Getting hands on with my editing software of choice

 Though all of these days I been dreading for this week to come to, I have little to no experience when it comes to editing. I may have used iMovie in the past before, since it is free and it fairly simple to use. However, while looking at the different tools and information that it has, I do not think that it will be fit with the type of cuts and overall tone that I want to express with my film, very limited options. Also, I did not want to edit within my phone, while it may be easier since that way I would not have to export any videos to an external device and corrupt them in any way, I think that it will be at the end time consuming. I am aware that if I chose the app that it is in my phone, iMovie, I could be able to edit in any place and at any time, but I will still want to have multiple different effects and tools to achieve what I want to show and tell in the film, and in any case, I usually work better in a fixed time schedule than if I have open accessibility to what I have to do. For those reasons, I chose to use the editing software called "Hit Film Express".

This app for the computer has much more accessibility to files, while still being free to use, advanced options for after effects and complete autonomy with audio and image preference. The layout itself may look more intimidating to those who are just beginners in video editing, which I am as well, but I have used and learned how to go through layouts that, while not specifically for video editing, have a more complicated appearance, Photoshop, and learned how to manage to go through the tools. It is not as similar and looks much more complicated, I think it will able to make the most out of the new platform, like I said before also, I have experience with iMovie, while with a completely different interface. There is a major drawback with this editing choice, while I do not plan to choose another one, I will have to use my time very carefully to finish my project by the date that I have planned for. I have a personal laptop, which the school assigned to me, where I do most of my assignments and I am able to take with me while going to school, having the accessibility to complete assignments in class when the teacher gives us the time. I do not have a personal laptop that I own, which is the main reason why I got a school one, but it does not allow me to install third party apps without the permission of an administrator. Thankfully, my Dad acquired a home desktop while we were moving houses, one that he uses for his work, where I was able to install the app to it, but that means that I am only able to edit when I get home, which is usually at the later half of the afternoon and I still have to complete house chores, get myself ready for the next day and other things that have to do with my personal life, leaving me little to no time for my other assignments overall. 

Realizing the low mount of time that I have in reality, even less than I though at first, I need to be proficient with the editing and have a plan in mind to what parts I'm doing each day. To that, I need to know first how to use it, but I do not have a lot of time to learn all of the little nuances and experiment. This video was very helpful to decide what to do directly with the different tools. I know that I will examining to effects and the separation of audio from video, which I need for the match cuts and transition cuts to between scenes. It was also important to know how you can alternate the frame rate, though I want to maintain the ones that come with my phone. I may use the filters in certain scenes, to increase the overall mise en scene and play with the low lighting being equal to Mariposa's getting worse or being "okay".

For that, the plan is to edit the film opening in "chunks", saying that I will edit those shots that belong in a single scene. This will help me better organize my time than stressing over the whole film at once. For that, I plan to get to my home today and organize my opening scene and scene 2, contrasting with the shot list that I did to be able to contrast how many did I do or changed, since I also had notes for the types of cut, as well as with my storyboard. 

Citations:

Bai, director. HitFilm Express - Tutorial for Beginners in 11 MINUTES! Youtube, 21 Sept. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO1m7aZlkM4&t=1s.

Chaito, Hadi. “HitFilm Express For Absolute Beginners.” Surfaced Studio, 5 Oct. 2020, www.surfacedstudio.com/tutorials/hitfilm/hitfilm-express-absolute-beginners/.