Major Project - [Editing] - What I've Done Montage

Re-approaching The Montage Sequence

The first version of this sequence was the formula ford single-seater montage that I put together early on in this project, it was now time to revisit the sequence, change the music and incorporate the Ford GT Puma and Mazda MX5 track-day footage into the sequence. 

Since we had spent time as a group going through hundreds of music choices and picking out some of our favourites, I had a catalogue of music to choose from that were uploaded to our 'Editing' folder in my Google Drive. This folder allows us to share any editing/VFX based work between each-other quickly and easily, without the concern about file size as opposed to services like Email & WhatsApp/Messenger which have a file size restriction when it comes to sharing material. I chose the song 'Endless Sunset - Nastya Kazantseva' as the electronic/synthwave style to the song matches with most of the other music we have in the documentary at this point. The soundtrack in general for 'DreamChaser' has gone in a much more electronic/cinematic direction that we initially expected, but we're really fond of a lot of the songs used at this point, though there are notable exceptions such as the fitness montage which has gone through several iterations before we landed on one that we were particularly fond of. 

The way I tend to edit montages is heavily beat-dependent, being able to cut to the beat of a song can be an incredibly powerful technique in establishing momentum within a sequence, especially when that song is fast-paced like this one. I split the 'What I've Done' sequence up into 3 key segments - the formula ford single-seater, the ford GT Puma and the Mazda MX5. We only really have the space for a minute long montage here so unfortunately I wasn't able to include as much footage as I wanted to, however there's still a great variety of interesting and unique looking shots that we've managed to capture over the course of our time shooting at Brands Hatch, the circuit all of these track days took place at. The sequence begins with voice-over from Alex establishing what he's doing and why he's getting experience out on Brands Hatch circuit, before the beat drops following the same shot of the single-seater that I used during the formula ford montage originally. I felt that the roar of the engine was too good to pass up on as an editor, so I was sure to include that in the montage. After this point the music kicks in and we see several shots of Alex out on the circuit in the single-seater, followed by GT Puma footage of him both buckling himself up in the car and out on track, before closing with 4 clips from the Mazda track day. The Mazda footage was very visually interesting given that it's an open-roof vehicle, meaning that the Go-Pro footage had the sun glare on Alex's visor. 

Fortunately this sequence wasn't too challenging to put together as it was more a case of deciding on what shots to use and ensuring that we're able to cover all three track days within that short time-frame. It would've been nice to include more Mazda footage in there, however the track day was impromptu and we didn't have crew available to shoot on that day, so not only is our time limited, but also our footage. In terms of advanced techniques the only thing I really incorporated into this montage was a quick, fraction of a second cut as the beat skips during the GT Puma segment towards the mid-point of the montage.