Block – where the DOP (director of photography) looks at the
scene and decides where everything is going to be placed .g. a sound mad, where
the boom pole will have to be out of the frame etc.
Light -
Rehearse
Shoot
When sound is recorded on a digital camera, the sound and
video are already synchronized.
We will be using ag-hmc41E which is a Panasonic camera.
Our sound will be recorded via a sennheiser sound recorder.
scenes should begin with One Alpha Task 1', then 2, 3 etc, then mark it into focus on the directors camera then clap it and finally ACTION!
Synchronising rushes is an important part of the editing process because it makes to so you can synch the audio to the video. They do this by clapping the slate down when the scene will start. this only becomes into effect when you are using a separate audio device and not one on the camera. synching the audio with the audio makes to so everything Is even flowing and goes smoothly.
Avid media composer, you take the sound and the picture and then you sync them together using your clapper bored reference.
In film editing, transition refers to how one shot ends and the next begins, and the filmic device (a cinematic devices used to communicate and convey meaning) that bridges one to the other. a range of different types of transitions have been employed since the early years of cinema and filmmaking. Some are outdated, used mainly to refer to those first years, but others are still greatly used today and each type of effect invokes a different emotion and a different way to be . Understanding those emotions is essential when it comes to master editing.
Cut
The most basic and common type of transition is the cut. A cut happens when one shot instantly replaces the other. Cuts are so widely used that feature movies normally count thousands of them.
Cuts are essential for the effects of juxtaposition, especially as demonstrated by the KuleshovExperiment. Although most cuts exist simply for a technical need, the abrupt replacement of one shot by the other often demands a certain interpretation from the viewer.
Consider the following example from the very beginning of Three Days of Condor (1975). Note that this early in the movie the main character, Joseph Turner (Robert Redford), has not been introduced yet.
The Dissolve. The dissolve is an editing technique where one clip seems to dissolve, or fade into the next. ...
The Wipe. This transition is the opposite of the dissolve in that it draws attention to itself. ...
The Cutaway. ...
The L Cut. ...
The Fade.
In film editing, transition refers to how one shot ends and the next begins, and the filmic device that bridges one to the other. Many different types of transitions have been employed since the early years of cinema. Some are outdated, used mainly to refer to those first years, but others are still greatly used today. Each type invokes a different emotion. Understanding those emotions is essential to master editing.
Here is an example of some transitions in filmmaking -
Cutaway shot is the inserting of a shot that AWAY from the main scene.
In film and video, a cutaway shot is the interruption of a continuously filmed action by inserting a view of something else. It is usually, although not always, followed by a cut back to the first shot, when the cutaway avoids a jump cut.
A pov shot shows a person’s perspective. In most pov shots
it is edited in such a way that it’s obvious as to whops pov it is. This can
also be referred to as ‘subjective camera’.
It is usually put between a shot in which a character is
looking at something and what their reaction is showing by looking. When the
camera switches back and shows what the character is feeling. This is called a
reverse shot. It is common when using POV shots that filmmakers tend to use
other filming techniques to help it.
This technique is used as a way to make the audience curious and intrigued. Providing and withholding information is when you try make the narrative more dramatic by giving the audience more information or taking away information. A great example of the two is in 2 drams , one is murder she wrote in which at the start of ever show you see someone being killed or someone planning to kill someone and the dramatic question is will Jessica find out who did in. It also gives a dramatic irony because the audience knows who did it. the other show which does the opposite is diagnosis murder , in this show it doesn't show you who killed the person rather it just shows you the person dead and you have to find out along with the characters who did. they are both crime programs but the fact one provided you information creates a different emotion from the audience as it creates frustration because you know what happened. in contrast the other show withholding it keeps the audience on the edge of there seat.
The process of editing begins in the post-production stage, in which a film or a television piece is editing to create the final outcome. This is transformed into a piece suitable for its target audience; the role of an editor can be seen as one of the most important roles when creating either a film or television piece due to the fact they are the key collaborator with the director.
