Scene 37 from the film "Watching and Waiting" proved to be quite a challenge to edit. There were many obstacles in the footage that was given to be edited.
One of the scenes where the main character, Katherine, gets up to meet Dickie has quite a number of different takes. Each take has one thing or the other wrong with it. For example, in one of them you see the sound pack on the back of Katherine as she walks over to Dickie. And in another, as she walks over to Dickie, we see the boom in shot through a high up mirror on the wall. This was quickly rectified by cutting to the reverse-shot of Katherine coming over just before the boom came into shot.
There was also a problem with one of the actors dialogue. Dickie's dialogue changes in nearly every shot of him and the reverse-shots of Katherine. This proved to be quite arduous as the script had to be consulted several times and many changes had to be made before a compromise for the conversation could be found. Simply, different cuts had to be made and some dialogue had to be cut out for continuity and for the flow of the editing.
This time round in scene editing, sound didnt prove problematic at first. After finishing my edit and uploading it, I realised you can hear the slight jump in the levels differences on every different take.
After looking back at the edit, there a number of things that could be changed for the better. There are a couple of shots which are cut either slightly too quickly or linger for the tiniest bit too long. There was also some difficulty in cutting together the part where Katherine turns around looks at the targets, then cut to her turning back towards Dickie. This proved to be difficult as Dickie's dialogue altered between shots making it hard to cut it.
https://vimeo.com/80552260
Thursday, 28 November 2013
Wednesday, 27 November 2013
Windsurfing Edit 2.0
Today, the windsurf edits were shown. These edits were a second try at editing with music in mind. This time around most of the edits vastly improved.
More suitable music was chosen and cuts were done on the beat rather than awkwardly staying on a shot for too long. It made the video flow and didn't have such an anti-climatic ending as the previous windsurfing edit.
However, the ending still doesn't quite fit as well, but it's much better than the previous attempt. A few fades were thrown into the mix to help transition well with the music.
https://vimeo.com/80449553
More suitable music was chosen and cuts were done on the beat rather than awkwardly staying on a shot for too long. It made the video flow and didn't have such an anti-climatic ending as the previous windsurfing edit.
However, the ending still doesn't quite fit as well, but it's much better than the previous attempt. A few fades were thrown into the mix to help transition well with the music.
https://vimeo.com/80449553
Tuesday, 26 November 2013
Derek Jarman's The Last of England
Jarman's film The Last of England is a personal commentary by the director about the 80s in England. Jarman visually describes the decline of England during this decade throughout the film. It is a non-narrative film that's very visual.
The film contains lots of quick cuts and fast-paced, almost repetitious, editing at points. One point in particular stands out. This is the scene where a man dances in a dress, while quite a booming, sort of industrial track plays over it. This scene's interesting because the film came out just before music videos and MTV became big.
Saying this, it could be suggested that Jarman was a pioneer of music video editing back in the day. This is because said scene is exactly what you'd expect from an MTV music video. The scene contains lots of quick cuts, zooms and flashes. It's quick cuts are similar to the almost ADHD editing nature of music videos today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSKd9bGeLWM
The film contains lots of quick cuts and fast-paced, almost repetitious, editing at points. One point in particular stands out. This is the scene where a man dances in a dress, while quite a booming, sort of industrial track plays over it. This scene's interesting because the film came out just before music videos and MTV became big.
Saying this, it could be suggested that Jarman was a pioneer of music video editing back in the day. This is because said scene is exactly what you'd expect from an MTV music video. The scene contains lots of quick cuts, zooms and flashes. It's quick cuts are similar to the almost ADHD editing nature of music videos today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSKd9bGeLWM
Sunday, 24 November 2013
Pudovkin's Editing Techniques
The other day while I was browsing the internet regarding editing techniques, I came across a video on vimeo which discussed the techniques by Pudovkin. Pudovkin came about with five editing techniques which helped form cinema in terms of editing and placing shots together. Today, these techniques can be widely seen in most movies.
Pudovkin believed editing to be a method that controls the "psychological guidance" of the viewer rather than a mere method of placing separate scenes or pieces together. He called this relational editing. This can be clearly seen in his five different techniques of editing. These five techniques are:
1) Contrast
2) Parallelism
3) Symbolism
4) Simultaneity
5) Leit Motif
1) Contrast: This is one way of juxtaposition. It's showing two different shots put together show contrast between them to the spectator. An immaculate example given for this is the baptism scene in The Godfather, which cuts away to shots of people being killed. The contrasts shows the extent to which Al Pacino's character is willing to go.
