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These 15 Minutes Will Change The Way You Edit Forever — Transcript

by Dylan Reynolds · 2,551 words · 394 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00This video is brought to you by Motion
0:02VFX. Most video editors are making the
0:05same critical mistakes. It's keeping
0:06their work forgettable. They're
0:08obsessing over the wrong things. They're
0:10focused too much on everything technical
0:13on animations, trending Tik Tok effects,
0:15you name it, while completely missing
0:17what actually makes viewers feel
0:19something. I wish more editors
0:21understood that editing is not some
0:24get-rich entrepreneurial side hustle
0:26that we do only to contribute to the
0:28ADHD brain rotting tick tockification
0:31type of content. Video editing is
0:33fundamentally an art form, an extremely
0:37powerful one. Yes, of course you can
0:39make a good living from doing it. But
0:41what is far more powerful is the fact
0:43that you possess the ability, the power
0:45to be able to take a creative,
0:48imaginative thought or idea and you have
0:50the ability to bring that idea to life.
0:52You can contribute real stories, real
0:55inspiration with this skill you have,
0:57with this art form of editing. But if
0:59you want to learn how to tap into this
1:02superpower that you have and learn how
1:04to harness it, then this video will
1:07change the way you edit forever.
1:09>> You got to start the story straight
1:10away. It's always about the story and
1:12it's always about the emotion. The
1:14story,
1:15>> the peak emotion of the scene.
1:17Storytelling technique. Storytelling.
1:19>> Tell us a story. Next is storytelling in
1:22editing.
1:22>> If you've watched my videos before,
1:23you've heard me say it. Great editing
1:25isn't about making things look cool.
1:28It's about understanding how the human
1:30brain processes emotion and using that
1:33knowledge to craft experiences that
1:35viewers quite simply cannot look away
1:37from. In the book, The Art of the Cut,
1:39editor Walter Merch, he talks about
1:41something called the blink theory.
1:43>> One of my favorite subtle things I
1:44noticed in that scene is that they were
1:46not blinking.
1:49>> So, here's what we'll do, Bix. I'll tell
1:50you everything I know to be true, and in
1:52doing so, perhaps convince you to
1:53cooperate without intervention.
1:56failing that
1:58we have.
1:59>> You might have a character blink and you
2:02wouldn't want to include that blink. You
2:04wouldn't want them to like they're meant
2:05to be focused and what was captured in
2:08camera on the day because of what was
2:09ever happening. That person blinked or
2:11just naturally they blinked. But on
2:13camera, you don't want to be on a
2:14close-up of someone like blinking at
2:15that moment. You look at my timeline,
2:17there's loads of of blink removal.
2:19>> So, the idea is that every cut should
2:21feel as natural as a blink. And if the
2:23blink themselves are distracting from
2:25the cut, then cut them out. But a lot of
2:27editors don't pay attention to the fact
2:29that it's not about the technical
2:31smoothness of the cut. It's about
2:33cutting at the moment when the viewer's
2:36brain is ready for new information.
2:39>> It's just since the beginning of the
2:40conversation about finals club, I think
2:42I may have missed a birthday. There are
2:44really more people in China with genius
2:46IQ than the entire
2:47>> Phoenix is the most diverse. the fly
2:49club. Roosevelt punched the
2:50>> Now that we understand these small but
2:52powerful techniques, I want to talk
2:54about something that I love in the world
2:56of editing and in this whole concept of
2:59achieving mastery within the craft. It's
3:01called the emotional architecture
3:03framework. And this comes straight from
3:05the anatomy of storytelling, a fantastic
3:07book. And the philosophy of this
3:09framework says that our edits need three
3:11layers. Layer one is the logical layer.
3:14What information are you actually
3:16conveying? The most important thing an
3:18editor does is to have an imaginary
3:21audience over his or her back driving
3:24your decision. What are they asking now?
3:27What question have they got? Have we
3:29successfully answered that question?
3:31Have we successfully posed the question?
3:34>> Layer two is the emotional layer, right?
3:37What should the viewer actually be
3:39feeling?
3:39>> There's a strong efficiency to seeing
3:41something in vision and seeing somebody
3:43say something conclusively. And then the
3:46little extra weight I always find in
3:48editing some of the weight is before or
3:50after a line. So you kind of you know
3:53you don't want to just cut robotically.
3:56>> And the third layer is the subconscious
3:58layer which is what psychological
4:00triggers are you actually activating.
4:02>> With Denny's films it gives me a chance
4:04to play with something super and it's
4:06very hard to find the word for this but
4:09I would call it brain stemi images. It's
4:13appealing to some part of the brain
4:15that's old and not necessarily verbal.
4:20It's not necessarily front loal. I don't
4:23know what the hell it is, but I can
4:25describe those images. I can give you a
4:27list of them in in the film. And they're
4:30all very sensory, incredibly sensory. It
4:33makes you hyper aware. When you turn the
4:35sound off, you become hyper aware of
4:37people's eyes. And I feel like eyes,
4:40that's a serious part of what we do is
4:43driving the cut by the expression in the
4:45eyes.
