It took me FOREVER to get started on editing my Japan Vlog series. Actually, wait. That's not true. It took me forever to FINISH this edit.
This footage was shot almost ONE YEAR ago - ten months to be exact! So why the hell did it take so long, you might wonder?
Well, one of my shortcomings is the fact that I'm kind of a perfectionist by nature... and Japan is a place that is so close to my heart that I really wanted to make the video GREAT before I released the footage to the world.
Also, I'm not yet where I want to be when it comes to video editing, so I wanted to perfect the video before publishing it... but here's the problem with that. If you don't force yourself to finish an edit, upload it, and get feedback, you just won't improve your skill level as quickly.
Now that I've gone through this process, I learned that the key to shooting great video footage is actually going through the EDITING process yourself and learning what types of footage you really need, and what you don't. It's also about learning what kinds of clips work well, and what gets scrapped.
It just goes to show, sometimes FINISHED is better than PERFECT... and in this case, that is very true. The whole reason I decided to shoot these vlogs were so that I could practice a lot and improve my video skill level very quickly while shooting content I'm interested in.
Now that this video has been shot and edited, I know now that I DO NOT like the image quality of a GoPro in low light... and even with the optional mic adapter, the audio isn't amazing. Lesson learned. Here's the problem though - I didn't find this out until I edited the video... 10 MONTHS after my initial trip back to Japan. So I still shot a ton of stuff with the GoPro because it was small and convenient to have with me at all times.
The other argument though, is the fact that GoPro's small form factor ALLOWS you to take it with you to places where you can't lug a big DSLR. That makes sense. We'll see how this plays out in future videos.