S | 8 | Edit Polish Project

You already made this edit once. Today you make it better, on purpose, using the judgment, pacing, and technical skills this unit built.

Project Briefing (~10 min)

This isn’t a redo from scratch. Open your original Television Scene Edit or Video Essay project and identify specifically what needs polish: pacing that drags, a shot that could use a transform or speed effect, a project panel that was never organized.

Project Work Time (~23 min)

  1. Re-cut for pacing: identify at least one stretch of the sequence that drags or rushes, and fix it using 8.2’s shot-length/rhythm principles.
  2. Apply one transform or speed effect purposefully (reframe, rotation, time remapping, or freeze frame), from 8.3.
  3. Organize and archive the project using 8.4’s bins/labeling/naming convention, then export an archive with Project Manager.
  4. Plus/Delta peer review, comparing the original cut to today’s polished version:

1. Prepare

  • The Draft: Ensure your work is exported or ready to view. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Placeholders for missing pieces are okay!
  • The Plus/Delta Chart: Create a simple T-chart on a piece of paper or a digital document:
  • Plus (+): What is working well? (Strengths, clear storytelling, strong technique).
  • Delta (Δ): What should be changed or improved? (The Greek symbol for “change”).

2. The Review Process

  • Silent First Pass: Experience the work all the way through once without speaking. This allows the reviewer to experience the “flow” of the piece.
  • Second Pass: Go through it again, but this time, the reviewer should jot down specific notes in the Plus and Delta columns.
  • The Golden Rule: Feedback should be Specific, Objective, and Kind.
  • Bad: “I didn’t like the ending.”
  • Good: “The ending felt abrupt because the music cut off before the reporter finished speaking.”

3. Giving Feedback (The Reviewer)

  • Identify the “Pluses”: Start with what is successful.
  • Suggest the “Deltas”: Instead of just pointing out a mistake, offer a solution.
  • Example: “The transition at 0:45 is a bit slow; maybe try a simple cut instead of a dissolve.”

4. Receiving Feedback (The Creator)

  • Listen Without Defending: It’s tempting to explain why you made a choice, but for now, just listen and take notes. If a peer is confused, a general audience likely will be too.
  • Ask Clarifying Questions: If a note is vague, ask for the exact timestamp or location: “Can you show me exactly where the audio got too loud?”

5. The Revision Plan

After the session, look at your Delta column and prioritize your edits:

  1. Level 1 (Critical): Technical errors (missing audio, black frames, typos).
  2. Level 2 (Message): Pacing issues or confusing sequences.

  3. Level 3 (Polishing): Color tweaks, fancy transitions, or extra effects.

  4. Apply your Revision Plan, prioritizing the changes that most improve pacing or clarity.

What did re-cutting this project reveal about the original edit that wasn’t obvious the first time you made it?

GMetrix/BrainBuffet (~30 min)

Continue this term’s Premiere Pro GMetrix module.

Deliver, Export & Submit (~5 min)

Deliver

  1. Finalize your timeline.
    • Delete out any spaces in your timeline.
    • Mark Ins and Outs (Best Practice)

Export Finished Project

  1. Go to File>Export>Media>
  2. Specify your export settings
    • File Name: YYYY-MM Project Name-Lastname
    • Location: Google Drive/My Drive/Digital Design/YYYY-MM Project Name/Exports
    • Preset: Match Source (or use a High Quality Preset to reduce file size)
    • Format: H.264 (The most compatible format)
  3. Choose H.264 from the Format menu. This will create an mp4 file on export.
  4. Click Export. The export script will run until finished.

Strike

Film sets “strike” (tear down) the set when shooting wraps. Editors do the same with their drives. Once your final export is delivered and your portfolio page is published:

  1. Delete the raw footage from the project folder on your computer. Your final export and project file are all you keep.
  2. Empty the Trash. Deleted footage still takes up space until you do.
  3. Confirm your final export plays from Google Drive before you leave class.

Write a short reflection: what changed between the original cut and today’s, and what that revealed about the editor’s role beyond just assembling footage.

Publish your work to your Google Sites Portfolio

  1. Create a new page on your Google Sites Portfolio to catalog your work.
    • Your work should be exported in a web-safe format in a manner that allows for the work to be embedded without requiring Google Drive permissions
  2. Your work should be accompanied by a detailed project description
  3. Submit the published portfolio page to your LMS (Schoology)

🗂 Organize: Save your re-cut, exported project in the Exports folder of your Digital Design project folder on Google Drive. Save your archived Project Manager folder in the Project Files folder of your Digital Design project folder on Google Drive. Save your written reflection in the Documents folder of your Digital Design project folder on Google Drive.

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