4:46>> For example, in 2016's film called
4:49Arrival, we see all of these three
4:51layers being incorporated and in action.
4:53Layer one, uh, what information are you
4:55conveying?
4:56>> Come back to me.
4:58>> Pick them up.
5:01>> Are you the sheriff in this here town?
5:05These are my tickle guns and I'm going
5:07to get you.
5:09>> You want me to chase you? You better
5:12run.
5:25[Music]
5:32I remember moments in the middle.
5:35[Music]
5:38I love you.
5:41I hate you.
5:54And this was the end.
6:04Come back to me,
6:07baby. Come back to me.
6:14Well, this is the reveal scene of this
6:16whole movie. See, the nonlinear flashes
6:19that our protagonist has been
6:20experiencing are actually memories from
6:22the future, not the past. The editing
6:25shifts our entire understanding of the
6:26timeline itself. It conveys a key plot
6:29twist purely through editing and visual
6:32juaposition,
6:33not exposition. Every inner cut moment,
6:36the protagonist in the present, the
6:37protagonist with her daughter in the
6:39future, the heptapods communicating, the
6:41aliens basically the general's call,
6:44everything all deliver critical plot
6:46mechanics and cause and effect logic.
6:49Then the movie hits on the second layer
6:50here, the emotional layer, and it's
6:52really done in the editing here. The
6:54music builds while the protagonist sees
6:56her future daughter's life and
6:58inevitable death. The editing gives
7:00breathing space to emotional beats. her
7:03tearful eyes, the daughter's laugh,
7:05hugging her, all of it is heartbreaking
7:07and beautiful at the same time and the
7:08choice to still go through with it,
7:10knowing the pain ahead, telling us what
7:12we are and should feel. Then the third
7:15layer, which is the subconscious layer,
7:17the nonlinear timeline plays on our
7:19discomfort with time and mortality. The
7:22soft lighting, slow fades, and mother
7:25daughter imagery mimics dreams and
7:27memory, activating subconscious cues of
7:29nostalgia and grief. We don't know why.
7:33The repetition of circular visuals, the
7:35heeptopod language, the womblike
7:37portals, the child's face, all of it
7:38reinforces subconscious themes of life
7:40and death and cycles being being
7:43processed. And by doing this, visceral
7:45emotions triggered before your brain
7:47fully even processes what's happening.
7:49This isn't an accident. This is
7:52psychology. And here's something a lot
7:54of editors, even ones doing this for
7:56years, never ever learn. The human brain
7:59makes a decision about whether to keep
8:01watching the video every 3 to 7 seconds,
8:04not every 30, not every minute, every
8:06few seconds. Now, this means that every
8:08single cut is either keeping someone
8:10watching or it's quite simply losing
8:12them. And the secret isn't faster
8:13retention optimized cuts, it's strategic
8:16cuts that create what psychologists call
8:18the zygarnic effect or cognitive loops.
8:20And I mean, what better example, what
8:22more classic of an example than showing
8:25you Christopher Nolan's Inception.
8:32[Music]
8:45Look who's here.
9:02What are you doing?
9:24See, the protagonist achieves what he's
9:26worked all film to get to see his
9:29family, to be with him. But the thing
9:30is, he still thinks that he might be in
9:32a dream. So, he spins the top that he
9:35has that if it falls, lets him know that
9:36it's reality.
9:38However, the cut happens before the
9:41resolution. We don't know if he's in a
9:43dream or reality, leaving the audience
9:45in a state of mental loop. Like this
9:48moment from Interception, Nolan doesn't
9:50show whether the top falls or not, and
9:52that's a cognitive loop that's being
9:53created. Your brain stays hooked,
9:55desperate for closure. This is the same
9:57principle that most Disney Plus or
9:58Netflix shows use to make their shows so
10:01addictive, which naturally brings us to
10:03the idea of the depth for surface trap
10:05within editing. Most editors get
10:07completely trapped in what I call
10:09surface editing. Basically, making
10:10things look pretty without understanding
10:12why. But viewers don't remember pretty.
10:15They remember how you made them feel. In
10:17fact, try to remember your favorite
10:19movie or YouTube video that you've ever
10:21watched. If you have something in mind,
10:22ask yourself, why is that your favorite?
10:25And nine out of 10 times, it's likely
10:27your favorite thing because of the way
10:28it made you feel. Now, I know I keep
10:31harping on not focusing on fancy
10:33effects, but I do want to say something
10:34here because I get asked a lot about it.
10:36I'm not totally against using tools and
10:39plugins to help you edit as long as you
10:41use them with intention and purpose.
10:44This is exactly why I wanted to partner
10:46with Motion VX to sponsor today's video.
