Event montage videos?! What’s that? Well, for one thing, I made up the name. Basically, it’s a video summarizing an event. You’ve seen them. The one to five minute videos that show off the highlights of an event, such as a wedding, party, or even just a basketball game. You may have seen this type of video before and thought that you could never do that. Turns out that they are quite simple to make.
Why should you know how to make these? For one thing, event montage videos are in high demand. This type of video is big business. I know a guy who does wedding videos. He charges significantly more for doing one of these than he does for a video of the complete ceremony.
Second reason. They’re loads of fun to create. When you create a narrative movie, you usually try to stay away from wacky transitions and flashy titles. Doing an event montage gives you a chance to use them and let your wild side come out.
To start making your own event montage, you first need an event. Finding one shouldn’t be too hard. See if you can film a sporting event at your local school, or use a birthday party. Maybe somebody took video of Christmas at your house. If none of those work, just find a couple of friends and a basketball hoop, then film the game.
Now you need some music. If you have Apple’s GarageBand, it’s really easy to make some good music quickly, or just use some of the pre-made songs that come with it. Without GarageBand, you’re on your own. Just make sure that you have the rights to the song that you end up choosing.
Obviously, the first step to editing is to import your footage. Make sure that you’re watching the video as it comes in. You may even want to take notes on parts that you might like to use.
Start the project by laying down an audio track. The next step is up to you. If you have a title in mind, I’d suggest getting that roughed out right away. Often, the style of music and title gives you a feel for the type of video you’ll end up with it. The title that you end up with can be as simple or as complex as you think it needs to be.
When you edit the rest of the video, try to keep these things in mind:
- The video will flow better if you cut to the beat of the music.
- Take advantage of “runs” or drum rolls in the music as quick cut areas.
- Try to show as much of the event as possible.
- Experiment with different effects, like slow motion when someone jumps for a slam dunk.
- Overall, shorter is usually better.
As an exercise, you might also want to try this:
Pick somebody who won’t mind being the subject of a joke, and then find something silly you can do to them in the video. For example, you might choose the coach, and then cut in a shot of him yelling every time you show the other team scoring. Again, make sure that your subject is somebody who won’t mind. This technique can add interest and humor if your video seems a little slow. You probably don’t want to do this to somebody’s wedding video, though.
Once you get the basics, the rest is easy. The possibilities are endless, and most people are wowed by that fact that you made something that looks so professional.
Here’s a little example from our iSundae II work: