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PDF Notes of Episode 1 Video

Editing by Ansh Mehra
Notes from our YouTube Course Ep 1
https://youtu.be/gbZ6hCNlq7g

Chapter 1. Choosing the Right Niche

Most video editors not clear about which jobs are they training for. In the
beginning, video editors only worked for Film and TV Studios.
But now, there are majorly 8 types of industries that you can work for. In each
industry, there are specific types of niches that can co-exist.
For example, within Social Media, there is long form and short form. In
Advertising, there is short form and long form.

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 You need to lock one industry and within that industry, lock one niche and learn
everything about it. Right now, Social Media and Courses have maximum job
openings so if you’re starting out, getting work in these 2 industries will be
relatively easier.
The first three episodes of this course are applicable to all of these 8 industries.
But the last 2 episodes are specifically designed for Social Media content.

1. Film and Television

2. Corporate Videos

3. Social Media

4. Advertising and Marketing

5. Courses & Trainings

6. News and Journalism

7. Entertainment

8. Music Videos

Now, let us first dissect a video and understand what are the different parts that
you can play with. There are at least 18 components you need to know about
and they all can be categorised in 5 buckets.

First is the script, which is the most important part of your video.

💡 A video with a strong script and clear sound can perform well even if
the editing is weak.

💡 A video with a weak script will not do well even if they spend millions
on sound and editing.

A film like Andhadhun or Fukrey didn’t make hundreds of crores just because of
it’s editing budget. The core reason behind the success of these movies was

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 great writing.

Then we once the script is done and recorded, you get your Raw Footage.
Your Raw Footage is split into two parts: A Roll and B Roll. In this video of mine,
my main talking face video is the A Roll, while all of these secondary shots are
B Rolls. Your A Roll is essentially the backbone of your video.
The word “roll” comes from old editing days when people used physically cut
and splice film strips.

Now A Roll again can have three types: Talking Face, just like this one. It can be
a screen-recording if you’re making a Tutorial and if you’re vlogging, your main
moving video will your A Roll.

Your B Roll can either be stock video or even your old videos. In this case, I am
using my own videos as B Roll, while the audio of the A Roll is still going.

The third component of a video is Sound

I find very few editors discussing about sound. I personally believe that more
than visuals, if you crack the script and sound, you are sorted.
Now, Sound can be of three kinds: Background Music or Ambience - Sound
Effects (SFX) - Voiceover. Watch this:
In this video, we have one layer of background music, then another layer of
Sound Effects and then another layer of Voiceover.

The entire art of playing with these Sounds is called Sound Engineering. I call it
Sound Design.

The fourth component is Motion Graphics

For social media, learning Motion Graphics is almost mandatory. In most cases,
editors buy subscriptions of websites like Envato and Motion Array to get these
assets. There are 6 main types of Motion Graphics that you need to know about
- Titles, Logo Openers, Infographics, Lower Thirds, Slideshows and Subtitles. In
the upcoming episodes, we will cover these in detail.

The fifth and last component is Visual Effects

This includes finishing touches like Colour Correction and Transitions.

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 Now the truth, there is a lot more in a video but since this is a beginner’s
course, I am covering things that are absolutely essential so don’t blame me in
the comments section if I’ve missed something. I’m aware of that, it’s just that I
am making this for someone who’s just getting started.

Now, once you have these things together, you get your final video. Getting
this final video from your raw editing files is called Rendering.

Once you render your file, you get your playable video. So you’d edit in a tool
like Adobe Premiere Pro but you can’t upload a Premiere Pro file on Instagram.
You need to Render it. Some folks call it Export as well.

If you’re working in social media, you need more than just a render to make
your video successful.

For an Instagram Reel, you need all of the above elements + a thumbnail and a
caption.

For a YouTube Video, you need all of the above + a well framed Title,
Description, Metadata and a pinned comment.

