5 Zach King Editing Tricks You Should Try This Holiday Season
Hey editors, want to create a little holiday magic this year?
Ah, the holidays! It's a time for giving, joy, and themed videos that give everybody a nice chuckle and warm fuzzies. If you're gearing up to churn out some of these kinds of projects, you might want to try out some super easy and fun digital magic tricks just like Vine/YouTube star and filmmaker Zach King. All you're going to need is a bit of clever camera work, your poker face, and a few simple editing techniques provided by Kellen Reck in the video below.
We all remember seeing Zach King's video magic tricks for the first time, don't we? And what did we all say? That's right: "How in the hell...?"
I mean, I'm sure most filmmakers and professional editors knew that it was largely thanks to great editing, as well as well-framed and choreographed shots, but for non-filmmakers, it was just like watching close-up street magic without having to look like a friggin' idiot after Apollo Robbins steals your watch right off of your damn wrist.
That's why these videos are fun to make: they're easy, they're entertaining, and, of course, they're magic. Magic beats pretty much anything you were planning on making anyway. (I'm getting a jump on my New Year's resolution to be brutally and ruthlessly honest.)
But what if you're someone who's not that impressed with magic and don't want to sell that shlock to your audience? First of all, how dare you. Second, Zach King made a really helpful video several years ago in which he talks about different editing techniques he learned throughout his career. It's a great primer on editing in general that cites the great Walter Murch's book In the Blink of an Eye, which, if you haven't read it, give yourself an early Christmas present and do that immediately.
You'll not only learn about King's (and Murch's) philosophy on editing but also aspects of editing that tend to give editors of all experience levels quite a bit of trouble, like knowing exactly where to cut, as well as the importance of taking breaks from your work.
What are some simple but visually dynamic techniques you think new editors should know about? What is your favorite Zach King trick? Let us know down below.
Source: Kellen Reck