Editing a promotional video for Blue Diamond Industries

In 2024, Blue Diamond Industries – a Lexington-based manufacturer of HDPE conduit for communications and energy cable – opened a new factory in Ogden, Utah. They hired Avalanche Studios, a video production service based in Ogden, to shoot footage of the factory and its employees, as well as drone footage and b-roll of downtown Ogden. They hired yesIsaid to edit that footage into a short promotional video to announce the opening of the new facility.

Editing process

1. Cataloging the footage

Avalanche provided video clips separated into folders based on which camera provided the footage, and every file was automatically named by the camera. The first thing I did was run all of the clips through Media Encoder to standardize frame rates (23.976) and resolution (4K). Then, in order to assess the scope of what I had to work with, I scrubbed through each clip and created a spreadsheet of information including file names, clip durations, and a brief description of the content of each file. I identified clips I thought I would use later by color-coding the rows. While this is a time-consuming step, it proves invaluable while putting together a rough storyboard for the piece. It also provides a crucial, time-saving reference for choosing material during the editing process.

2. Picking the music

For a piece such as this one, the choice and duration of the music are major determining factors when it comes to structure and pace. I provided a playlist of royalty-free selections available on Envato Elements, from which the client chose one to use. They picked a moody, midtempo electronic piece that captured the vibe the folks at Blue Diamond were going for.

3. Transcribing the interviews

The other main factor determining the structure and storytelling of the piece was the interviews Avalanche conducted with various employees of the new facility. I used Adobe Premiere to transcribe the speech of the three interviewees and provided it to the client in a Google Doc. They highlighted passages that contained messaging they wanted to emphasize in the edit, which I used to create a rough ‘script’ in the next step.

4. Structuring the edit

The initial broad strokes of structuring the edit consisted of placing a sequence of clips from the interviews that told a loose story about the Blue Diamond Ogden facility along the timeline of the soundtrack. I started with an identifying statement from Drew, followed by an enthusiastic description of the company and product from Gus. After a pause that hits with a transitional musical passage, I introduced Bailey, who discusses why Ogden is an optimal location for the new factory, then returned to Gus discussing his satisfaction with the workplace dynamic. We then return to Drew, who expresses optimism for the future of the endeavor. This pyramidal, A-B-C-B-A sequence of interview subjects is a satisfyingly symmetrical one for the project.

5. Completing a first draft

Once I had pieced together the skeleton of the piece, all that was left for me to do was flesh it out with clips that illustrated what was being said in the interview audio—all while responding to the beat of the music. This is where the process of cataloging the footage was a true lifesaver.

6. Revisions, titles, and captions

The client was largely satisfied with the piece as a whole and only had a few revisions regarding the script and one or two clip replacements. Once the edit was locked, I added opening and closing titles, as well as identifying lower-third captions for the interview footage. With that out of the way, it was time to move on to color correction and grading.

7. Color correction and grading

The video provided by Avalanche was shot ‘in log’—that is, they captured the video in uninflected, desaturated tones to make it maximally flexible for color correction and grading.

• Color correction is the process of adjusting the colors in video footage to achieve a natural and balanced look. The primary goal is to correct any color imbalances, ensuring that whites appear white, blacks appear black, and all other colors are accurate. This process compensates for issues like inaccurate camera settings and varying lighting conditions.
• Color grading is the process of enhancing the visual tone and mood of footage through creative adjustments. Unlike color correction, which aims for technical accuracy, color grading focuses on achieving a specific aesthetic. In the case of this video, I applied a standard orange/teal color grade that emphasizes Blue Diamond’s brand colors.

8. Sound mix

Because the interviews were conducted within the fully operational extrusion facility, I had to contend with a fair amount of background noise in the interview audio. After applying noise reduction, compression, and limiting to those tracks, I set the levels and EQ on the music track to leave room for the interview audio to be clearly audible while not being too far in the background. Then, I applied soft global compression for smoother, more uniform levels throughout. With the addition of the intro/outro titles, I had to creatively edit the music track to add material before and after its original duration; I also added a subtle machine hum during the titles for a more industrial ambiance.

After a few finishing touches, the video was ready to post on Blue Diamond’s socials and YouTube, and the clients were well pleased.

Do you need help creating a promotional video for your business? Contact yesIsaid today for a free consultation.