I finished the first edit of the music video for 'Betrayal In Your Eyes' in a bit of a rush (before heading on the trip to Poland and Italy) and there were a few things I wasn't happy with at the time. After returning to the UK, I reviewed the footage more thoroughly and realised there was a B-roll gem I had completely overlooked - so, I made a second edit of the video which I think is much more entertaining and dramatic.
Apart from fiddling with a few timings and swapping clips I was unhappy with, I made a few major changes. Firstly, I moved the B-roll footage from the end of the video, to act as an interlude after the first verse. I enjoyed the way the last line of the first verse 'in your mind alarm bells ringing' is immediately followed by me shouting 'Oh shit!' when I walked backwards into the bench and fell over. It seemed a much more appropriate placement for this clip. Equally, Karl's response 'The blind leading the blind' is followed by the chorus, 'Hey you with the solitary stare... B-B-B-Betrayal in your eyes'. It just seems to fit better here - like matching up dominoes with the same number of spots.
I swapped some of the clips in the bridge around, as I felt the particularly ethereal "ooh-la-la" lines should be accompanied by the more "abstract" clips of the blue plastic strips blowing in the wind. Whereas the lip sync now comes in at the next line, 'Don't you worry now it's gonna be okay' which felt like a more important moment to forge a connection between me and the viewer - like I am speaking to them directly and trying to comfort them. Again it just seems to make more sense.
Finally, I found an amazing clip of B-roll in which my group were chatting to Alex Schady on our way out to the terrace (I had started my camera filming before I put the antlers on, because it was very difficult to get the phone into the holder whilst I was wearing them / connected to the others. The chat went like this;
Alex: ‘You look like you were meant to be together this group - it’s brilliant!’
Me: ‘I feel like a bride…’
Alex: ‘You look like a bride! That’s very lovely!’
Alex (to Roz and Karl): 'Yes you’re definitely at the service of the bride.'
Roz: ‘She’s very demanding! Bridezilla!’
Alex: ‘Yeh Bridezilla!’
I would say my biggest fault in editing videos is not reviewing all the footage properly. I rather arrogantly assume that I can remember what I have filmed and know the “best bits” to use in the final edit – when, of course, I can’t. I guess it’s a time saving measure, as watching back footage does take a lot of time which feels somewhat idle – and to be fair, I was editing this in a hurry before a long trip away. But it’s made me realise (especially as I have to edit several documentaries in the coming weeks) that I need to take the time to review the footage properly or I will miss gems like this.
The video is unpublished on YouTube as I have yet to assertain whether everyone is comfortable appearing on my social media given the number of trolls present.
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