What you will study
This short course focuses on practical skills acquisition, specifically skills in video editing. Using Adobe Premiere Pro, and a set of video templates, you'll progress through a range of situations that require editing while considering the impact of these editing choices on storytelling.
The learning is divided into six weeks of content focused on the following areas:
Week 1: What is video editing?
You'll learn about the practice of video editing and what this means as a profession, the role of specialist editing software and where video editing sits within a larger process of production. The first week acclimatises you to new terminology and the basic tools within Premiere Pro.
Week 2: Cuts and transitions
This week focuses on cuts and transitions, providing helpful tips and techniques for implementing edits in the correct place. You'll see how professional video editors apply cuts and transitions within a practical context, known as ‘using B-roll’, to demonstrate a common and widely used convention within the video editing industry that brings spoken dialogue and stories alive through additional imagery.
Week 3: Video editing styles
In week 3 you'll explore the flow and ordering of video material, all of which is facilitated through cuts. You'll learn about an ordering process, known as ‘sequencing’ and how you can use this technique to create a new story. You'll also learn about conventional editing styles and rules belonging to the world of continuity editing that video editors use as the foundation to create powerful narratives.
Week 4: Audio in video editing
This week is all about how sound can bring video editing intentions and storytelling to life. Sound harnesses immense power to make onscreen action believable and enticing. Sound alone is a mode of communication that can convey meaning and deepen engagement with a subject or scenario, so by combining audio with visual content, a whole new world of imagination and possibilities become available through the act of audiovisual synchronisation.
Week 5: Text and titles in video editing:
Week 5 will show you how to insert text into your video creations and will guide you through the various text uses common to video editing. You'll learn about specific functions, from introducing visual content before we get to see it, to labelling purposes or providing extra narrative detail. Text can also help signpost the viewing experience, act as section dividers or can tell us when a video has finished.
Week 6: Finalising and sharing your video
The final week will touch upon the area of visual enhancement via a few basic creative ideas that you can apply to video content, and which have dramatic results. You'll learn about finalising and exporting your video content, showing you how to share your work with others on video sharing platforms.
You will learn
After completing this course, you will have gained:
Knowledge and understanding of:
- the development of digital video editing and how to use contemporary video editing software to tell a range of stories
- the relationship between video editing and storytelling
- different editing styles and how these relate to different video purposes/functions.
Cognitive skills with the ability to:
- make use of different video editing tools and techniques to create various outputs and tell a variety of stories
- understand and apply the process and rules of continuity editing to develop ‘flow’ and logical progression across a series of video clips
- choose between continuity editing, discontinuous editing and fragmented editing techniques in order to create different moods and engage your audience in creative ways.
Key skills with the ability to:
- apply a range of corrective and creative editing techniques, including cuts, reordering and transitions, to develop different video editing styles
- make adjustments and edits to audio content and understand how to pair different types of audio with visuals
- make use of different forms of text and understand how these can be utilised to enhance or develop storytelling.
Practical and professional skills with an ability to:
- edit video, audio and text together to create a cohesive finished product
- apply different techniques and finishing touches to enhance your videos
- export, share, disseminate and promote your videos.
Vocational relevance
The course introduces techniques of video editing that are used in a variety of vocational settings, from social media campaigns to more advanced commercial applications.
Learner support
There is no tuition on this course and all study is self-directed. However, a Study Advisor is present to facilitate discussion within the online forums.
If you have a disability
The course is delivered online and makes use of a variety of online resources. If you use specialist hardware or software to assist you in using a computer or the internet you are advised to contact us about support which can be given to meet your needs.