When creating a film or television piece the role of the editor is primarily to edit the footage they have received and cut together appropriate footage to enable the audience to clearly understand the narrative. The editor must always include a beginning a middle and an end so that the audience are able to fully understand the film. Another way the editor is able to engage the audience at all times is by the pace of the shots they have decided to use. For example editing can be used to create tension by using slowly paced shots that gradually build up speed; and in comparison fast paced shots are commonly found in action Movies in where there is a scene involving a car chase or a fight scene. This editing technique is used alongside sound effects that compliment the scene as music can effect and also influence the way the audience view a particular scene.
Each genre of a film has a different technique and style that are used to illustrate the genre of the film or television programme;
The genre of horror commonly combines both slow and fast cuts to build up and release tension. Slow paced shots are used to distress the audience but also to convince them into carry on watching. Low angled shots are used to create fear as this shows to the audience the characters fear and intimidation. This type of editing that creates anxiety within the viewers is closely matched by the choice of sound used alongside the scene. An example of a horror film that uses a combination of slow and fast paced shots to help build up tension in the scene can be seen in the trailer for the 2009 Warner Brothers film The Orphan.
Romantic Comedies is a genre that also uses sound to persuade the audience into feeling and expressing certain emotions. Slow paced shots and cuts are used to enable the audience to fully understand the emotions of certain characters as romantic comedies are primarily based upon two main characters. The editor is responsible for controlling the actor and actresses performance as they are able to choose the most realistic and believable shots taken.An example of this can be seen in the 2009 film Trailer Dear John.
The genre that uses fast paced cuts to keep the audience engaged in the film or television programme is the genre Action. This is because the narrative of the film is based around continuous action so the shots have to match the performance to enable the interest of the audience. The 1999 film fight club is an example of a film that used fast paced cuts to allow the camera to follow all the action.
The editor’s
primary responsibility is to cut selected shots together in such a way that the
story told in the script and captured through image, sound and performance in
production is preserved.
This
achieved in all genres by establishing settings with wider shots, exploring
character dynamics with medium coverage and emphasising key detail – a fuse, a
grimace, a coordinate with closer coverage.
Broadly speaking, shots are combined into
sequences in two ways:
Continuity
editing aims to make cuts invisible in order to achieve seamless, fluid
rendering of the story through successive shots and sequences drawing any
attention to the editing itself;
Montage
editing makes the editing process more conspicuous by juxtaposing less clearly
related material, challenging viewers to make abstract connections between
shots and sequences.
The choice
of shots by the editor when combining shots and cuts is what helps to put
meaning within the scene.
Creating pace
An editor
can create pace in a scene by moving from:
Longer takes
to shorter takes;
Increase or
decrease pace
A few cuts
in a given stretch of film time to many cuts in a given stretch of film time.
An editor might increase the pace in a scene
to communicate:
Rising
action
Diminishing
time
Mounting
tension
Heightening
of stakes
The sequence
starts with longer takes which are used to engage the audience and make them interested
in the screen play which is taking place.
The takes
begin to get shorter in length when the editor has done this to increase the
action and the feel and the energy of the film and the editor does this by brining
it more towards real time to build the excitement.
Towards the
end of the scene a lot of cuts occur in a relatively short space of screen
time. The editor here uses a high number
of cuts to take you back and forth from the action if there shot-reverse-shot takes
to remind you that the action is occurring and there is conflict near the
action and we are close to the point of climax in the film.
Often, an editor will arrange cuts such that there is a recognisable synchronicity or asynchronicity with the beats and rhythm of an accompanying music track.
This technique is referred to as cutting to a soundtrack.
When an editor arranges cuts so that they synchronise with the eats and rhythm of any accompanying music they are said to be cutting to the beat. Here the director will use the beats to dictate where the visual cuts happen.
Cutting the video clips to the beats of an up-tempo piece of music will grant the sequence a fast editorial pace.
An editor might use this technique to build tension or bring added intensity to action.
An editor will sometimes decide to go against the beat of a musical accompaniment for effect.
Sometimes the effect makes the two appear asynchronous.