10:48Because when I'm editing, I like to see
10:50each scene as depth. There are layers to
10:52that depth. The more depth we can
10:54create, the deeper we can bring a viewer
10:56into the edit. So, the way that I like
10:58to use plugins and presets is to evoke
11:00or create more of that depth through
11:03visuals. For example, imagine I'm
11:04working on a documentary about Ben
11:06Stiller, I don't know, since I just
11:07watched The Secret Life of Walter Midi,
11:09which great film by the way. And let's
11:10say that I want to use a newspaper
11:12article uh about something related to
11:14Ben Stiller, right? I can throw it in
11:16the timeline and I can have it on screen
11:18like most editors would, and that's
11:20fine, I guess. or I can bring much more
11:23depth into this with some powerful and
11:25polished plugins from Motion VFX. My two
11:28favorites from Motion VFX is M
11:30Storytelling and M Documentary. I can
11:32quite literally take this newspaper
11:34article and now drag and drop with one
11:36click and have amazing effects adding so
11:40much visual depth to this shot. I now
11:42have this visual that is significantly
11:43more interesting to look at, that now
11:46guides the viewer's eyes to what I want
11:47them to see and more stylistically
11:50appealing. Or alternatively, I can use
11:51another favorite plug-in of mine by
11:53Motion V effects called M Newspaper and
11:54just drag and drop this in and edit a
11:56few parameters and now I have an awesome
11:58animation that would otherwise take you
11:59hours to do. Here's where tools like
12:01Motion VX become so powerful. And it's
12:04not because they make your edits just
12:06look fancy, but because they give you
12:07building blocks to implement these
12:09psychological principles faster. So
12:11instead of spending hours creating
12:12animations or visuals from scratch, you
12:15can focus your creative energy on the
12:17storytelling and on the emotional
12:18architecture that we just talked about.
12:20Right now, Motion VX has reached out
12:22with an incredible deal for everyone
12:24watching that is only available until
12:25August 21st. So if you buy either Cine
12:28Studio or Design Studio, you get the
12:31other one completely for free for up to
12:332 months. So whether you start with a
12:35monthly or yearly subscription to just
12:37one of those plans, you automatically
12:40will get full access to the other
12:41highest plan completely for free. This
12:44means that you can access the entire
12:45library of professional design templates
12:48and plugins and effects and focus on
12:50what actually matters, which is crafting
12:52stories that connect with your audience
12:54on a psychological level. You're not
12:56stuck here trying to figure out what
12:58animations or effects to use for hours
12:59and hours. So, thank you so much Motion
13:02VFX for sponsoring another video on this
13:04channel. For anyone who cares, I started
13:06this channel over 8 years ago now,
13:08making horrible content when I started,
13:10not really even knowing what direction I
13:11wanted to go in. And my first ever
13:13plugin when I started editing in the
13:15first place, was actually a Motion V
13:16effect plugin. And I used to literally
13:18sit at my old desk setup and on my
13:22horrible laptop in my tiny apartment.
13:25Broke as a joke. And I kid you not, I
13:27always thought it would be so amazing to
13:28be able to work with, one of the
13:30companies I looked up to uh one day. And
13:33of course, Motion VFX was, I kid you
13:35not, it was on top of that list. So,
13:37this genuinely is a really cool moment
13:38for me. And also, thank you so much to
13:40everyone who watches my videos. It's
13:42because of you that I'm able to work
13:44with dream brands like Motion VFX. So,
13:46again, thank you Motion VFX and thank
13:48you everyone watching this. And look,
13:51anyone can learn the technical side of
13:53editing fairly quickly, but
13:55understanding the psychology behind why
13:57certain cuts work and why certain
13:58rhythms feel right, why certain moments
14:00hit emotionally, that's what separates
14:03the editors who get hired from the ones
14:05who don't, who make an impact versus the
14:08ones who don't. And I know this is
14:09easier said than done, which is why I
14:11spent a few days gathering all of my
14:13documents, tools, frameworks,
14:15transcripts, you name it. Training a
14:17custom AI GPT in everything video
14:19editing when it comes to storytelling
14:22and the psychology of editing. And I
14:23wanted to make it completely free. So
14:25you guys can have instant access to this
14:27completely free customtrained AI GPT in
14:31the world of editing when it comes to
14:32psychology and storytelling by just
14:34clicking one of the links in the
14:35description below. So definitely check
14:37that out if you want almost like an
14:39editing assistant with you at all times.
14:41And with that, remember to stop chasing
14:44the latest trending effects. Stop trying
14:46to make everything look perfect. Start
14:49understanding how human beings process
14:51emotion and information, and your edits
14:53will become impossible to ignore. I I
14:55can guarantee you that. And if you don't
14:57believe me, well, you've watched the
15:00video this far. So, I hope that this
15:01video provided you with some value that
15:03can really help you on your journey as
15:04an editor. And if you want to check out
15:06that motion VFX deal or my free custom
15:08train AIGT and video editing, then the
15:11link to both of them is in the
15:12description. Just remember one last
15:13thing, the tools are just tools. The
15:15real magic happens when you find the
15:17story and understand the psychology
15:20behind the edit.

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