GoPro: Turning Long Clips into Quick Edits
The best thing about the GoPro action cameras is that people, with no filming experience, can go out and buy one of these amazing little toys and get straight to action with it. This semi-indestructible little gizmo is extremely versatile and the perfect size to travel with.
The problem, however, is that people tend to film more than they can handle. They don’t know this until they try do the editing.
Sadly, many GoPros end up in a draw collecting dust as people loose their enthusiasm to capture cool content. I want to give you hope and I’m going to get straight to the point.
There are a few things you need to consider before mastering the GoPro as a tool for all occasions. These things include preparing your story, drawing up a basic shot-list (yes even if you only filming your holiday trip for fun) & knowing when you have got the shot so as not to film too much.
“people tend to film more than they can handle”
The nature of these action cams leads us to attach them to our heads, chest, bikes, kites, cars, surf boards, skateboards, pets and a billion other things and leave it rolling for at least 3-5 minutes at at time.
How often have you seen people upload a single 5 minute clip with an amazing moment here and there but everything in between is garbage.
My answer: ALL THE TIME. So what should we do with these long clips? Simple, you keep the good moments, you cut out the rest.
This is what it looks like broken down into pieces
Surf Clip 01 - Full
Here is a 1 minute video from a recent surf trip. Spoiler Alert: Its absolutly terrible.
Surf Clip 01- Cut Down
Now here is the same clip cut down to 15sec. I only kept what I felt were the most usable bits.
Putting it all together
Even just as a straight cut with no music the shorter version is much more engaging.
The trick is to try limit your filming to the minimum amount of time. We suggest you try keep your clips under a minute each.
Try to vary the shots by changing angle as often as possible. Then the second part is to reduce what you captured to only the best usable moments.
These moments should only be about a second each! I know crazy right?
If you want to make epic little 1 min montage videos for Youtube & Instagram you need to get about 20 to 30 clips per activity. We can teach you how to prepare for and optimise your filming with easy-to-follow techniques in out Vacation video Course.
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