EVALUATION

Technical:

This was the first time for me to use avid and I have heard of rumours (good and bad) about it. At start, it was slow for me because I was still figuring out where the all features were and this took some time.

One thing I liked at the start of using avid was that there was no rendering involved and I was relieved. This is because when it imports the clips, it converts them to an MXF file which is a powerful and flexible file format. It allows you to do any effects and play them in real time, which doesn't reduce your momentum when editing.

I had a hard time figuring out the shortcuts as I thought they might be similar to the ones in Adobe Premiere Pro. The is a keyboard (image below) that avid has which shows you all the shortcuts. This was very helpful to know as it made me edit the clips at a much faster pace.

Chris Hall also mentioned about an actual avid keyboard which shows all the default shortcuts on it. This keyboard is available on amazon for £59.99 which is useful to new editors who are learning to use the software but not essential. I wont buy one now but I am considering for future purpose if I continue to use avid.

The only thing I need to improve is exporting. Every time I export a clip and convert it in mpeg stream-clip, something unexpected happens. Its either the video quality goes down or it comes out as a letter box. The best way to get better at it, is to try exporting as many times until I get it right.

These are the settings I have been using to export the files but the results are sometimes different. Mostly the saturation is reduced which has made it hard to colour correct. If I had to guess, it might have to do with the data rate and I might be compressing the clip too much.

I can safely say that my skills in using this software have improved and I'm confident enough to sit in front of it in the professional world and not get lost.

Creative:

The one thing I struggled with the most on the three tasks was creating a story, establishing a character and pacing. These three elements work together because the pace influences the character and the character is what makes the story. Reading the book 'In The Blink Of an Eye' was very helpful as Walter Murch talks about the rule of six and how important these rules are.

1. Emotion                                                51%
2. Story                                                     23%
3. Rhythm                                                 10%
4. Eye-trace                                                7%
5. Two-dimensional plane of screen          5%
6. Three-dimensional space of action        4%

From reading about these rules, the one rule that had the most effect on my editing was rhythm. My rough cuts were lacking in momentum and rhythm. The question was then how do I create rhythm. Its all about the performance of the character and how they move within the frame of the film.  

The book '100 Ideas That Change Film' talks about continuity editing and how F.W. Murnau and G.W. Pabst perfected this by cutting on movement. Cutting on movement makes the cuts smooth and when done correctly, the audience will barely notice it. 

I started to apply this technique in Flatline and OOD and saw a big change. At first I was making a few mistakes where the performance wouldn't match the next shot by a few frames. This made the shots jump and made you aware that something is not right. The more scenes I edit, the more fluid the shots became. I used the same concept for my drama and was able to create something wonderful. 

I'm not 100% there yet but would like to have more time to cut more scenes because I believe the most crucial rule in any film is emotion and without it, a film is not worth watching. And Murch also emphasises on emotion being the top rule that takes 51% of the entire film.  I feel that I wasn't able to create a sense of emotion with the characters especially in the documentary edit. Documentary is all about the character and that was my weakest point. I failed to establish Addie as a character and would have liked to have more time to work more on him. For the comedy & drama its all about acting and if the performance is weak, it might be difficult to create emotion but it's still possible to create a story. 

From my point, I think if we had started to edit the drama, then comedy and finish with the documentary, that would have been better. Because I learnt a lot from editing the drama and comedy and given more time, I'm confident I would be able to produce something better for the documentary. 

Collaboration:

For this project I worked with Sebastian Wray. As a team we worked well with no conflicts or any misunderstandings. I really enjoyed bouncing ideas with him and working with someone who has a different perspective when it comes to editing was interesting. I was able to learn from him how to communicate your ideas and listen to he's ideas as well. Not all my ideas are great but two heads are better than one. I believe that as a team we were able to edit something creative within the time limit we had.

The only negative aspect I found out about working in pairs was reliability. There were times when I was free and he wasn't available to do the edit with me and sometimes the roles were reversed. To a certain point, I'm a faster editor than Sebastian but that does not mean I'm the best. He likes taking his time to get a full sense of everything where as I like trying a lot of things as fast as I can. I found this to slow me down because when I expected to receive half of the edit to combine to mine, he wouldn't be ready with his. It felt like a set back but allowed me to revisit my edit and do any additional corrections that needed to be done.

