Scene 34 & 37

As part of the course, we were given rushes to edit for two scenes within a film. I found this a mainly enjoyable experience if not a little frustrating at times. I've not really had an awful lot of experience with editing in the past so it took me a while to get my head around the whole process. I've previously used Final Cut 7 to edit my short film for A-level Film Studies but I barely used any of the features available to me.

The software we used to edit these rushes was Final Cut Pro X. The general opinion of the class was that this was a terrible version of Final Cut. They said that most of the processes that were usually fine-tuned manually were set automatically and that the software seemed to do everything for you. For such an editing novice I personally found this to be a great help rather than a disappointment. I especially liked the interface  for selecting parts of the clips to drag onto the timeline.

In terms of sound I found adjusting levels and adding fades an enjoyable experience. I learned about levels and fades in George Flemings Audio post-production lectures. He also taught us about wild tracks and most importantly the sonic identity of a film. I wanted to take this lesson and try and create good quality and clear sound within these edits to the best of my abilities. In the tutorials I was shown the tools available on Final Cut Pro X for audio editing. As much as I enjoyed this I found the features available on this software quite limited as there was a lot more I wanted to do to to the sound but didn't have the means to do so.

As for colour grading, this was a concept I wasn't very aware of before so I found the lecture about this particularly interesting. I was a bit worried at the beginning of the tutorial on colour grading because it seemed quite complicated but the tools on Final Cut Pro X were very simple and easy to use. I found it difficult to decide what looked natural at first but after a while it became easier.

Grammar of the Edit by Roy Thompson

When browsing in the library for some extra reading I came across a book called Grammar of the Edit by Roy Thompson. It's a fairly thin book but it's full of accessible and helpful knowledge about the fundamentals of editing. I found this book extremely beneficial as I'm still quite a novice when it comes to editing. This book sets down the essential terminology and processes necessitous to editing. 

A particular part of the book I found interesting is the section titled "The Six Elements of the Edit". This lists and explains the six aspects of editing that Thompson considers most important which are: motivation, information, shot composition, sound, camera angle and continuity. Within these aspects are standards and rules to be obeyed to ensure for flowing and understandable editing.

Motivation: This explains how there always needs to be a reason to cut, mix or fade shots. Thompson remarks that this "motivation" could be an action (no matter how small) or any sound (such as a telephone or a voice off screen). An illustration is used to show that even the smallest of smiles or facial movements can be enough motivation to cut, mix or fade. 

Information: Here Thompson comments that with each new shot should come new "visual information". For example, a medium shot of a man speaking should not be followed by a long shot of the same man from the same angle. This is because no new visual information is provided. For this to work, a shot of something completely different needs to be placed in between these shots. For example, a shot of a different person reacting to the man. Thompson also states that "It is the editors job to get as much visual information into the programme as he or she can, without patronising the audience."

Shot Composition: Thompson explains that even though creating good shot composition isn't the responsibility of the editor, it is the responsibility of the editor to select the best shot compositions provided to include in the edit.

Sound: It is described here how "sound is not only more immediate than visuals but also more abstract." and "you don't have to see what you hear". Sound can prepare audience for events to come within the film, it can heighten tension and create the right atmospheres, emotions and moods to match the visuals on screen. Thompson makes clear the importance of good sound within an edit and states that "lack of the appropriate sound can devalue an edit."

Camera Angles: Thompson explains here that the director will shoot the same sequence but from varying angles and that it's the editors decision which angles go in the final edit. A principle is described here that "each time you cut or mix from one shot to another, the camera should be on a different angle from the previous shot." Also that "the difference between the axis should never be greater than 180 degrees and usually less than 45 degrees when shooting the same subject." This makes for a smoother edit and the audience don't feel like they're being thrown around too much. It's easier on the eye. 

Continuity: Possibly one of the most importance aspects of editing to be aware of is continuity. Without continuity the edit will be a mismatch of unrelated and badly flowing shots.  This is broken down into four subcategories. Continuity of content, continuity of movement, continuity of position and continuity of sound. 

Robert Bresson

"

My movie is born first in my head, dies on paper; is resuscitated by the living persons and real objects I use, which are killed on film but, placed in a certain order and projected on to a screen, come to life again like flowers in water."

                                                                                   - Robert Bresson

Robert Bresson was a French director living for 98 years from 1901-1999. He played a large part in influencing French New Wave cinema and contributing methods and innovations to the art of film. 

I feel that this quote of his is a perfect metaphor for the entire process of film-making - particularly the part describing post production: rushes "placed in a certain order" bring a film completely back to life like "flowers in water". This emphasises the importance of editing and how it can be the making or the breaking of a film. To have a large variety of beautiful looking shots is fine however meaningless unless placed in an order that is readable and understandable. A film is dead unless it can be understood. Good editing enables this understanding. 
 

Ghostbusters Reconstruction

As part of the course we were shown the opening of Ghostbusters to recreate and reshoot. This was inspired by Michel Gondry's Be Kind Rewind Protocol. We were to watch the scene intensely taking note of the shots included and then from that, draw up a storyboard of our own interpretation of the scene. This was the sequence.

After we had storyboarded our interpretation we set about recording it. We abruptly realised that no one in our group had a SiSo account yet and we'd left it a little too late to go about getting one in time. Luckily, my fellow group member Keelan had his own DSLR and SD card that we could use. This turned out fairly well because Keelan knew his way around the camera and it was capable of producing some very nicely defined shots.  I asked my friend Charlie if he would like to get involved in acting and he was very enthusiastic. Mostly because he's a big fan of Bill Murray and wanted to pretend to be him! This worked out very well because it turned out he had quite a flair with comedy. Shooting took around 2-3 hours and we all felt that it went quite well and left the set with an air of confidence about us.

Editing the sequence on Final Cut Pro X began well and I enjoyed trying to fine tune the pacing and tweaking parts to give it a steady and natural flow. I discovered that this had to be quite an instinctual process. Over-thinking about timing in shots is a pathway to disaster. If you want the sequence to flow naturally then you have to edit naturally and with an open mind. I struggled with this as I generally tend to over think most things. As editing went on I realised we had missed out a rather important shot that was vital to driving the narrative of the sequence. There wasn't a lot I could do at that point so I reused a shot that was similar from earlier on in the scene. I know this is terrible editing and even worse planning and production but as mentioned we were poorly organised and left it far too late for any real changes to be made in filming. This is a regret that I'll learn from.

The sound on the rushes was also sub par because we used the built in microphone on Keelan's DSLR. The audio wasn't terrible but when compared to the audio collected using booms and a Marantz it's a little disappointing. Also, at the time of editing I didn't really know or understand how to edit and alter the sound properly using Final Cut Pro X because this was before our lecture and tutorial for it. The same goes for colour grading. I wasn't aware of the methods involved in setting the colours within shots to look more natural and matching at the time of editing.

If I were to do this again I would make sure the skills learned in lectures and tutorials were used effectively to perfect the audio and colour grading. We would also be better focused on set and make sure we get all the shots we need and more. I'd also make sure we used sufficient audio equipment, like a Marantz and Boom. It's very hard to fix bad sound.

Our recreation: