ATTENTION: OFFICIAL COURSE MATERIALS HAVE MOVED TO CANVAS!
ONLY TECHNICAL GUIDES WILL BE UPDATED FOR 2018-2019

What's a montage?

For our purposes, a montage is just a bunch of clips edited to a music track. Think about hype videos, or travelogues, or highlight reels. In narrative filmmaking, montages are often used to condense time or information. (Think the training montages in Rocky.) We'll watch a bunch during class to help you get a clear idea of the range of possibilities. 

The project explained

As the video at the side explains, there are basically three components to this project: 
  1. Lots and lots of video clips
  2. Music--preferably something with a beat
  3. Precision editing
Here are four student examples that you can check out. All of these examples were made from phone video, with the exception of the NYC Montage, which was shot on a GoPro during a NYC trip.

planning: collecting and organizing assets

The most important pre-production question for this test is "What kind of montage do you want to make?" You could organize around a theme or keep it random. You could make the tone upbeat or more contemplative--or even sad. 
You have a few rules:
  1. Use original footage: Shoot new video--either with the AC-90 or another camera you'd like to use. You can also use old videos stored on your phone or hard drive.  If you choose to go this route, all your video needs to be saved to your computer by the first edit day (date TBA, but likely by the first week of February). No vertical video, please. 
  2. Use Creative Commons or otherwise licensed music: If you want to share your work with the world (and why wouldn't you want to share it?), use sites such as the Free Music Archive or Incompetech to find free music that's licensed for use in this sort of video production (non-commercial, educational). If you have questions about music licensing, this guide has some useful information. 
  3. Use copyright-protected music: If you have a favorite song you want to use as a music bed, that's fine. But you should know, if that song is protected by copyright, and if you share your work with the world, you'll likely run afoul of copyright enforcement of some sort--a takedown notice, a cease-and-desist order, or sudden arrest by a copyright SWAT team. Just about every song you know is protected by copyright.
Some details about the final product:
  • required duration: between 1:30-3:00
  • include at least 40 clips
  • must include music and natural sound 
  • edits must be synchronized with the music
  • at least one multi-frame series
  • include video effects on at least 5 clips
  • keyframe video effects on at least 2 clips
  • animate motion parameters on at least one clip
  • animate opacity parameters on at least one clip
  • retime at least one clip (fast- or slo-mo)
  • add an animated title or graphic
  • all shots color corrected and/or white balanced
  • all audio mixed to peak at -6 dB
  • all edits clean (no black flash frames)

You need lots and lots of video shots

This test demands LOTS of video. You'll need maybe 60 or more original and usable clips. 
  • Shoot new video on your phone (no vertical video please)
  • Use your sister's GoPro (after asking permission, obvs)
  • Clean out your phone's camera roll or computer hard drive
  • Collaborate with a friend (or friends) to share footage
Let me emphasize one point again for good measure: LOTS OF VIDEO. This is much more fun if you have choices to make. The easiest way to create choices for yourself is to have lots and lots and lots of video to work with.

Technical Objectives

This one is all about getting comfy using Premiere Pro, so expect to spend a bit more time in the edit than you did for your sequence project. Over the course of this project, you'll learn and practice the following:
  • Improving your editing precision
  • Managing a large media collection 
  • Using the Project Pane for media organization
  • Working with multi-format/resolution media
  • Using the Premiere Pro trim tools
  • Working with multiple tracks of audio (music & nat sound)
  • Editing music for duration and effect
  • Editing with video adjustments, effects, and transitions
  • Applying and adjusting basic keyframes
  • Using Adobe Media Encoder to export your video
Nontechnical stuff: understanding music, copyright, fair use, and putting your video on the internet. Eliciting emotion through image and sound. 

Technical guides

I'll be adding technical guides as needed, so be sure to check back to find what you need. 
Basic Keyframes
In this video, I'm going over how to keyframe MOTION PARAMETERS, OPACITY PARAMETERS, and EFFECT PARAMETERS. This is a very basic overview of this technique. 

​​If you're trying to access this video at school, you'll need to load www.poker.com (a blocked site), and enter your personal login credentials into the bypass.

​How to Export
​​
The video to the right will walk you though how to export in Premiere Pro. It's not the Montage project (it's a different project--something from last year), but the process is exactly the same. If you just want to see the EXPORT SETTINGS, check the image below, which is the Export Settings dialog from Premiere Pro.
"Output Name" will prompt you to name and choose the save location for your project. Pay attention to where you save!