Classwork : Multi-cam Editing

This blogpost details the work I did on how to edit with multiple cameras. My group and I filmed the footage from different camera angles but, I edited the clips alone. My teacher provided a template for the blog post.

What is Multicam Editing?
Multicam editing is the process of editing footage of a single scene or subject recorded from different cameras and angles. Showing the same scene or subject from different angles helps make the video more dynamic and visually captivating for your audience.

Shooting
Our subject , a classmate, stood in the centre of the room and did a short performance. My group stood around the subject to record the performance from different angles. You can also see members from other groups because we did this lesson as a class. To make it easier to synchronise our cameras, the teacher clapped at the start of the scene. This allowed us to line up the video in the editing process and ensure that the transitions would be smooth. Without this simple action it would have taken a lot longer to sync the videos.

BEHIND THE SCENES IMAGES  ↓

Here are the different camera angles from me and my group members :

1. My POV

2. Rachelle's POV

3. Jasmine's POV

EDITING PROCESS :

Firstly, we (my team and I) decided to compile all our video clips and upload them to Google Drive to preserve their quality.

I then uploaded the clips into an editing app called CapCut and layered the videos together. To synchronize the clips, I find the 'clap' marker on the audioas a reference point and aligned the video files accordingly. Once everything was lined up, I trimmed the clips where I want the edit to happen. I then lowered the opacity of the clips that I don't want to use to keep them accessible for future adjustments if needed.

After that, I muted all the clips except for the one I intended to use. In this case, I kept the audio from the clip I had recorded.

Lastly, to enhance the overall mood of the video, I chose to use the song 'QXThr' by Aphex Twin as the background music. I adjusted the volume of the original clip to ensure it didn’t overpower the background track. This technique helps to create a balanced and cohesive final edit.

Here is my final edited video :

Reflection : Although for fun, I've edited multiple videos before. As a result, I didn't find this project particularly challenging, aside from feeling rushed during the process due to the slow internet connection. Uploading the videos to the shared Google Drive folder took longer than expected, and downloading the clips added to the delay. One new technique I learned during this process was the 'opacity technique,' which my teacher introduced. Previously, I would simply delete unused clips, but lowering their opacity allowed me to revisit and reuse portions of those clips for the final edit. This method proved extremely helpful and is something I plan to incorporate into the final project. The thing I find most challenging in this project was the time limit. I usually like to curate my work meticulously to ensure it looks as presentable as possible. Hence, the first thing that came to my mind was to make it perfect (e.g., adjusting lighting to match across clips or enhance the video quality after exporting). Unfortunately, I didn't have enough time to make these adjustments since we were required to upload the video during the lesson. Additionally, while the opacity technique was useful, the sheer number of cuts and clips became overwhelming at times. It was difficult to keep track of which clips were fully visible and which had their opacity lowered, as this wasn’t immediately apparent in CapCut unless I clicked on the opacity settings. If we were given more time, I would've explored alternative techniques to simplify this process. Therefore, moving forward, I’ll try to research more efficient editing methods.