.Anotherperfect example of this would be the iconic bone throwing scene from Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. In this scene, the first shot is of the monkey throwing a bone up into the sky, it then cuts to a match cut of a space station in space. Parallelism in this scene helps convey how far mankind has evolved.
2) Parallelism: Is used to convey a jump in time mostly. Spielberg does this in Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade. Indy dons the iconic hat as a young child the image then dissolves to that of Indy many years later wearing the same hat.
3) Symbolism: This can be seen in Lawrence of Arabia when the main character lights a match and blows it out, cutting to a shot of the sun setting over the horizon in the desert. This underscores the searing heat of the desert sun as it finally submerges below the horizon.
4) Simultaneity: Also known as Cross-Cutting. The Red Herring scene in The Silence of the Lambs portrays cross cutting finely. In this scene when the SWAT team buzz the door of buffalo bills house, the audience is led to believe it's that house. It then cuts to clarissa, at buffalo bills actual house and it turns out the swat team are at the wrong one. This shows how vulnerable Clarissa is and in how much danger she's in.
5) Leit Motif: Is a musical technique used in cinema to describe a recurring scene or shot in a film. This is done with certain music themes which help the spectator identify certain scenes that are about to occur, which have some sort of meaning or symbolism. An example of this is the emperor's march in Star Wars. It shows the viewer that a certain "motif" will occur.
Pudovkin believed editing to be a method that controls the "psychological guidance" of the viewer rather than a mere method of placing separate scenes or pieces together. He called this relational editing. This can be clearly seen in his five different techniques of editing. These five techniques are:
1) Contrast
2) Parallelism
3) Symbolism
4) Simultaneity
5) Leit Motif
1) Contrast: This is one way of juxtaposition. It's showing two different shots put together show contrast between them to the spectator. An immaculate example given for this is the baptism scene in The Godfather, which cuts away to shots of people being killed. The contrasts shows the extent to which Al Pacino's character is willing to go.
.Anotherperfect example of this would be the iconic bone throwing scene from Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. In this scene, the first shot is of the monkey throwing a bone up into the sky, it then cuts to a match cut of a space station in space. Parallelism in this scene helps convey how far mankind has evolved.
2) Parallelism: Is used to convey a jump in time mostly. Spielberg does this in Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade. Indy dons the iconic hat as a young child the image then dissolves to that of Indy many years later wearing the same hat.
3) Symbolism: This can be seen in Lawrence of Arabia when the main character lights a match and blows it out, cutting to a shot of the sun setting over the horizon in the desert. This underscores the searing heat of the desert sun as it finally submerges below the horizon.
4) Simultaneity: Also known as Cross-Cutting. The Red Herring scene in The Silence of the Lambs portrays cross cutting finely. In this scene when the SWAT team buzz the door of buffalo bills house, the audience is led to believe it's that house. It then cuts to clarissa, at buffalo bills actual house and it turns out the swat team are at the wrong one. This shows how vulnerable Clarissa is and in how much danger she's in.
5) Leit Motif: Is a musical technique used in cinema to describe a recurring scene or shot in a film. This is done with certain music themes which help the spectator identify certain scenes that are about to occur, which have some sort of meaning or symbolism. An example of this is the emperor's march in Star Wars. It shows the viewer that a certain "motif" will occur.
Juxtaposition
Another aspect of editing we looked at in post-production class was Juxtaposition. Juxtaposition is a very important tool in cinema as it allows filmmakers to create a contrast and/or comparison on-screen.
Juxtaposition is defined as placing two things close together or side by side. In film, as stated previously, this allows a contrast or a comparison to be made. The soviet idea of montage was based on juxtaposing different shots together to create a montage. An example of creating contrast in a soviet montage would be Strike (1925) by Sergei Eisenstein. In one scene in Strike the slaughtering conducted by the Cossak Army's emphasised in the juxtaposition of three different shots: 1) Soldiers advancing 2) A bull being slaughtered and 3) Ink spilled over a street map. This comparison accentuates the brutal slaughtering done by the Cossaks. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWiDciPuSW4
A more recent example of juxtaposition that I've seen in a movie would be Beasts of the Southern Wild. As the storm approaches in a certain scene, Hushpussy hits her father in his chest. This images is then juxtaposed with that of a ice-breaking away from an arctic landscape. The shot changes to Hushpuppy's father falling back onto his kness, gripping his chest. These shot are comparisons, and both come together in the third shot when the storm begins.