The technique enables a director to achieve dramatic irony in the scene, inflecting the unfolding action with new layers of meaning.
Director Gus Van Sant elects to represent a fight between two rival groups of male youths in Good Will Hunting by slowing down the motion of the video and cutting at variance to Gerry Rafferty’s Baker Street, the musical accompaniment.
The gentle, melodic, melancholic tones of the track together with the despair of the vagabond’s existence of its subject contrast with the visuals to suggest the cyclical violence and social degradation of the fighting youths.
In mainstream cinema, especially west, editorial motivation supports continuity.
A “motivated” edit refers to cuts that are motivated by some purpose (story, character, emotion and suspense.)
A motive is a reason for doing something.
With motivated editing something that occurs in a shot, will be the reason for picking shot B, for the first shot provides the motive for the next shot.
· The motivation can be a variety of reasons: ·Flashbacks ·Exposition ·To see something that a character is seeing ·To show who is talking in a conversation
How sequences of shots in a scene are assembled by an editor will often be determined by the genre.
In drama, an editor may begin with a wide shot, focusing on proxemics, for example the distance between two people who have become emotionally estranged from one another.
If the dramatic beat of the scene has been determined as the most explosive moment in an ensuring argument, the editor will often work towards this via medium coverage, through which an audience can experience the building tension that the characters themselves are feeling.
Ultimately, closer coverage will enable an editor to highlight the range of feelings and emotions- anger, resentment, hatred – flowing through the characters, by focusing on the detail of these in the characters ‘faces.
How sequences in shots in a scene are assembled by an editor will often be determined by the genre.
In an action adventure film, the editor may need to keep alternating between wider shots of the action and closer coverage detailing the responses/ reactions of characters.
In a chase scene for example, a range of wide production value shots will often be intercut with closer coverage of the characters involved responding to the changing strategy, dynamics and stakes of the chase.
In a horror film, a director might elect to stay wide on the action to isolate a vulnerable character.
The editor might use a long take, resisting the option of cutting to a new angle, lingering on the action in the same shot size in order to create a sense of stillness.
Relationship to genre is clear through the encoding – stillness in horror representing the calm that precedes moments of violence and terror.
Often takes in reactions and happens in a two person dialogue.
Shot reverse shot is a continuity editing technique used in conversations or simply characters looking at each other or objects.
A shot showing what the character is supposedly looking at (either a point of view or over the shoulder shot) is followed by a reverse angle shot of the character themselves looking at it, or of the other character looking back at them, for example.
Shot reverse shot often ties in with the 180° rule to retain continuity by not distorting the audience’s sense of location of the characters in the shots.
This means two things the amount of footage shot and the variety of angles in shots. The master shot is the shot that captures the whole scene in one shot. the Master shots will save any problems in the actual scene. Once this is secured you then move in for closer shots and more interesting shots. You will do the scene over and over. Mediums are good for dynamic shot. The close shot shows the intimacy. Insert shots show key objects or people.
Editing rhythm is what editors use to keep pace of the film up to match the action that is going on in the film. Slow cuts edits has a calming, bordering feel to the edit, were as a fast cut edits has lively, aggressive feel to the edit. Below is an example of a scene from the movie Hero which shows somebody else's unique creation of Editing Rhythm and i think it is effective, good way to show it.
Below is an example of how some editors may use a technique in editing rhythm in a film sequence and the way that they may go about it. It shows a clever structure that they use to help them make their cuts more interesting so that unlike a repetition of 5- word sentences, they sound melodic rather than monotonous.
This sentence has five words.
Here are five more words.
Five-word sentences are fine.
But several together become monotonous.
Listen to what is happening.
The writing is getting boring.
The sound of it drones.
It’s like a stuck record.
The ear demands some variety.
Now listen.
I vary the sentence length, and I create music.
Music.
The writing sings.
It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony.
I use short sentences.
And I use sentences of medium length.
And sometimes when I am certain the reader is rested, I will
engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with
energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums,
the crash of the cymbals–sounds that say listen to this, it is important.
