Sub National Diploma

U16 Editing

Name: Molly Mc Hale

Individual Report to cover P3 M3 D3 Be able to edit moving

image material
P1.1
Development
following the action; this is when the camera isn't in a fixed position
whilst filming such as a tripod but rather when it is handheld or on a
dolly; moving with the characters or action to make the audience
feel as if they are physically present in the film. This may require
recording the audio separately with the boom mic and adding it to
the footage in postproduction if we are tracking the characters from
far behind. It is good for building tension and is often used in horror
films; the camera is shaky and handheld to frighten viewers with the
uncertainty of what they're about to see.

multiple points of view; this is when various characters take turns at

leading the narrative. For instance, in The Girl on The Train, we
see the character Scott from three different perspectives; that of
Rachel, Megan and Anna. This is achieved by voiceovers of the
characters inner thoughts and flashbacks on their experiences. This
helps the audience to emotionally connect to the characters and
have a preference which ultimately makes the film more enjoyable.

manipulation of diegetic time and space; this involves condensing a

period of time for the purpose of speeding up the film and avoiding
the inclusion of unnecessary details that would bore the audience.
For example, in the film Groundhog Day, Bill Murray lives the same
day over and over again and tries different things each day but he
tries each day, for a while, to win over Andie Mc Dowell and several
times she slaps him in the face. However, the full day isn't shown
over and over again until this happens. Only the part of the day
where she slaps him is; to emphasize his lack of success over the
course of the days.

Film; This is a visual story that can be short or feature length. It

involves character(s), plot, dialogue (recorded by a book mic),
action, various camera shots (recorded by a HD camera which is
stabilized on a tripod, dolly fig rig or is handheld) possibly a
soundtrack and editing techniques (done with a software
programmer on a computer such as Final Cut Pro X); whatever is
needed to create the directors desired narrative. A video is different
in that it is a recording of visual elements but its not necessarily
edited or accompanied by a soundtrack. It sometimes may not even
tell a story but just a snippet of an event, place or a message. On
YouTube, there are videos of DIYs, tutorials, discussions etc. but
they don't tell a story or have that sense of illusion.

analogue; This type of media is physical such as a recording, a film,

a photograph that hasn't been manipulated digitally by software. A
YouTube video where the video maker films the intro with the
finished makeup look after they have filmed the tutorial for it is an
example of digital media. Whereas, a YouTube video where the
video maker discusses a topic by talking to the camera is an
example of analogue media if it is then published as such and not
digitally manipulated.

P1.2
Purposes: storytelling
engaging the viewer; different editing techniques can be used to do
this such as transitions, soundtrack, pace etc. In an action film,
transitions like fades or dissolves in between different shots of a
tense scene would not be appropriate as it would slow the
anticipation down and lose the audiences interest. An example
would be the farmhouse fight scene in The Accountant, it uses
quick cuts and the shots dont linger this adds to the suspense and
has you eager to know who will win. It also uses shaky handheld
camera which works

development of drama; Drama is conflict so on the screen this could

happen between characters in terms of their cultural backgrounds,
contrasting natures, money and power. There are a number of
techniques that can be used to develop drama in film, for example,
a non-linear narrative and therefore edit. If a film starts with the end
or a scene of high conflict then we will be drawn to the storyline
instantly to see how the drama developed, such as in Fight Club,
the opening is the ending where Brad Pitt is holding a gun in
Edward Nortons mouth. Another way to develop drama is to show
the characters to the audience rather than tell what there is to
know about them. In this way, you can establish the nature of
characters by the things they do and so contrast them with others
leading to conflict. In Casino, Joe Pesci and Robert DeNiro start
out as best friends who end up hating each other not only because
of greed for money and power but because they were totally
different characters. Joe Pesci was a Roman Catholic who was
sloppy when it came to taking care of business and he also had a
short temper which didn't always work in his favour. Whereas,
DeNiro was a Jew who had a business mindset and knew how to
keep things under the rug. Eventually, their differences built up to
huge drama. As our social action film is a documentary I don't plan
to use any techniques to develop drama. However, in The Final
Straw, I showed how the teacher and the boyfriend contrasted to
the innocent girl by their aggressive actions.
relationship to genre; This is important when it comes to camera,
narrative structure and cutting. If its a romance then establishing
shots are important for setting the scene and showing the romantic
locations. Also close ups for kissing and holding hands scenes add
to the romance. An example would be in La La Land. Narrative
structure is relevant for genre appeal to the audience, for example,
if its a comedy then a non-linear one would be inappropriate and
too complex. 22 jump street follows a completely linear narrative
structure just like funny stories would be told. However, quick cuts
would be relevant to show people's responses to sarcasm or
awkward situations. In a horror, shaky camera adds to the fear as
well as claustrophobic close ups and quick cuts. For slow, sad films,
shots should linger to show how miserable the situation is.