Juxtaposition is defined as placing two things close together or side by side. In film, as stated previously, this allows a contrast or a comparison to be made. The soviet idea of montage was based on juxtaposing different shots together to create a montage. An example of creating contrast in a soviet montage would be Strike (1925) by Sergei Eisenstein. In one scene in Strike the slaughtering conducted by the Cossak Army's emphasised in the juxtaposition of three different shots: 1) Soldiers advancing 2) A bull being slaughtered and 3) Ink spilled over a street map. This comparison accentuates the brutal slaughtering done by the Cossaks. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWiDciPuSW4
A more recent example of juxtaposition that I've seen in a movie would be Beasts of the Southern Wild. As the storm approaches in a certain scene, Hushpussy hits her father in his chest. This images is then juxtaposed with that of a ice-breaking away from an arctic landscape. The shot changes to Hushpuppy's father falling back onto his kness, gripping his chest. These shot are comparisons, and both come together in the third shot when the storm begins.
Montage Editing
In class, the week before last, we learned about and discussed the editing technique called montage. This class covered the different interpretations of montage that exist in cinema today.
The Soviets idea of montage was a number/series of shots placed together consecutively. A perfect example of this would be Sergei Eisenstein's The Battleship Potemkin. The Odessa Step sequence illustrates exactly what a montage is according to the Soviet Montage Theory: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps-v-kZzfec
Whereas, there's also the "Hollywood Montage". This is the classic montage that nearly everyone knows. The classic Hollywood montage comprises of a series of shots put together that condense the passing of time. The perfect paradigm of this sort of montage would be the training montage in the very first Rocky movie. In this scene, we see time pass as Rocky trains hard and becomes fit enough to take on the fight that occurs at the end of the film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DP3MFBzMH2o
However, in class we learned the general idea of what a montage is and should be on screen. A montage is a composition made by compiling a bunch of pictures or images together. A montage is a relatively quick sequence of many different shots placed together in a film.
We also learned that a montage should:
It should flow in a continous motion.
It should vary in rhythm and different camera angles.
It should be two more things edited together to create a third called the Tertium Quid. Which should make the whole greater than the sum of the other parts.
The Soviets idea of montage was a number/series of shots placed together consecutively. A perfect example of this would be Sergei Eisenstein's The Battleship Potemkin. The Odessa Step sequence illustrates exactly what a montage is according to the Soviet Montage Theory: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ps-v-kZzfec
Whereas, there's also the "Hollywood Montage". This is the classic montage that nearly everyone knows. The classic Hollywood montage comprises of a series of shots put together that condense the passing of time. The perfect paradigm of this sort of montage would be the training montage in the very first Rocky movie. In this scene, we see time pass as Rocky trains hard and becomes fit enough to take on the fight that occurs at the end of the film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DP3MFBzMH2o
However, in class we learned the general idea of what a montage is and should be on screen. A montage is a composition made by compiling a bunch of pictures or images together. A montage is a relatively quick sequence of many different shots placed together in a film.
We also learned that a montage should:
It should flow in a continous motion.
It should vary in rhythm and different camera angles.
It should be two more things edited together to create a third called the Tertium Quid. Which should make the whole greater than the sum of the other parts.
Sunday, 3 November 2013
Editing with audio: Scene 34 Creation
During the past week in post-production class, we were given the task to edit two different scenes. The first scene we had to edit involved cutting together a scene of dialogue by the seaside.
After editing together the different clips, the audio proved to be a problem. Since the scene was shot by the sea, there were different levels of sound coming out of each shot. This proved to be quite difficult to deal with initially. For example, whenever the audio/video cut to a different shot the audio gain would be way louder than previously or quite quiet than previously. In class, I learned about the audio gain mixer and audio transitions.
I learned about a lot of different audio transitions, such as cross-fades, which helped smoothen out the changes between different audio tracks. This was the same with the audio gain mixer. The mixer assisted me in shifting the gain at different points, so that audio levels remain fairly constant throughout.
Despite one or two, audio problems still persisting, I learned a lot about audio cross-fades and the audio gain mixer this week.
https://vimeo.com/81206666
After editing together the different clips, the audio proved to be a problem. Since the scene was shot by the sea, there were different levels of sound coming out of each shot. This proved to be quite difficult to deal with initially. For example, whenever the audio/video cut to a different shot the audio gain would be way louder than previously or quite quiet than previously. In class, I learned about the audio gain mixer and audio transitions.
I learned about a lot of different audio transitions, such as cross-fades, which helped smoothen out the changes between different audio tracks. This was the same with the audio gain mixer. The mixer assisted me in shifting the gain at different points, so that audio levels remain fairly constant throughout.
Despite one or two, audio problems still persisting, I learned a lot about audio cross-fades and the audio gain mixer this week.
https://vimeo.com/81206666
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)