1.  Project One   (35 min.)

    The clips are on the Timeline.  Now we'll get out that razor tool, and go to work on this first project:  a minute from the opening montage of the movie -- a travel sequence.  

      We'll use some of the transitions (dissolves), filters (brightness, color balance), add a little music to our soundtrack, then compile all those bits and pieces into the final edit.  It won't take long to get the hang of stringing your clips together, but there's more...

                

2.  Project Two   (27 Min.) 

     Superimposing Graphics, Titles, Effects.  We can do all this, too, as you'll learn in this second project:  A 30-second "opening" for a fictional cable show, "Del's Spice Of Life".  A little corny, but amusing.

      You can make text or images spin around in circles, do somersaults, or glide across the screen with the greatest of ease.  Any direction.  Any shape or color.

      Resize clips, then move them around inside other clips or backgrounds.  Layer as many graphics, titles, and video-tracks as your little heart desires, or your throbbing head can handle.

                  

3.  Project Three   (28 min.)

     Telephone conversations would seem to be an easy-edit.  But they can get a little tricky.  We'll dissect one in this project, work on that "phone-line" effect, and other elements that relate to Sound.

     How do you get music from that CD into a .wav file on your hard drive?  Then, how do you import it into your project, onto an audio track, and mix it into your scene with the right volume and effects?

     Premiere can handle your needs in this department.  However, if you want even more control and options with your soundtrack, a Digital-Audio-Editing program like "SOUND FORGE" can get you there.  We'll spend a few minutes checking out the capabilities of that program, then run our soundtrack through the mill.

           

4.  Premiere 6   (18 min.)

    My favorite part of Adobe's upgrade is the way in which you apply "effects" to your clips, then adjust the settings.  They're now grouped in categories of similar effects (much easier to visualize), and you save a couple steps going back and forth to those "settings controls".

    There's a new window called the Audio Mixer, which resembles a typical console in a recording studio.  And they've added some Plug-Ins which allow you to export your clips to a Web-optimized format.  DV In, Web Out.  You can do it all now in just one program.

    There are other features to help organize your clips, and save steps here and there.  We'll cover most of it in this section.

 

5.  Transparency & Compositing   (12 min.)

    Blue Screen?  Yeah, you can do all that and more with Premiere.  Image mattes.  Track mattes (also called traveling mattes).  We'll put together a few examples, and you'll quickly see the limitless possibilities that await you in The Editing Zone... or the Loony Bin.

 

6.  Premiere 6.5   (50 min.)

      We spend lots of time with Premiere's latest upgrade, using sample projects to fully illustrate the new "Title Designer", a very sophisticated tool for creating text, graphics, titles, rolling credits.

     "Real-Time Previews" are a big addition.  We used to sit-and-wait while the computer rendered our basic transitions and effects.  Now it's immediate.  Instant gratification.  Yippee!  Even complex effects are processed on the fly.  Ya gotta hand it to 'em.

     Two other programs come with the package:  "SmartSound" offers a variety of royalty-free music to spice-up your soundtrack.  And "DVDit!" allows you to quickly author your wondrous creations to CD's and DVD's.

 

7.  Film-Look   (8 min.)

      Film.  Video.  What's the difference?  Video looks too "real", a mirror of reality.  Film goes through a chemical process when it's developed, has more of a "surreal" effect.  

      There's a grain to the image, the colors are enriched (or at least, "slightly skewed"), and the "pictures" pass before your eyes at 24 frames per second instead of 30.

      In some cases, these differences are very noticeable. In others, very subtle, hard to pinpoint, difficult to describe.  Discussions of the topic tend to get a little... esoteric, with the adjectives leaning toward the vague and subjective.

      But most would agree that the "film-look" will add some "production values" to your program, "improve" the performance of your actors, and enhance the quality of your final product.

      Some of these film effects can be achieved, to a degree, with the "Adobe Premiere" software.  Another company, "DigiEffects" has a program called "Cinelook" which can reproduce a wide array of film-looks -- 8, 16, and 35 mm., various film-stocks, old movies with "film-damage".

      Cinelook is what they call a "plug-in".  Which means it has to run inside another program.  Unfortunately, it's not Premiere, but Adobe's "After Effects".  Oh boy, back to the shopping cart.

      We'll take a tour through Cinelook, and check out my "before-and-after's" from the movie.

 

8.  Directing   (12 min.)

      For those interested in taking a ride in this arena, a few thoughts on directing your epic.  We'll categorize the shots, talk about the angles, continuity.  Planning and logistics on no-budget.  And, most importantly, how to cheat your way around all of these "little challenges".