creating pace; This closely relates to genre and also the

atmosphere of a scene. It is greatly impacted by the edit. If it's an
intense action scene then the soundtrack should fasten the pace
with regular quick beats synchronized with the vision. The car
chase in The French Connection would be an example. If it's sad, it
will be slow paced like in The Notebook at the end where the
couple dance there is diegetic romantic soundtrack I'll be seeing
you by Jimmy Durante and the cuts are few and far between to
allow you to appreciate the upsetting romance between the
characters. I wanted our social action documentary to have an
upbeat vibe so I synchronized the soundtrack with the cuts of some
of the footage.

P1.3
Conventions and techniques
continuity; this is the art of making a film as lifelike as possible,
giving it a sense of realism by keeping every single detail the exact
same unless changed by the actors or turn of events. This involves
props, hair and makeup, costume, lighting; anything we see on
screen. It requires attention to detail and can be easy to forget
about but it mustn't be as it is something that can't be fixed in post
production. It is affected by a scene requiring several different takes.
In one take, an actor could have ate a bite from their sandwich but
messed up their lines and so the scene has to be taken again but
as if it never happened with the sandwich being replaced. An
example of continuity error is in When Harry Met Sally, Sally (Meg
Ryan) is eating a sandwich while talking to Harry (Billy Crystal) and
each time the camera cuts back to her the sandwich has different
bite sizes taken out of it although she clearly stopped eating it. In
our short film The Final Straw, we filmed it on two separate days
and I, as the main actress had to make sure my hair, makeup and
costume remained the same.

motivated; this is when two shots are edited together with the
second explaining the reason for the events or characters
emotions, lines or actions in the first. The story is visually explained.
For example, in the opening of Scream, Drew Barrymore is killed
and her parents arrive home puzzled as to where she is. They look
around the house for her and when the mother opens the door to
look outside, we see a mid shot of her screaming in shock and
crying. This shot is then explained by the following which is a long
shot of Drew Barrymores body hanging from a tree which we now
know to be the reason for her emotional state.

montage; This can be composed of fragments of videos, images

and sound combined by transitions to form a continuous whole in
film. It is commonly used to seamlessly compile memories that a
character might have of a particular person or place. For example,
in the animation Up, the character of the elderly widower, Carl
Fredirickson, looks reminisces on his married life which is shown to
the audience through montage. A series of events filmed in snippets
and edited together with transitions to give us the basic idea and
emotions of the scenes. Like many montages, there is no dialogue
only emotionally appropriate music.

180o rule; Is a cinematography guideline which is based on the

relationship between the characters on screen. There is an invisible
line between the two subjects which keeps them on either the
left/right side of the frame to show they are communicating with
each other. If the line is crossed then the characters may seem as if
they aren't corresponding with each other and it can look confusing.
It's called a reverse angle.

splicing; physically cutting and joining film reels rather than digitally
editing the footage on a computer. A device called a splicer is used.
This is a rare form of editing today and is not very common as it is
more time consuming than digitally manipulating film.

Transitions: These are editing techniques that can show the passing
of time or shifting of a scene in a film.

Cut; This is the most common transition used in films today. Its a
simple jump from one camera shot to another with no onscreen
effect. Its very subtle and maintains the audiences attention. I plan
to use these in my social action film for the interviews that will be
included. I want each interviewees response to be cut one after the
other. This will emphasize the difference in peoples knowledge of
the environment.

Dissolve; this is a simple transition which smoothly introduces the

next shot by diffusing the one onscreen. I will use this to push my
social action film along from the introduction to crew on to the
interviews.

