Reserved_Phd doctorate
Editing:
A discussion of editing in general:
As a director, you might have a good film in the can, as an actor, you might have some great scenes, as a cinematographer, you might have some amazing shot sequences, but without an editor, it’s pretty shots and sounds.
In some cases, the editor is who really makes the movie. Editing takes an enormous amount of skill (as do the other positions) as well as knowledge of story structure, how the “beats” fit into a story, what the grammar of editing says to the viewer and how sound works with or against the story.
Editing starts with pieces- a LOT of pieces. Often there is a storyboard to facilitate the process and the editor often watches the rushes- the film that is shot that day, to have an idea of what is going on.
Edtiting is sometime done by a series of editors with a main editor (like Walter Murch) putting together small sections.
Whether one is editing the old-fashioned way- on a flatbed with rolls of film going through, or on a digital format, there are some common elements:
People talking are often referred to as “talking heads”
Other things like buildings, other objects are often referred to as “b-roll” or the material that illustrated what is going on.
“Cutaways” are things like close-ups of details like hands, etc. which 1) give the eye something else to see, 2) place the emphasis on something like an object that might have some importance, 3) allow the camera to move across the line of axis (see the section in the Editing folder about jumping the line)
Edited material tends to be stacked- in that the video track is 1: Main picture 2. B roll 3. Special cut-ins 4. Titles and so on.
Audio is stacked top down- see the section on folley in the sound folder.
In general, editing steps are
Rough cut: although some editors make what is called a paper cut first- pieces of paper w/ the shot or something like it sketch or copied and they can move things around.
The editor then works with the cut further to create a first cut which the main people (director, cinematographer, etc. ) need to sign off on.
The fine cut assume that most of the story is in place and now the editor is looking at the actually cuts, transitions, timing of certain sequences, etc.
The final cut is the one where everyone agrees that this is now THE FILM. After everyone has signed off on the Final Cut, then it goes on to the sound designer, etc., the color corrector, etc, for the final details. This also must be signed off on.
When everything is ready, if the film is shot on film, it all goes to a negative matcher who uses the timecode burned into the video and the notes and hot sheets to cut something that conforms to the final cut. Once that is done, the whole film and its related parts are sent off to be printed.
The art of editing:
Editing is about making a story SING. We have ALL watched films where after it starts dragging or seems unfocused, our attention wanders and we may not really drop back into the film the way we were when we started it. A good film editor knows how to keep pacing interesting, present intriguing shots, and keep the story right.
An inexperienced editor second-guesses, him/herself, repeats shots unnecessarily, and feels the cinematographer is guiding the film.
There are several “rules” for being a good editor:
1. Cut tight – The best editing approach is to cut tight scenes, taking out unnecessary pauses between actors’ delivery of dialogue lines or tightening the gaps within dialogue sentences through the use of carefully placed cutaways.
2. Temp music – cut a strong scene and then deal with the music. Scratch tracks are nice, but I prefer to use a scratch track with a narration rather than music. An exception is montages which, by their very nature, are cut to some sort of audio sequence..
3. No Dragnet edits – The original Dragnet television series used a certain approach to cutting dialogue scenes, kind of like ping pong or tennis. It followed this formula: cut to actor A – deliver the line; cut to actor B – deliver the line; cut back to actor A and so on. Walter Murch refers to this as the Dragnet-style of editing. Our brains seem to react better to edits where the change in picture and sound is not always together. These are called split edits, L-cuts or J-cuts.
4. Matching action – Matching actors’ hand positions, use of props, eyeline and stage position from one cut to another fall into the technical category of how to make a proper edit. Walter Murch offers a rule of six criteria that form reasons to make a cut at a given instance. The greatest weight is given to whether that cut drives the emotion of the scene or moves the story along. An editor’s job is to get the audience immersed in the story, and move the action through subtle and often subliminal suggestive cuts.
5. Moving camera shots – Moving the camera around is a staple of action sequences. This might be a camera on a dolly, crane, Steadicam or just handheld. In an action scene, this is designed to create a level of tension.
6. Don’t cut back to the exact same angle – Sometimes you have to but if your editing becomes routine,: master/single/reverse, master/single/reverse, etc. , the audience starts to lose focus and finds the film predictable.
7. B-roll shots in threes – When the scene calls for cutaway inserts, it feels right to use three on a row. Not a single shot, not two, but three. These should be at least 1.5-2 seconds long (or longer). An example might be when a character enters the room and looks around. The POV inserts work nicely in triplets and give the audience a good idea of the landscape that the character encounters. It mimics our real-world experience of moving our head around and seeing different aspects of the same surroundings.
8. Cut for the eyes – Actors that do well on TV and in films (as compared with the stage) are all very expressive with their face, but most importantly, their eyes. When you watch dialog, look at how the actors’ eyes play in the scene. Do they convey the proper emotion? What is the reaction of the other actors in the scene?
9. Pull the air out of actors’ performances – Going back to Item 1 Many actors will overact and so cutting tight keeps the scene focused, on point, and balanced with the rest of the film.
10. Shaping story – Editing shapes the story. On the other hand, the story tells the editor what it is about. A GOOD editor listens to the story, rather than fighting it.
11. Digital aids – color shifting, split screens, snap zooms, all cool. Just don’t overdo it- the effect needs to move the story along, not overshadow it.
12. Make your choices, but be prepared for others – The editor shapes the story, and sometimes heightens or changes the direction of some of the threads of the story. However, a good editor also listens to the director to make sure the film works in the larger sense.
For transitions, see the ppts.