Reading and Writing

This week is all about editing, and that’s exactly what I read about in the Bare Bones Camera Course book. Before working on my own video montage project, I read about how to communicate clearly with your viewers. A good video production won’t surprise your viewers but instead allow them to slowly absorb the information you’re showing them. If we understand our viewers and what they are looking for, then this should be an easy task. One way to do this is to use camera moves that ease in and ease out the video. When you present new information, extend the clip time so that everyone can understand what is going on. But that’s just the beginning…

In the editing stages, your first move should be to show an establishing shot within the first few frames. If you have accompanying dialogue, this will also help your viewer understand where they are. This is most important, because if your audience doesn’t understand what they are looking at, they most likely will lose interest. Even after you established your location, you should remind your viewers every once in a while, with additional wide shots.

Within your video, you will also often be cutting to new shots. To not confuse, make sure each new shot is different. Different in content and framing. If they aren’t, your viewer might be confused because their brains were expecting something different. 

The pacing of your entire video is also important to consider. This is when your pictures and sound change. Its best to only change them when you need to better communicate your message or to keep the viewer’s interest. You don’t want to cut just because you ran out of film or just because you felt like it. Stay on a shot just long enough to convey meaning and then cut to something new. If something is important, then showing it on screen for longer, makes sense.

The style of your piece should also bring clarity to your viewers, not distract. It should complement the scrip, the director and camera person. When thinking about your own style of editing, remember what you’re trying to show and evoke. To show tension, cut faster and use jump cuts. If it’s a slower piece, you may use dissolves to transition. Just remember that dissolves are often used to show a change in time and shouldn’t be overly used, unless it’s a montage. It could affect the overall message and what your viewer gets out of it.

The last piece of advice from this chapter was related to editing sound. To give your film texture, using L-cuts can help. For example, if two people are talking, you could have the first person being shown on screen as the second person finishes what they have to say. Then as the first person replies, the second person can be shown. This gives your viewers a hint as to what else is happening.

Background music that all relate to one another can also elevate your video. When music tracks are played one right after the other, its best they sound similar. This way they convey a mood and won’t clash with it. If they are farther apart in the timeline, then having them be different is more than ok.

Going forward into the editing process this week I know it’s best to separate from the idea I had in my head. Sometimes it’s best to start editing based on the footage I captured, rather than trying to fit the film into the exact sequence I had planned. As I go through the footage, I should always have the viewer in mind and be editing for them. After all, they have the final say.

Research to Inform

Editing style says a lot about a movie and its editor. As I did research on the different styles, I immediate thought of the movie Rocky when reading about montages. The montage of him training for the fight has to be one of the most popular movie clips to date. What makes it so great is that the clips capture his journey and hard work from being an underdog to a worthy opponent. The montage only has a few quick cuts in the middle but mostly lets us see just how much work Rocky has put in and the variety of exercises he does. The editor uses straight cuts throughout the montage with the longer clips being around 11 seconds. I believe this editor created the montage this way because it allowed the viewers to see just how much work went into his training and to show that much time had passed. Then ending with the intimate scene where he is on top of the museum stairs, makes us want to route for him even more.

Cutting on action is another popular editing technique that can be found in the movie Mad Max: Fury Road. In this desert battle, the entire scene is action packed with two clans facing off, fighting each other. The cuts are quick and fast paced, lasting only a few seconds each and the whole scene only uses cuts, no other transitions. While there are a lot of flames and demolition going on, I noticed that every time something blows up or gets crashed into, the scene quickly cuts to someone’s reaction or retaliation. The editor probably did this because they were trying to resemble the action that is going on around the characters. Its fast paced and the characters have to think on their feet in order to survive. But we are able to follow this editing style because the scene usually starts with a close up shot, followed by a wider shot – giving us more detail on the full situation.

A cross dissolve is not a usual editing effect we see in movies today. But it was used in the movie Psycho. The video clip shows the aftermath of a woman who gets stabbed in the shower. Once she is on the ground at around 2:12, the clip starts to dissolve into the next one…which is a close up of her eye. This part of the movie is great at showing suspense with quick cuts. In fact, the part where she gets stabbed is extremely quick with each clip being only one second long. But then ends with a dramatic moment, where clips are longer, around 15 to 20 seconds. I believe the editor cut the scene this way to create more horror around the stabbing and allow the audience’s mind to fill in the parts that weren’t shown. The ending scene where the cross dissolve is, was dramatic. We saw her go from shower to death quickly, and in a disorienting way. As we see her blood rushing down the drain, we also see that her eyes are still open, a jarring ending where the cross dissolve connects the two clips together.

Create

This week I went back to Gallaher mansion and Cranberry Park to shoot my montage video. This second time around visiting the park, I felt much more comfortable taking my shots and knowing where the best angles were. I also was able to capture more than enough footage for my script, which was something I was initially worried about. But I had more than enough options and room to edit. Following my storyboard worked well and I had a great time capturing the beauty of this mansion, learning a lot being behind the camera. I feel much more confident when it comes to knowing composition and how following these rules can transform your story.

Some of my favorite footage to shoot was the leading lines, where the walking paths draws your eye to a point in the shot. I also enjoyed shooting the extreme close ups of the stonework, the lights, and front door detail. To me, those shots really show the mansion’s character.

But my method with this project started with the audio. After doing this week’s readings, I learned that editing audio first, before your video, is always the better way to work. So, I decided to try this method and I totally agree. I was able to focus on my narration, get the sound effects and music perfect, all before getting distracted with visuals. This way, once I uploaded my footage, I was able to edit and cut at certain points. Like when the music changed or when I started talking about something new. This was a new way for me to work; the process was so much easier than editing video and then audio.

Overall, I’m proud of how this video came out and all the work I put into it. It followed my storyboard closely; I only edited out a small part of narration and rearranged a few clips. But other than that, I’m happy I was able to follow my original idea. You can look at my finished montage video below. I hope you learn a few things and enjoy it.