Final Cut Pro - Tutorial

We divided ourselves into groups each learning and perfecting a skill to aid our music video editing on final cut. The skill that I learned to do was colour manipulation, this is when you change the colours when editing, varying from lightening and darkening the colour to changing it completely (e.g. red to black). This can be done on a small section of the shot, e.g. eye colour:

The colour of her skin has been washed out and the eyes have been enhanced, this is a prime example of how you can change the colour completely, from a dull green to a vibrant blue.






This can be very useful when showing a change of emotion or conveying a message to  the audience. Certain colours portray characteristsics about the individual, for example dark coloured eyes would imply that the individual is evil and hiding secrets, whereas bright blue eyes would portray innocence and trust.




Equally colour manipulation can be used to change large amounts of the shot, for example the sky.

This is the image before the colour manipulation, you can see that the trees look full of life, and therefore colour, but the sky looks dull and emotionless. Although the landscape is beautiful the misty sky conveys confusion and possibly that the individual has to make some difficult choices without a clear answer.


This image has been enhanced, the sky is a brighter blue and clouds have been defined. The image now portrays happiness and bliss. The trees have been lightened a little as well to convey life and energy in them, this would mirror the characters emotions.





To help and share our new knowledge each group made a tutorial to teach the others how to do their skill. My group made a simple music video but focused on manipulating the colours to reflect the main characters emotions, then made a tutorial of us editing it. We presented to each other then kept the tutorials on a communal drive so anyone could recap how to do the skill if need be, however we unfortunatly all lost our tutorials when we moved campus.

Final Cut Pro Re-Cap

We haven't used the new version of final cut before, therefore we had a tutorial lesson teaching us how to edit with it ans what new features it has.

Music Video Directors

David Fincher 

David Fincher was born on August 28, 1962, in Denver. Known for his image-driven and often dark films, Fincher is one of the most innovative and meticulous directors working today. He developed a love for film at an early age and started making movies after getting a Super 8 camera for this 8^th birthday. Growing up in Marin County, David has some exposure to the film industry. He and his friends watched as George Lucas filmed ‘American Graffiti’ in the area, he even lived a few doors down from the famed director. After high school he worked for Korty Films where he worked on the animated film ‘Twice Upon a Time’. He then joined the staff of Lucas’s special effects company, Industrial Light and Magic.
          He has directed many music videos for well known artists, this includes Modonna, Sting, The Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson, Aerosmith, George Michael, Iggy Pop, The Wallflowers, Billy Idol, Steve Winwood, The Motels and A perfect Circle. David has also directed some impressive TV commercials for clients that include Nike, Coca-cola, Budwiser, Heineken, Pepsi, Levi’s, Converse, AT&T and Chanel. He has also done some film work, for example Fight club, Se7en and 'The Girl With The Dragon Tatoo'. There are a lot of impressive people and companies that he has worked with, this shows his diversity, talent and commitment to his job. 

Some examples of his work (music Videos):

       This music video is very creative and I personally really like the concept of vintage black and white. It has elements of many music video styles including performance, narrative and concept. The performance gives the artist (Justin Timberlake) the representation of popularity and sophistication, these characteristics are important when portraying an international artist as he has to be widely loved. The narrative makes the video really interesting and breaks up the performance. This is important as the artist doesn't want to be portrayed as a boring if he simply sings the whole song in one frame. The concept style is conveyed through the theme of the classy, black and white look.    

      This music video was a huge hit when originally released and still is widely recognised as an amazing art form. I think this video was so highly praised because it was very unique and individual at the time of release. This is why I'm as such a fan of David's work because it is very refreshing to watch a piece that is new and individual, pretty much all of David's work follows this trait.