If You Want to Make Professional Videos, Master These 4 Skills
These skills separate the good creators from the inept ones
It used to be difficult and expensive to create video content. Images were captured on film, then processed by the lab before one could view them. Editing was done by physically cutting and splicing pieces of film workprint together with cumbersome machines. The method is complex, the apparatus is costly, and the craft is not readily accessible. Either you go to school or become an apprentice to enter this field.
Fast forward to now, we can shoot 4K footage on our smartphone. Multiple free yet valuable post-production resources are readily available. Still, I wouldn’t say it is much easier to become a professional. Knowing how to use some gear and software isn’t enough to make good content. We need other invaluable skills to be genuine video creators and storytellers.
The skills I am going to talk about are essential abilities that will benefit a video maker for a lifetime. Even if you are not creating videos, you can still reap the reward from mastering these fortes. These are the foundation of all good content, which is the prerequisite for an impactful story. I have linked these skills with our sensory systems(sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch).
Can you smell a story?
I talk about the narrative skill first because it is the most important to foster. Video creation is about putting visual and audio together into a story that will resonate with your audience. Content without any plots is just information and data that people hardly remember.
We must attune to the narrative elements and their meaning. Arranging things with a proper beginning, middle and an end is the bare minimum. Nevertheless, stories don’t need to unfold in a specific order, the film Memento is an exemplary example of storytelling in an untraditional order.
- Pop quiz Q1: What’s the difference between climax and anticlimax?
Do you have an eye for color?
It’s important to sharpen our sight. Deliberate use of color makes lasting impressions that add value to the narrative, like the movie Sin City. Having a good color sense is necessary for any video expert.
A story without color is dull and color theory is constantly being applied to tell a better story. Hue, luminance, contrast, saturation, etc are manipulated for color correction, special effects, atmosphere, and mood.
Our main focus isn’t to be a professional colorist, but knowing what is going on and what can be done with color is crucial.
- Pop quiz Q2: Is color correcting and color grading the same?
Do you have good taste in pacing?
We have to control the rhythm. One of the keys to holding viewers’ interest is to edit video with sensible intervals. If shots are too short and quick, audiences may be confused. Conversely, if shots are too long and slow, audiences may feel bored. It’s also good to deliver content with both fast and slow cutting to avoid the piece becomes too monotonous.
Various content genres have different pacing styles. When used properly, viewers’ moods could be shaped by the rhythm of the edits. The film Requiem for a Dream was wisely edited to let people get into the heads of drug addicts.
- Pop quiz Q3: What is montage editing?
Are you all ears when the sound is on?
We need to hear the differences. Dialogues, music, and sound effects carry a lot of weight in storytelling. They are indispensable to create dramatic atmospheres for the audiences. Skillful creatives know how to utilize the presence and absence of audio to deliver a story.
Imagine the iconic music themes and lightsaber sounds being absent when you watch the Star Wars movies, the whole thing would not be the same. Or try lowering/muting the volume while watching a horror movie, I promise you those spine-chilling scenes would be less scary and the jump scares wouldn’t have worked.
- Pop quiz Q4: What is an equalizer (EQ)?
Touch the heart of your viewers
Once narrative, color, rhythmic and audio skills are mastered and used appropriately, the final video output can touch the heart of the viewers.
I think every successful content has to be relevant. People can identify themselves with the characters, the setting, or the storyline. Good content delivers a message and great content connects with people.
Future-proof
The arrival of smartphones and non-linear editing has totally changed the media landscape. People can practice the art of video creation far easier. It’s hard to predict what the next wave of digital transformation and technology advancement will bring to the creatives. Yet we can be sure it will bring more liberation.
Technology can be a double-edged sword. At a time when machines are so powerful and software so advanced, complicated shots, edits, and special effects can be created at our fingertips. The risk of getting carried away by the gimmick, overlooking the essence of storytelling comes with the convenience of technology.
Software gets updated and revised continuously. Super machines are being replaced and outrun all the time. Things change inevitably but the key principles of video creation are timeless. Professionals with a strong narrative, color, rhythmic and audio skills will always be good content creators. In other words, their skills are future-proof.
Investing time in getting better at these abilities is the most rewarding thing for serious creatives. A good place to start is to rewatch some of your favorite movies or movies mentioned hereinabove.
