Editing is the post-production technique in which footage is manipulated and rearranged to create a final product. Everything that we see as visual media goes through the editing process, from television shows to music videos and even pieces which are said to be 'one take' can be edited with effects, such as colour correction. In most cases editing is used to give the production space for error, for example if the idea of takes were not used and every piece was one entire sequence there could be a problem with talent, or with equipment entering the frame. Editing is also used to create scenes that may not be possible without editing, for example if you were filming a conversation, you would have to film from one angle. This would be very boring for the audience, however with editing you are able to use the shot reverse shot technique.
An edit creates a space for the audience to be part of, the mise - en - scene also helps accomplish this idea. When watching television shows or films, the audience forgets that what they are viewing is not real and become engulfed into the world of the production, this is the basis of what the director and the rest of the production team are aiming to achieve. Fluid and seamless editing also makes the audience unaware that anything has changed to the sequence, from a young age we understand the idea of editing as we can process the idea of shot change and shot correlation, for example when shown a house with a green door, and another shot of a man opening a green door, we assume and understand that it must be the same house, however we do not realise that it is a known concept.
The style of the edit completely depends on the genre of the project brief, for example when editing a horror film the cuts will be quick and frequent to convey the feeling of fear and therefore creating tension, the cuts would also mirror the fast pace of the character's heartbeat. Whereas with a romance the cuts would be slower to let the audience take in what is happening within the scene, however the cuts wouldn't be so slow that the audience gets bored. If you are telling a story with your edit, it will also affect the style of your edit and what order you arrange the shots. I like to start with what would usually be the end and create a flash back type of story. I think this is a interesting way to tell a story rather than the usual way.
I was asked to produce a two minute corporate video for one of the assignments in the editing module and therefore I filmed and edited a video for Hackney Flea Market, a monthly vintage market to showcase local businesses on Church Street, Stoke Newington, Hackney. The market was very busy, full of fashionable young adults and also young families, this caused me to cut the film at quite a fast pace to mirror how much was happening within the market. I also chose music to fit the sequence that reflected the style of the market and was similar to the music which the market had played. However, when in the post production process, I realised that the footage was over exposed and this caused a problem in the colour correction procedure. Nevertheless I managed to fix the footage by toning down the brightness and changing the levels of the colours and therefore making the footage useable again.
I was also asked to edit a music show for a gig the students in the Miskin Music department performed, I was given the rushes and then proceeded to sync them all with the soundtrack I was given, I then created sub-clips to make the editing process easier for myself. Next I began to cut the visual to the beat of the audio, this process makes the sequence flow better and then I proceeded to create my final cut, making sure everything was perfect throughout the entire sequence. I feel the initial cut went very well and it started to come together quite quickly, I also think that putting the text into the sequence was very effective, I remembered quickly how to do this and found it very easy. I also believe that knowing the song that I was editing helped too, because I knew the beat already, and because I had previously already thought about editing to this song, I knew what I wanted the sequence to look like and that made it easier to cut to the beat. I think that the synchronisation process could have gone smoother as I found it quite difficult to begin with, however when I had synced a few rushes I found the process easier. This was also the first time that I had synchronised footage in this process. I also couldn't use some shots that I had gained at the shoot, because the camera had been moved in the filming or the shot had been changed half way through a take, so I had to edit around these problems, however I believe that this has improved my editing technique greatly.
From my experience with editing I prefer to first transcode the rushed footage using a software programme called 'mpeg streamclip', which is a free to download easy to use software product that allows you to convert DSLR files into MPEG. Depending on how many files you need to transcode, determines if you need to make a batch list. A batch list is where you can transcode footage in bulk and therefore would not have to change the entire settings for every clip, however this procedure can take a long time to process. Before you can continue onto editing your project you must first save your work into a new folder to avoid confusion between files that have already been transcoded and those which have not. When changing the settings you have to select the codec Apple Prores 422, you must then change the quality value to 100% to ensure maximum film resolution. Then you must make sure the frame size is 1920 x 1080 (unscaled). In addition, you must set the frame rate to 25 to make sure your video will be 25 frames per second, which is the usual set frame rate for a film in the industry, and also select deinterlace in the selection box. To finish the process you must select batch and then go, as I have noted already it can take a long time to convert the DSLR into MPEG but would save time rather than processing single files.
File management is a vital part of the post production editing process, if the files in which your footage sequences are stored is deleted or moved the programme will not be able to locate them and therefore renders them as offline rather than online, which would enable you to start editing your work. As I have had the misfortune to experience this, I have now learnt to make a folder to hold my raw clips before transcoding them and then a separate folder for the files which have successfully been transcoded, I then place both of these into a master folder for the project. If you do not save your files in the correct places or in the correct way, your files could be deleted by someone who is trying to make space, resulting in your media being offline and making your edit not work.
After you have transcoded the files, and then imported them to Apple's editing software called 'Final Cut', you must rename the files and make note of what they are of, for instance a file named 'MS Int L' could stand for a mid shot of an interview, shot from the left. This makes the editing process easier as you do not have to search through every rush to find what shot you intended to use. Also if there is a problem with one of the clips, it is also easier to see which clip there is something wrong with.
The rough cut stage is where you start your edit. It is literally a rough cut of the video, like a draft. I start off by changing my sequence settings like you would before starting any edit. By making sure the sequence is in the right frame size,1920 x 1080. Also making sure the sequence is in the right codec, which is apple prores 422. I then moving on to synchronising any footage that is necessary. Personally I find it easier to sync footage at the start opposed to syncing as I edit because I feel it is easier. If you sync as you go you might decide to change a shot and would then have to find and resync a new shot which can be hard. It can be time consuming however I usually find it gets quicker and easier as you sync more clips.
After syncing I like to go through and cut where I think will look good but also cutting on the beat. Cutting on the beat makes the cut seem less visible. It can look really odd when cut off the beat, I also think it makes the cut very obvious.
When you have finished the rough cut, you move on to the final cut. The final cut is where you look through the rough cut and change anything that doesn't look quite right until you think it's perfect. This can sometimes be a long process as you can keep noticing small parts as soon as you think you have finished. It's helpful to watch the video and put marks in where you need to change something. Then fix where you have put the marks and redo this again until you feel you have the best edit you can get, that portrays the directors vision and is to professional standard..
The next stage and my favourite part of editing, colour correction. Colour correction is pretty self explanatory as it is correcting the colour of the shots. A shot is better to be under exposed than over exposed when it comes to colour correction. This is because brightening a shot is a lot easier, as you are just lifting the colours. Where as if your image is too over exposed you may not be able to get the colour back, because the colour is too bright and has been recorded from the camera as white. Therefore making the footage unusable so you cannot use the shots within your edit.
I personally feel I have improved greatly with my editing skills over the two years I have been studding editing at college. My editing skills were poor and nowhere near industry standard, until the start of my second year where I started to improve, I think this is because I finally understood the concept of editing, what editing is used to achieve and how to create a edit that flowed nicely between shots. I can also find a beat to cut to quicker and have realised where to cut and also what would look ascetically pleasing. My confidence within editing has improved a lot and this has made my editing improve with it. My eye for colour has also improved due to the fact I have worked on and enjoyed colour correction. I can now also confidently transcode my footage and know exactly what to do and why I am doing it.
Over all editing is a crucial part to film and television in the media industry. Without post production the standard of film and television would not be as high as it is today. The industry has also improved their techniques greatly over the years, from physically cutting the film, to now using the techniques I have mentioned above all using computers. The editing industry is a fast growing industry as it has to keep up with new technology and software.
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