Through doing professional context, In the professional world there are times when editors come together to collaborate on certain projects and having done it for the first two task was good. It has given me a heads up of what to expect and how to treat the other person I'm working with. For example:

• Not to dismiss someone else's ideas
• Listen and communicate your ideas across in a non offensive way 
• Respect each other's style of editing
• Don't try to dominate the other person as if you were better than them

I really enjoyed working with him and if we had to redo the project again, I would be happy to work with him again and in future projects. 

ALL THE FILMS WE EDITED

Documentary : https://vimeo.com/126598294

Drama : https://vimeo.com/126598293

Comedy : https://vimeo.com/126598295

OUT OF DATE

Out of date is an interesting comedy with moments that are a bit funny and the very first comedy I have edited. I have watched all the scenes and I'm editing the scene where Alf gets ready to for his date. The reason why I chose this scene is because it relates to the name of the film (Out Of Date) and also the scene I wanted to do had a missing codec. 

I believe, I was able to create a clear narrative of what's happening and establish the relationship between the characters with the footage I had. 

I wasn't able to establish the female character (left side in the image above) because all the close up shots she's in are out of focus but I used her voice over in certain moments within the scene. For example when she makes a joke of his 70's shoes and I show Alf's reaction towards it (image below). 

With Alf, I mostly used close up's to show his emotional reaction as his not keen on going to this date and the other male character is his side kick trying to cheer him and have a laugh. 

I'm not happy about the ending scene because there's only one angle and there's not much in terms of creativity you can do with one angle. 

I haven't done much in terms of sound design. This is because I'm not very skilled at choosing funny sounds for comedies. Different comedies have different sounds to suggest the genre and mood.

100 IDEAS THAT CHANGED FILM

This is a very good book and  would recommend it to everyone doing editing on my course. Its got the brief information on aspects of filming, from pre-production to post-production. 

I mostly wread the chapter on editing and how F.W. Murnau and G.W. Pabst revolutionised the editing world. They changed the way of editing by cutting on movement to create continuity and make the visualise flow. This has influenced to do the same for my drama and comedy edits.

From reading this chapter, I have learned how to cover my tracks. If the cuts are not smooth, the audience would be able to tell and won't be interesting to watch. This is how you can cover those tracks and make the edit smooth.

Reference

FLATLINE

Flatline is interesting drama but not the best. Me and Sebastian approached it with a harsh point of view which was to portray the life of the protagonist as a hard life. Sebastian edited the beginning and I'm doing from the hospital scene up to the end. From the start of the clip, his having flashbacks of an incident to happen and the reality of his job.

In this scene I'm introducing them as Alex and Mike. Mike is to support Alex in his troubles.

With the Doctor I showed how rude and harsh they are towards paramedics and from its all down hill for Alex. 

 His not sleeping well and is trouble by his everyday job. We did not include the drunk guys scene because it was unnecessary for our story.

I'm not happy in the way this scene is cut. Its mostly because of the way it was blocked and I don't have much to go around with, which is a challenge. 

Mike as the supporting character is there to help him up and keep him strong in the journey ahead. 

 In the end he realises that this is his life and job and there is no happy ending. This is the point me and Seb are trying to get across and believe we have achieved this.

AVID MEDIA COMPOSER

This is my first time using avid and I'm not liking cause everything is new to me. Change is good but it isn't fun. Before this I have been using Adobe Premiere Pro have taught myself how to use it. With avid its a bit different and I need the help to locate certain features. 

This is the rough outline of what avid looks like. You can customize it differently but this way is better. Its almost similar to Premiere Pro where you have your timeline, two windows for viewing the windows and folders (Bins) where you import files into. Importing files into avid can be time consuming but worth it because it doesn't render as it converts the files to an MXF format which is better to use. 

This is the smart tool you will be mostly using. Fromt he top you the main four tools you will use which are segment mode (lift/overwrite), segment mode (extract/splice), overwrite trim and ripple trim. I'm still playing around with them seeing what works well. 

AVID & EFFECTS

Below are some of the effects I have done in Avid.

Most of the shots we wanted to use had camera shake. This is the stabilising effect and It confused me at first but I got my head around it. It's not the best but does the job to reduce most of the camera shakes.

Fading in and out the audio was very important. It helped smoothen out the dialogue. I did a bit of key framing but mostly used this effect thought most of my clips. 

Some scenes were louder than the others and I used the DB meter to reduce the levels of the volume down or increase it. I could have used the volume but I preferre using this tool

COFFEE AND CIGARETTES

This is a funny comedy shot in a like a cafe with people drinking coffee. I really like the way its been cut and has given me a few tips of editing shot reverse shots.