By Gary
Provost
This extract in which i have given myself to analyse the directors rationale is The shining which shows how the director was intending to make the audience wait on the next action scene whilst the little boy remained sat on his bike, the deceased twins stood at the bottom of the corridor played the antagonist , however remaining still to make an attempt to catch the audience off guard whilst the camera does shot reverse shot from the boy and back to the girls - this is what the director successfully achieved by editing in this particular way.
Providing and withholding information is a big part of cinema because as a viewer we don't want to be told the plot from the beginning and this is why dramatic questions are very important in film making. Providing information for the viewer is essential in the sense that putting a few shots together that will reveal the minimum will engage your viewer as they will always be itching to find out what is going to happen or what is around the corner, but I think that the best way to keep a viewer guessing and more hooked on your plot by withholding information because then the viewer will be asking questions to try and justify the actions they've just witnessed, what makes sense of it and whats to come. It is very popular for this technique to be used in Horror and Thriller films as the anticipation of the audience is high and the tension is automatically built in a more mild sense as the conflict is not yet revealed - it is teased into the screenplay whilst the audience wait impatiently to find out what happens next. here is an example of Providing and withholding information
Here is a shot example of providing and withholding information
Here is more of a withholding information shot as we can see here, it does provide us with information because it is from the persons POV, and we know that everything we see and all the information that we are given in the long distance camera shot, is everything the character can see. Through this we get a sense that something bad is due to/ about to happen and that the person who plays the main character is about to be confronted with the antagonist. However, the audience has been left wondering what is going to show up in the corridor, which angle is it going to come from? Will we see the antagonist as they may approach and attack from behind? could it come from a side door or will it be seen and approach the character/ vitim from straight ahead in the distance?
When there is a big action scene such as a car chase a camera on a tripod doesn't work so a camera needs to be able to move. There is different equipment used to film scenes like these. A dolly shot or tracking shot is when a cart is on a track and is then moved along it to record a shot. The camera is mounted on the cart to film all the footage. Most dollies also have have the ability to move vertically to capture footage that maybe high up or in some cases they can be fitted with cranes so footage at a higher level can be captured easily and successfully.
A Dolly Zoom is a technique that zooms in and out but adjusting the the zoom angle and ensuring the the subject in shot in the same size in the frame.A dolly zoom is an unnatural effect and creates something that your eyes wouldn't see. This effect was made famous by Alfred Hitchcock in the film Vertigo and was later used by Steven Spielberg in Jaws.
When an editing style is referred to as classic Hollywood
continuity editing it is because one of its principle aims is to make the
mechanics of the editing process invisible to the viewer. These first elements
synthesise and have a bearing on one another.
Good continuity editing shouldn’t draw attention to itself
in any way. The viewers focus and attention should not be taken away from the
action of the story. The aims of invisibility leads us to the term of reference
‘seamless’.
To be seamless, cuts should take on a n invisible quality
about them, the viewer should not notice them.
To be seamless, continuity in terms of all elements of
mise-en-scene and all elements of action in the frame should be preserved
perfectly from one clip or taken to the next across the cut., this must be made
sure of because if there are noticeable elements in one scene which are not
included or featured in another, they will certainly go noticed by the audience
as an obvious form of editing.
The script continuity supervisor –
Any mise-en-scene element such as the position of figure or
object changing erroneously across a cut breaks continuity and leads to editing
which is not seamless.
Any unit of action that doesn’t match properly across a cut
also breaks continuity and this again leads to editing which is not seamless.
Breaking the 180 degree axis rule – or any of the associated
rules – will also result in continuity issues and undermine the goal of
invisible editing.
Continuity editing is the dominant style of film editing in
the western world and most cinematic cultures around the rest of the globe.
Its purpose is to ‘smooth over the essential discontinuity
of the process of editing and to establish a logical coherence between
sequences and the constitutive shots from which they are composed.
The act of cutting represents a move-away from the real time
action (detraction) from the continuous progress of a piece of action.
Removing or adding frames condenses or expands the time of
the original action.
If we cut away from one angle to another there is a
noticeable break from the continuous action of the first take to a new shot.