Fade; one shot gradually visually blends into the other. A famous
example is used in Psycho when Norman Bates face at the end
fades into the skull of his mother. I have decided not to use this
transition in my social action film as it would slow the progression of
the short documentary which I am not trying to achieve. I would like
it to be fast-paced to show how much you can do in such a short
space of time so the fade wouldn't be appropriate.

shot-reverse-shot; This is a very common editing technique in film

when a shot of one character in conversation is followed by a shot
of the other characters response. It portrays emotion and
contributes to characterization by their part in the dialogue and their
body language when conversing that can be seen onscreen. A
famous example would be the opening of Pulp Fiction when the
characters Pumpkin and Honey Bunny are discussing robbing a
restaurant.

providing and withholding information; A film can either give you

information that a character(s) has yet to discover or keep
information from you that a character(s) already knows,
respectively. Knowing something about another character or an
event that a character has yet to find out about, can make the
audience feel privileged as if they are an insider and on the edge of
their seat to see when they will find out. In Casino, we know that
Joe Pescis character is having an affair with Sharon Stones
character before Robert DeNiros character finds out. Withholding
information from the audience that a character knows is a very
clever technique which builds immense suspense. In The Girl on
The Train, We don't find out until the end that Megan was having an
affair with Annas husband, Scott. It didn't show us that side to the
characters life on camera.

editing rhythm; This is when the editor changes the pacing of a film
to suit the atmosphere of the scene and they can add music to
manipulate the audiences emotions. For example, in Alfred
Hitchcocks Psycho, When Norman Bates stabs the woman in the
shower, the cuts are quick and the shots are close ups which makes
us feel claustrophobic and scared ourselves. The music sounds like
screeches which are synchronized with the knife stabs. It's builds so
much tension and is a famous horrifying piece of cinema. If it was a
slow, sad scene then the shots would last longer and cut slower
with possible use of fade transitions and a sad song to show how
time feels like it's at a standstill for the character(s).

cutting to soundtrack; this is when the scenes cut based on the

music or sound of a film. For example, if the noise of a phone
ringing sounds then this could be quickly followed by a shot of a
phone being picked up. In The Wolf of Wall Street , the blues song
Smoke Stack Lightnin begins when there is a cut to a scene of
fornication as the opening lyrics are Where did you sleep last
night? which is appropriate in the case of these characters.

P2.1
Preparation techniques:
checking material for faults; After importing material such as
footage filmed and images from your SD card or hard drive, it is
important to watch everything filmed and recorded for picture
quality, scene interferences, continuity, audio levels; because these
things cannot be fixed in post-production and for the best product it
may require reshooting these scenes or recording audio again.
marking up a script; This is what the director will do constantly
adding ideas for scenes or taking out parts of the script or jotting
down desired camera shots. This is all part of the preproduction
process. Also, the script supervisor will do this on the day of the
shoot when they mark down how many takes were required and
why.

storing tapes or film; Before digital film, reels had to be stored in

steel casings to keep them out of sunlight so as not to deteriorate
the highly flammable material that the reels were composed of and
audio was stored on tapes. Whereas, today we have digital
cameras which automatically store footage on inserted SD cards
which can then be easily and quickly transferred onto computers.

producing an edit decision list; This involves preparing almost a

statement of intentions for the way the film will be edited. This will
be decided on between the director and the editor. Things that are
taken into account are keeping to the script which is important for
the narrative structure and the genre which will determine
soundtrack and transitions of scenes; whether they will be fast
paced or slow. As well as the visual appeal of the film whether it will
require color correction or filters of any sort depending on the
planned product design.

P2.2
Preparing to edit
Importing clips;

Timelines;

Resolution and format;

Task 8. What credit and title techniques, audio techniques and

music clips did you use?
For my Social Action Film, I used the typewriter title sequences for
the credits which introduced our crew at the start. They appeared
on screen as footage of each member played. I also used the
information bar title sequence to state the date and task of certain
days of the project which gave it more of a documentary feel.

I had to raise the decibels of some clips for clearer audio and I also
made sure to fade in the different soundtracks to avoid harsh
contrast and give the film rhythm.

I used Sittin on the dock of the bay by Otis Redding, This girl
instrumental by Kungs Vs Cookin, What Christmas means to me
my love by Stevie Wonder and Run Run Rudolph by Chuck Berry.
We decide to use upbeat favourites of ours to show how much we
enjoyed the project and the Christmas songs were used to relate to
the time of year and the idea of helping others at Christmas.