• Always try to make it interesting. It might get boring so u must understand the performance of the actors ad cut in between the actions and show facial expressions.
• Don't cross the 180 degree rule 
• If breaking the 4th wall makes it interesting go ahead and do it but make sure it doesn't take the audience away from the story and environment they are in.
• consider your pace when cutting between your shots.

WATCHMEN FIGHT SCENE

Watchmen Opening Fight Scene

Fight scenes are sometimes hard to watch but this one is easy to digest because of the music used. Its like watching a ballet and the pace and rhythm of the music are mixed well with the fight scene. A good questions was asked, what would happen if there was a different song? would it have the same effect or would it create a different meaning.

APOCALYPSE NOW DOCUMENTARY

Editing documentaries is new to me. From watching Apocalypse No documentary, I was able to see the elements that Chris was explaining to us when he was looking through our rough cuts. These include:

• Having something to back up a fact or oppose it. Documentaries can be biased or are biased (debatable) but when ever a fact is mention its always necessary to have evidence to back it up.
• Have more contributors to a certain view point and from that draw your own opinion. I find this to be hard because It not clear to either present the directors views or my own views or the subject that's being filmed cause the story is about him. 
• Try to have rough plan from how you want if to start and finish

JAWS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW23RsUTb2Y

What I like in this scene is how they use the sound to represent the shark. As soon as you hear the beat, it signifies either the shark is near by or about to attack. They then use the sound to create tension and suspense.

Alfred Hitchcock explains the meanings of these two concepts. He mentions that Suspense is an emotional process experienced by the audiences and Tension is when you have audiences hooked by the information you have given them.

Spielberg creates this within the scene by giving us various information for example, the girl that screams as if she's being attacked but actually she's not, the boy who's separated from the rest of the flock and the young lad looking for his dog. All these elements hook the audience building up tension as we see the POV of the shark and then experiencing the shock at the end.

EDITING DOCUMENTARIES

Below are a some of the aspects to consider when editing a documentary:

Pace - This can be your editing style or the how the film flows. Pace in films can be used in various ways, fast for action scenes and slow for dramatical scenes. Knowing the importance helps you understand the pace.

Not scripted / not planned - Documentaries are not scripted like feature films. You have to try and create your own story from the footage you have. It is a non liner process.

Mood or emotion - Documentaries focus mainly on a subject and you have to establish that character and create an emotion that the audiences can relate to. Moments of truth tend have to a good effect and consider different ways of approaching this.

Manipulation - Sometimes you have to be careful with story. How much honest are you going to be and consider the moral ethics of the themes.

Order - Try to have an order (start, middle and end)

Multiple stories - Multiple stories can be made from one documentary. Try to find an interesting one to tell with the footage you have.

Director / editor contribution - Work with the director and another editor (if there are two editors).

Audio / video - Both audio and video are very important. Find interesting ways to combine the two. If you use voice overs, consider the images that go along with it.

IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE

This is a book written by Walter Murch and it talks about the principles and perspectives of editing. I have broken it down to what I have learnt from the different chapters.

The Rule Of Six

1. Emotion                                                51%
2. Story                                                     23%
3. Rhythm                                                 10%
4. Eye-trace                                                7%
5. Two-dimensional plane of screen          5%
6. Three-dimensional space of action        4%

These six criteria's are what make a good cut. You work your way up starting for three-dimensional space and ending with emotion. This is because emotion is the hardest thing to define (how you want the audiences to feel). If you start by creating a three-dimensional space then the two-dimensional plane of screen and then eye trace and then rhythm and then story and then the emotion will all fall into place. 

Sometimes you can satisfy all six criteria's and sometimes you cant. This means you will have to sacrifice something in-order for the film to work. As you can see, there are values next to each criteria. Emotion and story are worth far more than the other four criteria's but the first three are the most important. If the emotion is true and the story is great with the right rhythm, the audience tend to be unaware of the editorial problems (eye space, two-dimensional plane and three-dimensional space).

Reading this chapter has made me aware of my own mistakes in editing. When editing 'The Movement', I tried to start at the top and work my way down which proved to be unsuccessful and the film did not work. I will apply these principles to my next edit (Flatline) and I believe if I follow this structure, I will be able to make a better cut.

Misdirection

Chris Hall is always mentioning the audience. He asks us, what do you want you audiences to feel? What kind of story do you want tell them? 

Walter Murch describes the role of editor as the job of Houdini. Houdini was a magician and he created a sense of wonder and he would make you look to the left instead of looking to the right. This is the skill that an editor can do, does do and should do. 