Components of a Video (this is for you to show in the video)

1. Script

2. Raw Footage:

a. A Roll:

i. Talking Face

ii. Screen Recording

iii. Moving Video

b. B Roll:

i. Stock Video

ii. Your own older video

3. Sound:

a. Background Music

b. SFX

c. Voiceover

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 4. Motion Graphics:

a. Titles

b. Logo Openers

c. Infographics

d. Lower Thirds

e. Slideshows

f. Subtitles

5. Visual Effects:

a. Colour Correction

b. Transitions

Components of an IG Reel
1. All the above +

2. Captions

3. Thumbnail

Components of a YouTube Video

1. All the above +

2. Title

3. Metadata

4. Pinned Comment

let’s quickly revise what we learnt in Chapter 1:

1. We learnt about the 8 major industries where you can work as a video
editor. You need to lock one industry and then train specifically for that
niche

2. We learnt about 18 popular components of a video which come under the

categories of Script, Raw Footage, Sound, Motion Graphics and Visual
Effects.

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 3. and in the end, we learnt the importance of knowing other skills apart from
editing videos because if you’re making content for social media, you will
need things like a great title or thumbnail to create a successful video.

Now that this is clear, then let’s move to Chapter #2

Chapter 2. Learning Tools vs Subject

Any technical skill in the world has two components - The Tool and the Subject.

As a video editor, your tools can include Adobe After Effects and Premiere Pro.
Your subjects can include a lot more, like:

1. Scripting

2. Retention

3. and Visual Design

When I was in Class 6, I learnt everything about VFX and Sound Design from
Andrew Kramer from VideoCopilot. A big credit to my success goes to only and
only Andrew Kramer. His videos from even 8 years ago are still way ahead of
today’s time. That guy is a pure legend. There is nobody in the video editing
world who’s had an impact as big as Andrew Kramer.

Most editors focus on learning the tools but they often miss learning the
subject. You get great ideas only when you understand the subjects. The tools
are there to help you execute your ideas.
The tool helps you with the “what” and “how” but the subject tells you the
“why”.

Learning a tool takes around 6-8 months, assuming you spend 2 hours every
day. Learning the subject is a lifelong process. No matter what niche or industry
of video you’re in, the tools more or less remain the same. It’s very similar to
music, where the same instruments are used to make different kinds of music.
But why is learning this subject a lifelong process?

Within the subject, you have again two types of learnings - First Principles and
Trends.
For example, First Principles say that your audio quality has to be clear. This
principle will not change forever.

But trends keep changing forever. In 2021, we saw a heavy edits doing really
well. Now in 2024, cleaner and lighter edits perform much better. So as an

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 editor or creator, you need to spot all the first principles and then always be on
your toes to recognise upcoming trends.

Understanding of the subject is way more valuable than understand the tool.
Because tools are getting simpler day by day. Because of that, the market is
getting saturated. Only those who invest time learning both the subject and the
tool will have maximum leverage.

I’ll show you some practical examples. The following are loom recordings of me
giving feedback to my editors. My editors knew all the tools inside out but they
didn’t know the subject rules for my particular niche of UX & AI based
educational content. Some of these clips might be in Hindi, I apologise for that
because I mostly speak to my team in Hindi. But I’m sure you’ll be able to watch
the recording and figure out what’s really happening.

(add video recordings)

Now as you saw, there is so much nuance and psychology that goes into
making even a 10 min video. and it’s a lifelong process of learning. But now at
least you understand the difference between learning the tool and the subject.
I keep sharing small small content and team building lessons on my Instagram
broadcast community. You can scan this QR code to join it for free.

let’s quickly revise what we learnt in Chapter 2. We

understood that
1. Any skill requires learning of tools and the subject. Tools come and go but
the first principles of your subject remain the same.

2. Next, it’s important to regularly study patterns and trends on social media.
What people like changes every month so you need to be very conscious
and aware of these changes.

3. In the end, I showed you real feedback videos of my own editing process,
which was to show how nuanced and iterative this process is. It never
works out in the first attempt. Everyone makes mistakes and learns with
practice.

If all this is clear, it’s time begin Chapter #3

Chapter 3. Types of Social Media Content

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 I can broadly split social media content into two types. Long form content,
which is most popular on YouTube. Then short form content, which can be
uploaded on Instagram, YouTube Shorts and even LinkedIn. But it’s not just
picking about picking long or short form. Long form has 9 sub categories. Short
form again has again 9 sub categories. I’ll take you through two categories and
teach you how to take inspiration and learn from others. Once you see how I
learn, you’d be able to replicate the same process for any other niche in this
list. Because I don’t want to spoonfood you so much. If you want this, then you
have to act smart.

