I see some people are a bunch of butt hurt bleeding vaginas. Good to know that there's still a generation of fucking pussies out there that can't take blunt straight to the point criticism. World would be far better if people just said what they're thinking. Oh no I was offended, oh no someone on the Internet was mean. Oh no, this. Oh no, that. SACK THE FUCK UP.
I also love the "no one would notice he's gone" comment. That one always makes me laugh.
Here's how you make a good edit with mediocre riding and editing ability.
1. Song choice. This is the make or break it. If it was popular in the last 5 years, don't use it. If it was in a main snowboard movie, don't use it (unless 10 or more years has elapsed). If its a horrible modern remix of a song that sampled a classic, you guessed it! DON'T USE IT! Also don't just slap a song in because you like it, edit the clips to the actual music and make it match up. If the pace slows down, slow a clip. If there's a good slam and the base drops or there's a hard drum hit or face melting guitar solo, make it match!
2. Length. The attention span of the average Internet user is decreasing by the day as we as a society integrate new standards of what social media is. The rule for an edit is 2.5 to 3 minutes if it's actually good, otherwise the saying "keep it short and sweet" comes into play. Truth be told most peoples edits should be about 1 to 1.5 minutes.
3. Filler shots. Filler is used to establish what is going on and the overall tone. Slapping random B-roll or filler in will not work. This goes back to what I said in number 1, make it match! If you are going to start with filler/b-roll you have roughly 15 to 25 seconds to capture the viewers attention, after that it's all down hill. Use this wisely.
4. The first real clip needs to capture the viewers attention. A 6 stair 10 foot urban rail is not that. A failed backflip shot at dusk in low light is not it. This shot needs to be either a mild to slightly above average banger that piques interest or someone doing a double cork and cutting off someones head in a freak accident. See my point here?
5. Slams should be shown in one of three ways. 1) Attempt at trick (can be filmed from multiple angles if need be) then followed by landing of said trick. 2) As a segway from one section into another i.e. urban into park or vice versa. This way it keeps the viewer entertained while setting them up with a brief intermission into the next chapter. 3) The full on ender that is just slams where people eat shit repeatedly. This once again keeps the viewer entertained till the end of the edit.
6. White balance, exposure, color correction, etc. etc. Make sure this is perfect. Regardless if you're using iMovie or Final Cut X or any of its other versions. There is no reason to include clips that are dark or lower substandard quality. If you can't fix it, don't use it.
7. Vimeo is king right now for snowboard edits vs YouTube. So what if YouTube has a bigger viewer basis and broader demographic. Vimeo doesn't degrade quality, slap you with copyright infringements, and generally suck. There's a reason 99.8% of all featured snowboard edits on the big snowboarding sites are shared off Vimeo. Know it, use it, love it!
8. It's the Internet, no matter how good you are at editing, no matter how good the riding is, no matter if it's giving free handjobs and kittens someone is going to say your edit sucks. Live with the criticism and see if you can learn from it.
9. Re editing is always an option.
10. If you can't get it right the final nuclear button holocaust save your ass play is make it sepia tone, throw some Slayer or similar metal at it, slap a few Ken Burns in, and just let it ride. The hipsters and general snowboard video enthusiasts will just go with "it's raw and gritty, I'm down". Just don't make this how you do all edits or people will pass you over.