The task of the continuity editor is to reduce that
noticeability, so that the viewer’s immersion in the story is undisturbed.
Continuity editing is a process which attempt to make
deviations from the continuous real time action of a single stretch of footage
as inconspicuous as possible.
Editors achieve logical coherence by cutting to continuity
where the emphasis is on smooth transition of time and space.
Why is motivated used by editors? Because the story calls
the shots – we then let the story remain the focus for the audience, rather
than unimportant details.
In mainstream cinematic narratives, emphasis is out on the
story being told in a logical and clear order.
Seamless editing helps and audience suspend its disbelief.
Motivational editing complements continuity editing allowing
the story to dictate what the audience sees.
When montage refers to techniques
in film editing techniques it has three senses:
In French film practice, “montage”
has its own literal French meaning (assembly, installation) and simply
identifies editing.
In Soviet filmmaking of the 1920’s,
“montage” was a methods of juxtaposing shots to derive new meaning that did not
exist in either shot alone.
In classical Hollywood cinema, a “montage
sequence” is a short segment in a film in which narrative information is
presented in a condensed fashion.
Hollywood montage is a montage style that suddenly became a
convention during the classical Hollywood era and remained very popular
technique amongst directors and editors throughout the twentieth century and
into our current one.
The montage sequence consists of a
series of short shots that are then edited into a sequence to condense
narrative which is displayed. It is usually used to advance the story as a
whole (often to suggest the passage of time), rather than to create symbolic
meaning.
In many cases, a song plays in the
background to enhance the mood or reinforce the message being conveyed.
Examples #1
My first example is from ‘Hot Fuzz
Opening Sequence’ which clearly conveys montage, although with a difference as
it’s V/O (Voice over) montage which has somebody talking over the scene as they
are almost narrating the story and the beginning of the scene alongside music
as it gradually fades in. we see the first character walking through a
building, training with the police force as part of his job, handling a street
riot situation, sitting an exam as part of his police training, being awarded,
being photographed with his colleagues, running up a set of stairs, helping
members of the public, presenting in front of his colleagues, cycling, playing
and fencing and this is all happening at
different times and that gives us the sense of montage as we are condensing
time.
Soviet montage edit - Lev Kuelshov
in soviet montage theory, the editing of shots creates symbolic meaning.
For Kuleshov, editing a film is like constructing a building. Brick-by-Brick (shot-by-shot).
Kuleshov conducted an experiment to show that montage can lead the viewer to reach certain conclusions about the action in a film.
The Kuleshove experiment
Kuelshov edited together a short film i which a shot of the expressionless face of Tsarist Matinee idol Ivan Mosjoukine was alternated with various other shots (a plate of soup, a gin in a coffin, a woman on a divan).
Experiment explained
The audience believed that Mosjoukine's face displayed three different expressions according to what he was "looking at":
soup - hunger
girl in coffin - grief
woman on the divan - desire
Actual truth;
*The footage of Mosjoukine was actually the same piece of shot each time. *
Montage works because viewers infer meaning based on context - we interpret based on the context and construct our own meaning.
Technically this isn't video editing, it's film editing. But it is worth a mention as it was the first way to edit moving pictures and conceptually it forms the basis of all video editing.
Traditionally, film is edited by cutting into small sections of the film and rearranging or discarding them once finished. The process is incredibly straightforward and mechanical and theory a film could be edited with a pair of scissors and some splicing tape, although in reality a splicing machine is the only practical solution to get the job done properly. A splicing machine allows film footage to be lined up and held in place while it is cut or spliced together.
A film splicer (also called a film joiner, usually in
Europe) is a device which can be used to physically join together lengths of
photographic film. It is mostly used in film motion pictures. The units are
made in various types depending on the usage: Single-8, Super 8 film, 16mm, 9,5
mm,35mm and 70mm. Used in film editing to make a cut (transition).
Cutting
In the post-production process of film editing and video
editing, a cut is an abrupt, but usually trivial film transition from one
sequence to another. It is synonymous with the term edit, though
"edit" can imply any number of transitions or effects.
