For our last session on Thursday, 26th January, we were tasked with presenting the projects that we had been working on throughout the semester. We discussed the coding and video editing process and experience of the folktales of the Konkomba culture, while focusing on the various difficulties we faced and how to avoid mistakes. In the last blog post you can read about our experience and problems while encoding the folktales. This is why I am going to talk about our video editing experience in the following.

Video editing problems 

This was our first experience with video editing and using the video editing programme Davinci Resolve. Therefore, many problems and difficulties occurred while editing the videos and adding the subtitles. In the following, I’ll be sharing the problems we faced and our tips to avoid these mistakes.

If you are working in a group, it is easier to use the same video editing programme. This will avoid issues when merging different parts of the video, which we had difficulties with. Another issue was the length of the subtitles, as ours were often way too long. Therefore, subtitles should not appear for more than eight seconds and each line should not exceed 40 characters.  Additionally, you should always add a title and copyright and it is easier to add the title before adding the subtitles. Using the pyramid form for subtitles with two lines will give a more clear structure.  Furthermore, it is important to subtitle everything and check the timing of the subtitles to ensure they match the content. In the end, when exporting the video, don’t forget to export the subtitles and burn them into the video.

A couple concluding words

Video editing can be a challenging task, especially for those who are completely new to it and have never used a video editing programme, such as Davinci Resolve. However, with some practice and the previous mentioned tips, it will be easier to edit a video the next time.  The course “Demarginalising Orature — Translating Minor Forms Into the Digital Age“ provided us with the opportunity to learn new skills in video editing and coding. However, what was very special about this course was that we learned about the Konkomba culture and its folktales.