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Category: Film Editing
During production, we cover our scenes to provide the editor with a variety of shots so he or she can assemble with rhythm and pace while building a scene. A successful editor’s first order of business is to tell a story.
What could be a frightful continuity error for a newbie editor, is a fresh challenge for a pro editor to solve – “Focus on the eyes!”
Continuity & Rhythm in Editing
But sometimes the editor is handed a set of shots – long, medium, close, cutaways, cut-ins, etc. They are meant to be cut together ‘seamlessly’; the action is supposed to match where one shot cuts to another as a continuity cut.
Below is a continuity editing example in a dance number between Sean Astin and Emily Hampshire. The scene is covered with several shot sizes of identical action. When edited, the action appears continuous as the shots intercut.
The most common mistakes have to do with continuity and rhythm, which both rely on the quality of the number of shots that cover a scene.
This article is a reformatted excerpt from “Scene Coverage” in Cyber Film School’s Multi-Touch Filmmaking Textbook
During production, a few continuity details get missed while covering a scene – a cup in an actor’s left hand in one shot changes to her right hand in the next. The clothing does not match as we cut from one shot to the next.
Screen direction problems show up where an actor or camera has crossed the axis, so when the shots cut together actors suddenly face the wrong direction. See our article on maintaining Screen Direction issues here.
New editors often fret over these flubs, but what is a continuity error to a newbie is a challenge that seasoned pros look forward to solving. Their solution is to focus on performance and eye lines and performance
In the following example, we forced the cut without strict continuity on the action. However, the eye line is consistent and we follow the flow of the story through the actors’ connection.
Now replay the above and examine the woman’s hands. Notice that in each cut, they do not match the action.
Even when they embrace, we jump forward in time. We don’t notice the mismatched action because the editor draws us to the performance. We are caught up in the scene’s rhythm.
“Dede” Allen was one of cinema’s all-time celebrated ‘auteur’ film editors, and the very first editor to be awarded a single-card head credit as Editor, which is now commonplace. She’s known for The Hustler (1961), Bonnie and Clyde (1967), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), and Reds (1982). She was also known as Hollywood’s ‘go-to’ film doctor to fix problems in major studio films.
To solve continuity issues between shots, Dede advises to ‘cut’ with the performance, with the eyes.
Importance of Rhythm
Continuity in a film is not the only consideration when editing a scene. Although rhythm in editing is less about movie continuity, it is more related to continuity in terms of conveying ‘subtext’. Let’s explore subtext.
Picture this: an editor cuts a scene following the script exactly as written. His cuts are smooth and perfect. The director screens it, then yells to the editor, “You missed the whole point!” Much like cracking a good joke, telling a story is all in the timing or rhythm, which may not be evident on the script page.
The editor in this scenario mistook pauses in the performance as “dead space.” Editors must screen everything and know the story and director’s intent in order to spot the subtext and cut accordingly. The subtext is what the character thinks or believes. It’s often found in silent pauses, over which the editor has full control.
In the back-to-back clips below, spot the truth and the lie in this dialogue: One dialogue scene is cut two different ways – same setup, same script, same dialogue. The first cut sounds like a straight-up explanation. The second cut lets us read the behavior of the players and what they are saying to each other.
The film editor is certainly the main player in bringing the film project together in post-production, a key creative key position that influences the director with a fresh set of eyes.
By Glen Berry Edited by Stavros C. Stavrides
IMPORTANT CONCEPTS
The film editor is not alone in post-production; it takes a team The editor is a key creative player The director must allow the editor to influence the work
It Takes A Team
When principal photography is finished and production is complete (getting the project ‘in the can’)we begin the fourth phase of our process, post-production (or simply, “Post”).
Having worked on many post-production projects over the years, one of the most critical misunderstandings about post-production is that the only role in post-production is the editor.
Although the editor is certainly the main player in bringing the project together in post-production, this phase requires an entire team of people with very different specialized skills.
Editors are often asked to be a one-person army in post-production. While it’s true that the editor must bridge the gap between many different aspects of post-production; it is unrealistic and unwise to expect the editor to take the raw materials from production and deliver a finished product on their own.
This happens when producers do not fully understand the post-production workflow or, quite commonly, the project has overspent in production and does not have sufficient resources for post-production.
As the editor, you may end up taking on multiple roles in post-production.
