Editing essay
Editing is where you take all the footage that has been previously filmed and you cut it together to create a strong narrative and the film itself. We do this because it’s our job to create the story if we didn’t edit then there would be just some clips that would mean nothing, we make it smooth, we create the atmosphere of the film, the pacing, the tone. Editing means creating the final piece of the film, the final version before it’s sent to the cinema. The editor is in charge of making the movie watchable. Editing is the main aspect of post production. We colour correct if we think we need to, we change the sound if we think we need to, we take clips or in some cases entire Scenes out if we think we need to. The editor is in charge of how the movie looks in the end. They can take a boring clip and turn it into a action, tense, comedic Or terrifying clip. Editors talks to the director and sees what vision he has, he finds out what he wants in the film, then it’s up to the editors to create that. Editors hope to make what the director wanted. An editor hopes to create the directors vision correctly, he wants the director to look at the edit and say “yes you understand what I trying to do” because if you and the director see a different vision then your edit will be tweak an broken before you even start to render. The director may change a few things here or there but hopefully the editor and director will agree in the long run.
There are many different methods when it comes to editing especially in the way they are cut together, they transition from scene to scene or shot to shot, the colour scheme the tone the pace. You can have long takes or really short takes it all depends on the story you are trying to create and how by editing can you make it work because if you get it wrong them it goes really wrong. Editing can be tricky, it’s not as easy as putting to clips together, it’s a long complicated mixture of understanding a story and how one would go telling that story as cinematic and as powerful as you can. But when doing this you have to remember the story and how it goes. People might not think that a character is important to the edit but they are wrong you to understand how the actor moves and his presents when ever he walks in to a room but then you decide what shot to choose and whether or not you want to cut back to him, all this things you have to know now. Because then you will understand the tone and in the end the tone is the most important thing you can have because that’s how you’ll know how to cut the edit. You don’t want to cut a comedy like a horror or a action like a romantic drama. You need to know what your doing because everything is resting on your edit. The shots might be spectacular but if your edit is bad, no shot in the world could save it. A harsh reality I know but it’s the true that each editor has to realise. The director might want the audience to laugh, to cry, to jump out of there seat in fear or relate to the characters. Whatever it is you need to make and if the audience just sit there unfortunately you’ve failed. In my mid I’ve made good edits and I’ve made bad ones, I look over my past work and think how I could change it, and with editing it is good to question yourself (well at least I think so) because it shows that you think your work could be better. The second song of the Can Can Dance Show one of the first things I edited, at the time I thought it was amazing (big headed of me I know) but I look at it today and I see some problems I’m surprised I didn’t catch before. That’s what an edited does the grow there skills, never think you are the best because you won’t try that hard, but if you think that you can be better then you will try everything In your power to be the best. That’s how you grow your editing skills.
When I reflect on my past experiences I realise one thing I keep on doing is choosing narrative over visuals. Take my Starlingrad trailer edit, some shots I put in the timeline weren’t the best but I felt they helped explain the story a bit better, and it’s the same with my other trailer Burning Hollywood, I wanted to film shots that would help me explain the narrative, shot that when cut together would help the audience understand what I was trying to say. Now this doesn’t mean that I always choose the worst shots, I only choose them if it really helps me with explaining some things, I always make sure the footage looks good. But when I edit a dance show (which I have filmed plenty of) the visuals Are the most important thing because there is clear story to the dance, not with words at least. It’s all visual, so when I edit I’ve got to find the best shots and create a good looking piece of dancing. I need to edit to the music so it’s comfortable and it’s smooth. You need to go with the flow when it comes to editing. But before any of that I’ve got to make sure everything is ok with the clips themselves, we film on cannons (600D and 700D) we put them on the macs and transcode them to look the best they can be. We transcode them to ApplePros 422 making sure it’s 25 frames per second, it has to me a MOV won’t work otherwise. File management is one of the most important things we it comes to editing because it’s all good it it’s cut while but if the settings are messed up then your work is doomed. In media we have 3 stages; pre-production, filming and finally post-production. I like to think of editing the same way, in 3 different stages, one the pre-production, the file management, the transcoding etc. then comes the cutting it together, the filming and lastly the post-production, the colour correction and exporting. It helps me to think about editing this way because then I don’t leave anything out. Next you’ve always got to make sure you rename your clips you’re importing because you don’t got want to have to search though all the clips to find one, it’s tedious and time wasting. It may be best to also good though the clips and make which ones are the best and the worst while you’re renaming them. Also with editing you choose how to tell the story depending on what kind of story it is you edit will be different. Burning Hollywood and Starlingrad are both dramas so I cut it with slow edits to begin then speed up near the end to fit with the tone and the music. The rough cut is the first attempt you do when you finish your edit. No one gets it perfect on the first time changes will be made and you have to t, things will be made different but don’t give up and be a child and throw start and an argument over the first draft. You keep working keep cutting going back and changing, re-watching it over and over again to see if anything could be changed for the better and then when you know your done you will have your final cut, the cut you and the director are happy with then you can start the colour correction. Colour correction is the final part of editing, making the clips look at bit better. Cameras and actors can only do so much and what the cant do colour correction can, if you need the shot to look like the actor are somewhere hot you make it look bright, somewhere cold you make it look cold. Ever if you think you don’t need to colour correct go on it because if will help the edit and the way the story is told. In the end editing is one if not the most important part of the film making process and it’s is my favourite part. From the car advert from my first year to the end of yer showreel I have learn a lot on how to become better. I guess editing is like a bakery You put all the ingredients Together to create a beautiful cake.
