a single source, nothing corroborates it

Cut the promo video until nothing drags

Take a few seconds out of every shot and speed the clips up rather than removing whole sections, so the pace lifts without losing the thread. Nathan Barry used four or five seconds from takes of thirty to forty-five and brought a two minute rough cut down to eighty-four seconds. To find the slow part, play it to someone busy with something else and watch for the moment they want to get back to it.

The method

1. 01

   Shorten by shaving every shot rather than cutting whole sections.

2. 02

   Trim savagely and speed the clips up: a few seconds out of each long take, played at about 150%.

3. 03

   Show the rough cut to people who are busy with something else and watch for the moment their body language says they want to get back to it: that marks the part that drags.

What it returned

• 1

  Rough cut of 1 minute 55 seconds became a final cut of 1:24

• 4

  Typically 4-5 seconds used from a 30-45 second shot

Sources

• Creating a promo video for your productNathan Barry · nathanbarry.com · More editing · 2014-08-19