are bad days music-wise, but they are part of the creative process. Try to look at instrumental pieces as well, those can get you a long way. Be open for all kinds of music, I don’t really recommend sticking to one genre only.
- Go with the emotion of the video. Don’t be afraid to try out entirely new things, effects that you never thought could work before. Look at other videos, and find inspiration. If you can’t manage to get over this, nevermind the effects right now. Continue with the video, and come back to effects later, when you have a clearer image of the outcome.
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- Screw a.k.a. MarikaKM.
