The Art of Editing (Part 2) - Syncing

Like I said in my first post, the main goal of an editor is to make the video flow with the music. In this post, I will be discussing one way to achieve this flow.

There are two ways to establish flow in a montage, and there are many different devices an editor can use to accomplish both of these ways. The first is audio/video syncing. This is the simpler and easier way and the one I will be discussing in this post. The second way is to create an overall feel that matches the overall feel of the song. This is where a lot of editors fail.

First, let’s lay out the definition of syncing, otherwise known as synchronization. According to Webster, to synchronize something is to: to make (motion-picture sound) exactly simultaneous with the action. In other words, you are having some sort of significant event in the game footage occur harmoniously alongside a part in the song accompanying it.

The first thing you should do before you start editing is to choose which parts of the music you want to sync to. This is a very tricky task. If you’re a beginner editor, you only want to pick the more emphasized parts of the song because their emphasis will make your syncing more apparent and easier to do. However, even if you’re not a newbie editor, you want to sync to the most significant parts of the song; it’s just that you probably have the ability to go beyond that. Also, if you’re beginner editor, don’t try to sync too many beats at once; you’ll usually end up taking away from the footage instead of adding to it. Trying to sync too much is one of the main causes of overediting. One thing all editors should try to do is establish a pattern with their syncing. Pick a certain repeated part of the song and consistently sync it. To better illustrate, my points, let’s look at the 2^nd half of Dualtality. Fragtality makes a point to always sync, “Patron saint,” and all of the other elongated syllables of the choir. This congruity gives the video a sense of fluidity instead of a sense of complete randomness. Another good example is Phurion syncing the, “heys,” in “haters” in Good Morning. You should also use the same effect when you’re syncing beats in rapid succession for the same reason why you want to establish a pattern with your syncing. Again, look at Good Morning with the “heys” in “haters” as an example.

NOTE: There are an infinite number of ways to sync something, however I will try the best I can to categorize these ways and provide good examples.

Not only are there different ways to accomplish syncing, there are different types of syncing as well. The two types of syncing are: 1) Syncing to singular beats and 2) Syncing to entire portions of the song.

Syncing to individual beats can be accomplished by having something in the actual footage, an effect, an angle, or a transition match the song. First, let’s go over having something in the actual footage match the song. The most basic way to do this is merely using kills. However, you can sync more events in the footage than just kills. Let’s look at For the Love of the Game 2. After he chokes for the Construct open street killtrocity, the death is synced. So be creative. Don’t just go 1 beat, 1 kill. And now, effects. An example of direct syncing using effects is using a flash to match particular beats in the song like the sky flashing in the second to last clip in Dualtality. I’ve always seen this method as the easy way out so it doesn’t impress me as much. Using an angle is cutting to an angle to match the beat. This method is used often in Dualtality, like in the Guardian Oddball overkill extermination Snipe 1. Lastly, using a transition is just having a clip start or end to match the beat. This is one of less used methods because people don’t think of syncing something so simple, and as a result, it should impress the viewer more than using one of the other methods. An example of this method is the beginning of the last clip in Good Morning.

An effective way of syncing is to combine an event in the footage and an effect. Instead of just having something happen in the footage, combine it with an effect for maximum emphasis. For example, in Robbie B’s 2^nd Halo 3 montage, a lot of the kills in the 2^nd song are accompanied by a screen shake. However, you want to use this method sparingly because overusing it will lead to overediting. Save it for the most emphasized parts of the song.

Syncing to individual beats of song using the footage always requires some sort of setting up. There are 3 ways to do this. The first and most basic way is simply placing a clip so that it syncs just by playing itself. A good demonstration of this technique is Kblocker’s and OutCold’s For the Love of the Game 2. The second way is using effects. An example is when Phurion slows down the footage in Good Morning to make certain kills happen at certain times. And lastly, you have angles. Instead of using some sort of an effect as filler to set up a sync point, throw in some angles. Using angles is one of the cleaner ways so I recommend using it often.

And now we have syncing to portions of song, not just a single beat. Sometimes certain portions of a song will have certain characteristics that you can match in the footage. For example, let’s look at the beginning of I Found a Way in Apex. The portion of the song has a more somber tone and a slower pace than the rest of it so Kampy matches these characteristics by applying a basic black and white effect and of course, slow mo. One of the main ways of accomplishing this type of syncing is through color correction. This type of syncing is a lot trickier because there’s really no way to explain why certain effects go with certain characteristics. It’s all natural. Why does black and white match a somber tone? Why does red match an aggressive tone? Why does a light glow match the intros and outros of Coldplay songs so well? This is why this is another place where many editors fail. Incorrect matching is very easy to do because these matches just don’t come to some people and it effectively kills the flow of a video (just imagine the beginning of I Found a Way in Apex with sped up footage and let’s say bright red color correction). Anyways, when you’re attempting this type of syncing, just close your eyes and let your mind paint a picture of what would fit.

A more complex form of syncing to entire portions of a song is paralleling the song lyrics to the video. An example is Kampy cutting to an angle of him jumping to take out the guy coming up the lift on Pit in Apex when the song says, “I’m divin’ in.” Another one is OutCold’s Pit Oddball killtacular victim doing a backflip after trying to retreat when the song says, “And no, we can’t go back.” This method of syncing actually requires some thinking and intelligence so I’m really impressed by it. It’s also pretty uncommon in montages.

Finally, I think we’re done. Now that we’ve gone over all of these types of syncing, go out there and try some of them. Remember that different people have different tastes so just experiment, see what you like, and eventually, you will develop some sort of style. Also remember that it’s better to use a variety of these techniques to keep the video interesting. Good luck.