Our next article, “POST-PRODUCTION WORKFLOW” examines the workflow and roles through post-production; ingesting, rough cut, fine cut, titling, picture lock, and soundtrack. Even if you work on low-budget projects at least you will know the jobs that need doing.
Editor Is The Main Player
As mentioned above, the editor is the first and main player in post-production. The editor’s job is to organize and prepare the raw materials from production, assemble a rough cut, incorporate requested changes and deliver a final version of the edited picture and dialogue.
That is a technical description of the editor’s job; we will delve into exactly how the editor goes about these tasks later in Editing the Narrative Short. Please note that the editor is not responsible for titling, sound design, music, color correction or visual effects.
The Editor/Director Relationship
The role of the director in post-production is often misunderstood. Many directors want to sit over the shoulder of the editor and instruct them on every single cut to make.
This is a very bad idea and sets the stage for a complete breakdown in the editing process. Normally, you want the production team and the post-production team to be completely separate.
The editor should be sitting down and looking at the material for the first time and seeing it with new eyes. The editor has to be able to separate themselves from all of the efforts it took to get each shot in production.
That will make it easier for them to select shots based on whether they advance the story, not whether or not that particular shot required hours of tedious effort or long hours of waiting or a fair amount of money.
Most directors, even those with decades of experience, get hung up on this step in their visualization. They have lived and breathed this project for a long time and carefully nurtured it through each stage.
This article is drawn from the “Five Phases of Production” chapter in Cyber Film School’s Multi-Touch Filmmaking Textbook
It is likely they will have a strong desire to do so at this point as well. However, they need to step away and let the project breathe on its own. At some point, the movie will have to stand by itself.
The post-production phase is an excellent time to practice giving the movie a chance to take its first steps without the director.
Only an insecure director needs to sit in on every stage of the editing session. The director should never cut their own work. They should find someone they trust to read the material, that can understand the director’s intent and form a seamless story from the footage.
The editor is not the trained monkey of the director. Give the editor some space to exercise their talent and experience. If you don’t trust them to do their job, hire someone else.
Besides, there is nothing for the director to do when the editor is viewing the footage and experimenting with assembling the first sequences. Keep the director away from the editing room until the rough cut is complete.
That being said, the movie still belongs to the director (or the producer, as the case may be). The editor creates a cut and presents it to the director with suggestions for different options and solutions to problems.
Then the director will make decisions about how the rough cut should be changed or adjusted. The editor comes away from those meetings with notes, preferably a list, to implement according to the director’s wishes.
Assistant Editor
The Assistant Editor is responsible for preparing, logging, and ingesting the raw footage, and keeping files and media organized throughout postproduction. Being organized is essential to the entire process.
Summary
The editor may be the main player in post-production but he or she is not working alone. Many other roles come into play in this phase.
Keep the producer and director out of the editing room until a rough cut is complete. Let the editor do their job, there will be plenty of opportunities to make changes.
A post-production team that was never on the set will not be emotionally attached to any of the footage. You want their sole focus to be forging a quality movie and telling a story.
Post-production is where filmmaking magic transforms raw footage into a compelling story, and often where ideas can reshape and refine a narrative. For beginner filmmakers, understanding the steps and the elements of this stage is key to creating a masterful film.
by Glen Berry Edited by Stavros C. Stavrides
Key Concepts
Post-production is predictable compared to the chaos of filming.
The Rough Cut determines shot selection and sequence.
Picture Lock marks the point of no return for visual changes.
Edit the picture and dialogue, then play back without music to assess its narrative clarity.
The Six Steps of Post-Production
Compared to the relative chaos of Production, Post-Production is a more controlled environment and far more predictable, with a well-defined workflow.
The long hours of production can be stressful, schedules are tight, locations are unfamiliar, with a large number of people navigating it all.
Post-production is the opposite. There are fewer people, the hours are regular, schedules are planned and kept with precision, and the amount of material to work with is finite.
This guide walks you through the six essential steps of post-production:
1. Ingesting and Logging
Begin post-production by ingesting footage into your editing software. Organization is key—properly label and log your clips for easy reference throughout the process. Beginner’s tip: prioritize proper labelling and organization here. It will save time for you or another editor later on. You’ll thank yourself.
That batch of materials handed over from Production should include the script, raw footage and audio, the camera logs prepped by the camera operator on location and the sound reports, if available.
