Post Production Editing Tips & Tricks
You have the footage, but now you feel like it was all wrong. What do you do? Before you lose all hope and consider the project a dud, consider these post production editing tips & tricks that you can use to salvage the shot. This is not to say that post production editing is a replacement for poor footage, but if you have a few scenes that simply didn’t come out as expected, post production editing could help.
Correct Lighting Changes
White balance often arises in productions where there is a lot of lighting changes during the shoot. This is especially true when the shoot takes place outside on a cloudy day. However, in post production you can take steps to edit the light changes and work with white balance to clean the shot up. Check out our tips on how to light your scene.
Footage Too Bright
Over-exposure or a lack of exposure can leave footage in a messy situation. However, there are several ways that post production editing can be used to correct overexposure or underexposure. Not all exposure issues can be corrected in post production, but if a few tiny issues occurred in the footage, you may be able to fix it up without reshooting.
Skip Mistakes with Jump Cuts
If you have a few mistakes in footage, jump cuts can be used to skip over the mistake without losing the entire scene. Not all footage will benefit from jump cuts but in the event that you can use this to your advantage in post production editing, doing so will save time and money while adding a stylized and interesting effect to your film.
Correct Background Noise
Have you just realized that your footage includes random background noise through various scenes? If you’re struggling with background noise in your scene you can edit much of it in post production without reshooting the scene. Post production noise reduction can be used to eliminate minimal background noises that otherwise interrupt clear audio. The footage is not necessarily lost. If audio isn’t your specialty, consider hiring an Audio Editor.
Overlay Shots
Footage that isn’t perfect can often benefit greatly from the resources available in post production editing. Digital video post production editing to include overlays can improve the cinematography in several ways, adding light, dust elements, and other features.
Character Touch Ups
Finally, editing in post production allows for character touch ups to refine skin tone and facial features. Various tools are available to post production editors to fix unwanted blemishes on character faces and to balance out the skin tone. So if you thought a shot was ruined by a blemish or tiny issue, think again!