WPochWow thank you so much for the great block of advice! Means a lot to me +K!!!
1. As for audio, I did use natural sounds mostly near the end with ex: lake water while SUPing, fire crackle, footsteps hiking down, and some splashes here and there. But I see what you mean! I don't really have a audio recorder so I use my camera internal mic as well as a rode vidmic pro sometimes. But it was hard to do so with all of my friends constantly talking and playing music. But I so agree. My favorite videos ever have some of the most amazing sounds inside it which make it that much more enjoyable!
2. I tried that! but all they did was joke around and say immature things haha so I gave up right there!
3. That was fantastic thanks for the knowledge! I'll try to separate my light leaks into better conditions. I always have had trouble with transitions and they get kinda repetitive so light leaks are a good way for me to spice things up and give it a vintage look.
4. The length to this came from the song, which was actually around 4:30. I've always wanted to use this song so I couldn't help myself. But I agree also. Shorter videos also incorporate my only HQ videos into the edit without using any LQ videos just to increase length! And again the interview thing was a bust... Maybe I should just get new friends! (Just kidding these guys were the best even with their immaturity)
I'm sorry the first watch I must have not noticed the underlying audio so good job on that but lets hear more of it. It's okay to use an on camera mic in this instance of things. If you have a smart phone, you have an audio recorder capable of recording great sound on the go. Rode makes an app for recording audio, so if you want to get higher quality audio download the lite version for free or pay the $5.99 for the full version. I'm not too familiar with the app but I'm sure its simple enough to plug the mic into your device, and hitting record in the app. This will be a good use when you want to get the mic closer to record interviews, or just for recording on location sound. You can sync up both of your audio recordings with the captured video later in the post production process. The magic of the syncing with sound feature in your NLE has never been easier! Yes, and extra step in the process but it will make for a much better outcome.
I'm sorry about the immaturity of your friends. I can only tell you to just keep filming them, maybe one time they will say something funny or compelling enough to help tell your story.
The song you used is such a consistent beat that it could have been cut down a bit shorter. Look for that exact beat that plays throughout the song. Make a cut directly in the middle of that beat, and then down the line later in the song as its about to finish, find that same beat and cut in the middle of the beat again. When you stitch it together it should be seamless and if not I usually just add 2-4 frames of a cross fade transition to help stitch them together. This doesn't always work for every song, but I've done a number of projects where I had to use a certain song but the final video can only be 60-90 seconds.
Constructive criticism is your friend, it will help push you harder to make better videos. My only advice is to keep shooting and editing, you will only get better as time goes on. Happy shooting!