This research is extremely valuable for you. Because it will improve your
understanding, which will help you narrow down on selecting your niche.
Because you need to ask consistently yourself, what niche of editing are you
naturally interested in the most.

I am saying this very seriously. You cannot be a great video editor unless you
truly love video editing. Because in real work, you have to re render things
again and again and again. You get calls any time of the day. You’re working
almost every day. So if you don’t love the subject, you will face serious burnout
issues. My suggestion is to try following my course for 3 months and check
how you feel about it after 90 days. Don’t quit before 90 days. Most people
think they can judge a subject in a month. You cannot. You have to try at least
90 days before you quit. You’d probably have to watch this video 2 times to
digest everything I’m saying right now.

so, let’s explore the first two categories of Long Form Content.

First, we have Case Study or Documentary oriented channels.

This includes channels like Think School (show their video) or Jhonny Harris
(show their video)
These kind of videos are very research oriented. There is a lot of data and
sources to show. So as an editor, you need to have a strong grip on

1. Background Scores

2. Animations

3. Infographics

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 4. Sound Design

Here are 10 YT Channels you can take inspiration from:

1. James Jani (put their subscriber counts next to them)

2. Think School

3. Jhonny Harris

4. GrowthX

5. The Wall Street Journal

6. AevyTV

7. Forbes

8. Magnates Media

9. Vox

10. Backstage with Millionaires

What you need to do is make a Notion Page, have one page for each channel,
then within that page, create one page for each video and just breakdown 4
core components of the video:

1. Script (specifically the Hook)

2. Sound Design

3. Visuals - which means take screenshots of their lower thirds, titles,

graphics, everything.

4. Duration with which the scenes are getting cut. Which means, how often
are they switching between A Rolls and B Rolls.

5. Title and Thumbnail.

If you do this for 100 videos, I’m telling you, you’ll be far ahead in way lesser
time.

Then we have tutorials and How to Guides.

This includes channels like mine or WsCube Tech or Ben Marriot. Here, the
majority of the heavy lifting is done by the teacher and her screen recording.

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 You need to have a grip on

1. Intros

2. Lower Thirds or Super Texts, which are basically these lower headings that
come at the bottom

3. Writing Skills, because you’d have to write bullet points or titles from time to
time

4. In these videos, animations or infographics or sound design doesn’t really

matter.

Here are 5 YT Channels you can take inspiration from:

1. Andrew Kramer from VideoCopilot.net

2. Bring Your Own Laptop

3. freeCodeCamp

4. Jeff Su

5. Thomas Frank Explains

Now if you are planning to do editing for any of the remaining 7 types, just
follow what I’m doing. Research, which YT Channels are popular worldwide and
in your own country. Then go to YouTube, search for their videos and filter out
top rated videos. If you have a budget, consider investing in SimilarTube or
VidIQ, these tools really help a lot when you research.

By the way, these sub categories, again have sub categories. For example, in
beauty or fashion content, you can have Transitions, or Get Ready with Me or
Haul Reel. Then within Transitions, you can pick a specific style of clothing. So
the subject gets deeper and deeper and you have to start small.

so before ending this lecture, let me revise Chapter 3. We understood

1. The difference between short form and long form niches.

2. We saw popular examples of Case Study or How to Guides, because these

two niches along with VLOGS have maximum demand on YouTube

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 3. and I also gave you a proper framework for conducting research and
learning from these channel

You can learn anything you want but not all at once. We’ve made countless
videos on how to improve your energy levels, confidence levels, manifestation
powers, communication skills, learning abilities and so much more. You’ll find
all the links in description.

In our next episode, I’ll teach you how my own Workflows look like, how much I
pay for my softwares and subscriptions and we’ll also cover learning the basics
of Adobe Premiere Pro.

It would mean the world to us, if you could take a screenshot of these notes
and post about your learnings on LinkedIn or Instagram.

We’ve already launched multiple free courses on UX Design, Marketing

Psychology, ChatGPT, Midjourney, Prompt Engineering, Communication Skills
and a lot more.

with that being, I hope that you’re taking care of your mind and body, this is
your dost Ansh Mehra, signing out.

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