What Can We Learn About Action & Storytelling from 'The Terminator'?
We've established that many of today's action films are just kind of "eh", and a lot of that has to do with sloppy editing and senseless destruction. So, how do you construct an action sequence that will give your audience the thrill they want and the heart they deserve?
A great example comes from James Cameron's The Terminator. Cameron uses a lot of restraint during the action sequences, which in turn allows the audience to slow down and take their time building empathy for the characters. Ross Peacock has shared this intriguing video essay that breaks down The Terminator's TechNoir bar scene to reveal how less carnage leaves more room for story.
There's nothing inherently wrong with the chaos in chaos cinema, it's just that when not coupled with good storytelling, the film begins to have less of the qualities of a film and more of the qualities of an accident you crane your neck to see on the freeway. Of course you're going to look, because, hello, there's a giant machine man dragging a ship the length of three football fields through the middle of Manhattan. However -- are you going to care? With many of today's style of action film, the chances are -- probably not.
That's why this scene from The Terminator is so great, because you spend so much time getting to know Sarah Connor. You care for her. So, when Schwarzenegger approaches her in the bar, you whole-heartedly want her to avoid her ultimate demise. See, this is one thing many filmmakers don't think about: pacing and timing are great ways to build tension, but tension can't be built unless your viewer cares about what's going on. Empathy is more important to filmmaking than I think many filmmakers realize, and the key to giving your audience the chance to empathize with your characters is storytelling.
In the end, great storytelling trumps great action choreography. Of course -- it's really fun to watch a spectacle, but just remember that spectacles don't have a long shelf life. Great stories, however, last forever.
Whether you’re new to video editing or have years of experience creating videos for film, TV, social media, and more, video editing templates are powerful tools that can help you quickly create stylish videos that look the way you want.
This post was written by Adobe Stock and originally appeared on the Adobe blog on March 25th, 2024.
What is a template in video editing?
Whether you’re new to video editing or have years of experience creating videos for film, TV, social media, and more, video editing templates are powerful tools that can help you quickly create stylish videos that look the way you want.
But what is a template in video editing, and how can you use the options in the Adobe Stock collection to optimize your production workflows and make your content stand out? Read on to learn more about the benefits of using video templates — including new Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe After Effects templates as well as Motion Graphics templates (a.k.a. MOGRT files).
How to create using video editing templates
Think of video templates as shortcuts in your creative process. Your videos almost always need to include elements like intros and outros, transitions, and visual effects. But rather than painstakingly creating these elements from scratch each time you work on a new project, you can browse Adobe Stock to find pre-built options that will save you time.
When you find a MOGRT template you like, all you have to do is download it and drop it onto your video editing timeline to incorporate it into your project. With Premiere Pro and After Effects templates, you can simply download the project files and open them in their respective apps to begin working with them.
Use Adobe Stock templates as a starting point
As a creator with a unique vision for each video you make, you might balk at the idea of incorporating pre-built content into your productions. However, MOGRT files offer the ability to customize a predetermined set of elements for a faster workflow, and Adobe Stock, Premiere Pro and After Effects video editing templates are fully customizable for more control of your final project.
You’re free to adjust all the details — colors, lighting, fonts, textures, effects, pacing, and more — to suit the look and feel of your projects. And even when you customize video editing templates, you’ll still save time compared to how long it would take to create the same elements from scratch.
Add professional polish with Premiere Pro video editing templates
Premiere Pro is the Adobe Creative Cloud app that delivers industry-standard video editing tools. It has everything you need to edit and trim footage, correct color, adjust audio, and mix music. It also lets you add titles, transitions, and effects to enhance and propel your stories.
You’ll discover innovative transitions to help you smoothly move from one scene to another in your videos.
And you’ll also find specialty video editing templates like logo reveals for corporate or brand videos and slideshows that help you show more than one scene or person onscreen.
Create some sizzle with eye-catching After Effects video editing templates
After Effects is the industry-standard app for creating motion graphics and visual effects. You can use it to animate text and characters, make objects disappear, control the weather onscreen, and much more.
As with Premiere Pro video templates, Adobe Stock After Effects templates include essential video elements like titles and transitions. They also include colorful and hypnotic backgrounds for your text, graphics, and animations.
They span titles, backgrounds, slideshows, overlays, and more, and they offer a range of looks, from sweeping and cinematic to glitchy and retro. And remember — you can edit them in Premiere Pro to perfectly fit your stories, styles, and moods.
Get creating with Adobe Stock multi-asset subscriptions
Sarting at just US$29.99/ month, our multi-asset subscriptions are tailored to meet various creative needs, giving you access to millions of images, videos (now including 4K), music tracks, video and design templates, vectors, and more. All these assets are available in one place and easily accessible from within Adobe Creative Cloud apps, all in one place.