As an editor, you have the power to control the audience and make them see what you want them to see. A magician never reveals his secrets and so should you. Use the six criteria's above to hide the magic trick and at the same create a sense a wonder. 

These are some of the questions you should be asking yourself when editing. As Murch (Murch 2001) says "If you keep this in mind..., then you are a kind of magician".

• What is the audience going to be thinking at any particular moment?
• Where are they going to be looking at?
• What do you want them to think about?
• what do they need to think about?

Reference

MURCH, Walter. (2001) In the blink of an eye: a perspective on film editing. 2nd ed., United States: Silman-James Press,U.S.

THE MOVEMENT FEEDBACK

This is the feedback for 'The Movement' final cut we did. I also took  notes from the feedback from the groups because some of their mistakes applied to our cut.

Me and Sebastian's Feedback

• The cut is still in the assembly stage. 
• We are still spending too much time establishing Addie and we need to fix the structure. 
• Its not until half way we get outside of his room and show other things.
• There's 2 types of movements: Addie's poem called 'The Escape Movement' and the Sheffield poetry movement which involves the other poets. 
• Technical problems: the sound is distorted at the last scene and that was because of the export.

From this, I kind of understand where our mistakes are. We should be treating this edit as if it was clay and needs to be moulded into something magnificent. "In-order to make something new, you must sometimes destroy the old". This involves re-writing what Addie's is saying to create a story and a character that the audience can connect with.

Nyle and Jamie's Feedback

I enjoyed watching their edit. It was different from what everyone else had done and they were really creative in the way they portrayed Addie. One thing I learned from their cut is to use clips that are relevant to the story I want to tell. Even though the documentary is about Addie, I have the choice to tell something completely different. 

Beth and Andrew's Feedback

This piece was also good. It made me consider about the cut away's and how they link in to what Addie is saying. Which is to show evidence for every accession that Addie makes. We must keep it travelling from scene to scene (20 seconds in and out) and not stay too long on one thing. I think this is what Chris is emphasising that we mustn't spend too much time on what Addie is talking about. We must be brutal and cut his lines if we have too. 

Alex and Heather

I really liked the feedback that they got. This was always end at the end of a thought, word or phrase and begin at the start of a thought or idea or word. Do not repeat and scenes unless its really important. And lastly if you cant tell a story about something, then fin another story to tell with the footage. 

This links in well with the clay concept, If the current object your making is not working, make something different. And I believe this is what we must do. To take a different point of view to Addie and tell something else. 

Emily and Bronte

If you get a shot, let it breathe. The content they had was good but it just needs to be organised. This made me think of a jigsaw puzzle and try different ways of arranging our ideas as it might help us with the editing.

Louis and Laurence

They used a political song in a poetic documentary which is wrong to a certain point because we heard the lyrics. If it was the beat, it would have worked. This made me think of trying to add music to the film as it could help tell a better story. 

THE MOVEMENT: ROUGH CUT

I am having problem with this edit. I'm not sure what story to tell or how to approach it. Iknow the story is about Addie and the poetry movement within Sheffield but there is so mcuh visuals to go through and as soon you move into a different scene a new story pops up. Me and Sebastian have found it really hard to create something interesting. 

Our structure is that we start in his bedroom and he talks about his inspiration and motivation and short biography about himself. We include the cutaways of his inspiration and other scenes.

From his room, we then go to the Rutland Arms where he the poetry community in Sheffield is. Here we show his family and his experience of being around them.

We introduce other poets like Daniel Turner who have had an impact on his life and other poets that are funny and interesting.

We end of with him telling us about his future plans. This involves either his personal plans of the movement of poetry within Sheffield. me and Sebastian are still deciding on what note to end it on.

This is our rough structure for this documentary. It might change as we go along.

SENNA

I really enjoyed watching the documentary and it had a very engaging story about Senna. The way its been cut using stock footage is great and the pace when they are racing on track and when his away is interesting. 

Firstly I feel that the narrative structure is biased. It portrays Senna as like the perfect human to ever exists with no negative aspects in his life. You are always on his side, even though there are politics involved and religion, I feel that you should have a chance to choose a side and it doesn't give you that option. Its not a bad story but its raised questions of what goes on with in the racing industry, his life and the life of the other racers. 

The cutting is great. The way they combine the different stock footage and create pace especially when his racing is breathe taking. It feels as if you are watching a real race and I found no negative aspects about it. They show proof of what they are talking and mix the interviews very well.