These are likely copies of the camera’s original media. Loss of or damage to the originals would likely change the lives of those responsible.
At this stage, you transfer media from the camera to your local hard drive or editing system. This often involves transcoding files to more edit-friendly formats. Attention to bit rate, resolution, and quality is essential.
These technical aspects depend on your project’s needs, details of which are beyond the scope of this article, but information about bit rate and resolution for your needs is widely available.
Once the footage is ready, start logging each clip in the editing software from with info from camera logs and slate markers. Organizing shots makes it easier to navigate and choose footage during the editing process.
If you’re not the editor, stick to technical information during footage logging and media organization. The editor will make creative notes about each shot, regardless of the notes in the camera log.
2. The Rough Cut
Editing a rough cut has a straightforward objective: get the movie’s picture and dialogue, to play in a sequence from start to finish. As the name “Rough” suggests, it will not be perfect.
Don’t strive for perfection. Rough-cut film editing is about important decisions about shot selection and shot order.
If the action of each scene in the script was covered from more than one angle during production (‘getting coverage’), the editor must decide what perspective to use at any given moment in the scene and get the movie to play from start to finish.
Accept that the rough cut will lack final transitions, pacing, and other elements like music and effects–save those for the fine cut.
Though tempting and possible to add them at this stage, they can complicate a timeline and create extra work when recutting a scene when you or your director may WILL change your minds.
The point is to see the film come together as a whole.
3. The Fine Cut
Once the rough cut is approved, move to edit the fine cut, where you focus on refining transitions, trimming unnecessary footage, and perfecting the pacing.
A fine cut should be watchable without relying on music to pinpoint the narrative and fix problems, unless, of course, music is featured or plays a vital part in the scene, such as the performance of instruments or dance.
If there are sections that drag or seem rough, music may smooth them over but that is not the purpose of music. Music should emphasize moments or heighten the feeling of moments on the screen, not fix problems for the editor.
The narrative should flow smoothly, and every cut should serve a purpose.
This article is drawn from the “Five Phases of Production” chapter in Cyber Film School’s Multi-Touch Filmmaking Textbook
Adding titles to the film titles can be easily added with most editing software. However, for complex designs that require graphic or video title effects, consider working with a specialist unless you have the necessary design skills.
Title cards or text overlays need to be clear, legible, and well-integrated into the film.
5. Picture Lock
Picture lock in film and video is not a process by itself is a critical milestone. Picture lock means that there will be no more changes to the picture.
Directors sometimes have a hard time with this. They want to keep noodling with the picture endlessly. This is why you want to make them sign a document indicating that the picture is now locked.
Picture lock is critical because this signifies that the editor’s job is done. The project can now be sent to a colorist, the composer, and the sound designer for finalization, although the composer and sound designer may have been involved to a degree during the latter portion of the rough cut.
Any changes to the picture can have very disruptive effects on their work and can result in enormous inefficiencies, blown deadlines, and unhappy people. When the picture is locked, it’s locked.
6. SoundTrack
The popular mistaken description of a soundtrack is the collection of pre-recorded songs included in a movie. However, this is not what we mean when we talk about the soundtrack.
When we use the term ‘soundtrack‘, we mean everything the audience actually hears when they watch the movie. The soundtrack is comprised of four elements:
Dialogue
Narration
Sound Effects
Music
Dialogue has already been determined by the editor and is delivered to the sound designer and composer along with the locked picture as reference material. If narration is used, a ‘scratch track’ (temporary track) should have already been developed and timed into the fine cut.
The sound designer is responsible for creating a rich and multi-layered mix of sound effects that do not interfere with the dialogue. Likewise, the composer creates a score that enhances and emphasizes the emotional moments of the piece.
Both the sound designer and the composer need the picture-locked movie with the dialogue track to do their jobs, which is why arriving at the picture lock is so critical.
Summary
• Post Production is much more predictable and less stressful than production. Managing a post-production schedule is much easier than production
• The rough cut is about shot selection and shot order. Do not worry about timing. Your efforts will be wasted when you are instructed to rebuild sequences after the first viewing.
• Your fine cut has to play and be watchable without music. Do not rely on music to rescue a scene. Music will make it better but the scene needs to play without it.
• When the producer or director has signed off on the picture lock, there will be no more changes to the edit. Get signatures on paper. Any changes to the edit after this point will be painful and expensive.