Provide written comments, screen shots and images to show your

understanding of all the editing terms below:

Editing technology:
software applications; these are the programs on a computer that
you can use to digitally manipulate your footage in many different
ways, examples include but arent limited to:
final cut pro x

Avid

Adobe Premiere Pro

iMovie

Sony Movie Studio Platinum

AVS
I use final cut pro x to edit my videos and here is some evidence of

my work:

hardware; this refers to the actual physical components of the

computer such as the keyboard, mouse, screen and hard drive.

Describe what these terms mean?

non-linear; this is an editing strategy that grants you access to any
frame in the digital video clip despite its sequence in the clip.

linear; this type of editing involves picking, organising and changing

images and sound in a predetermined and sequential way.

high definition; This is when the resolution and quality of the visual
element of the video is of a better standard. Typically, videos with
480 horizontal lines in North America or 576 horizontal lines in
Europe are considered high definition.

hard disc; this is a stiff, stationary disk on which you can store large
amounts of computer data.

exporting productions; When you have finished editing your final cut
of a video, you then have the option to send your video (export your
production) to one or more of the mediums listed below as a
finished product:

file compression types,

MP3; This is a file that has been compressed into audio so it can be
digitally stored and transmitted. To convert a file from YouTube to
MP3, when I'm editing, I use YouTube to MP3 converter. For
example, if I want to add a soundtrack to my videos, I convert a
music video into MP3.

MP4; This is an audiovisual file format, which means it is a file type

that allows both sound and image to be digitally stored. I tried to use
it in my biographical sketch to insert clips of my favourite film Fight
Club but then I realized that since I use a Mac, I had to convert the
clip from YouTube to Mov.

Mov; This is an abbreviation for Movie This is Apples QuickTimes

version of an MP4 file format.

Avi; This is an abbreviation for Audio Video Interleaved. It was

introduced by Microsoft in 1992 as their version of storing MP4 file
formats.

flv; This is an abbreviation for Flash Video which is Adobe Flash

Player and Adobe AIRs version of an MP4 file format.

Editing process:

What techniques did you use to create your narrative?

Explain what these editing techniques mean?

Continuity; This is when you edit and although the shots or scenes
may change, everything is visually consistent there are no time
flaws or inconsistent positioning and appearance of characters and
or props. Everything you see on screen is kept as realistic as
possible. So when you edit two different shots together you may
need to take extra care to ensure that the movements of the
characters or props are coherent. I used it when editing my Lo
Schiavo film entry.

Motivated; This is when you edit in a way that the scene and/or
object you see in one frame will change in the next.

Montage; This is a series of clips and images edited together in a

seamless flow. Evidence from my biographical sketch of a montage
of my pet dog Snoop and I:
jump-cutting; This is when a scene has many different shots that
are edited together in a continuous flow. It is usually used to build
tension and show many different viewpoints of the scene.

parallel editing; This involves cutting between a few scenes or

stories to show that they are happening at the same time.

Explain what these transitions actually involve?

Cut; This is when the scene on screen abruptly changes without any
effect.

Dissolve; This is when the image on screen gradually disappears.

Fade; this is when the final image from one scene blends into the
opening image of another.

Wipe; This is when one shot is replaced by another by being wiped

across the scene as in it slides out of the screen from left to right or
right to left.

What is your understanding of these editing conventions?

Cutaways; This is when the scene changes to give proof of the

narratives statement or support opinions expressed by people on
screen.

cutting on action; This is when you transition to a different shot

based on the action of the last, for example, if you have a shot of
someone hitting a tennis ball with a racket, the next shot could be
that of the other player seeing the ball come towards them. It can
be used for continuity.
creating juxtapositions; Placing two visual ideas side by side for the
viewer to create their own opinion of what's being suggested.

pace; used to speed up or slow down a sequence to manipulate the

audiences view of the scene.

rhythm; This is when the non-diegetic sound added to a video

matches the visual aspect on screen.

use sound to create impact; This is when you add in non-diegetic

sound to the edit to enhance the viewers emotional response to the
visual aspect on screen. For example, In Jaws they have tensely
orchestrated music when the shark is swimming after the girl in the
ocean to push the viewer to the edge of their seat.

synchronize sound and vision; You must make sure when editing
that what you see on screen matches what you hear. For example, if
you are editing a DIY video then you need to ensure that the
narration instructing what to do is inserted in sync with the visual
instruction of how to make brownies.