Video Editing TutorialLet's look at the basics of editing in this video editing tutorial. (If you want a video editing tutorial that talks about making your video look like film, click here)) Editing, at it's simplest is taking something in a raw form and shaping it according to a predefined vision or format. In filmmaking, it is the task of selecting and joining camera takes, the coordination of one shot with the next. In the finished film, the set of techniques that governs the relations among shots. So what? Does this help you understand editing? Not at all! It's just words. Editing is a visual medium (for film and video at least) so let's understand what we mean by editing. The Kuleshov effect The Kuleshov Effect is a montage effect demonstrated by Russian filmmaker Lev Kuleshov in about 1918. Kuleshov edited together a short film in which a shot of the expressionless face of Tsarist matinee idol Ivan Mozzhukhin was alternated with various other shots (a plate of soup, a girl, an old woman's coffin). The film was shown to an audience who believed that the expression on Mozzhukhin's face was different each time he appeared, depending on whether he was "looking at" the plate of soup, the girl, or the coffin, showing an expression of hunger, desire or grief respectively. Actually the footage of Mozzhukhin was the same shot repeated over and over again. What this demonstrates is the power of editing and the ability to create something out of, effectively, nothing. When to Edit So much for the theory. How does it work in practice? Well, you have to understand when to edit. Editing should occur only when absolutely necessary. According to Walter Murch in the blink of an eye # motion — Does the cut reflect what the editor believes the audience should be feeling at that moment? # Story — Does the cut advance the story? # Rhythm — Does the cut occur "at a moment that is rhythmically interesting and 'right'" (Murch, 18)? # Eye-trace — Does the cut pay respect to "the location and movement of the audience's focus of interest within the frame" (Murch, 18)? # Two-dimensional place of the screen — Does the cut respect the 180 degree rule? # Three-dimensional space of action — Is the cut true to the physical/spatial relationships within the diegesis? (basically does this cut look funny or not?) Editing Types There are several basic types of edit, The cut, the dissolve the 'L' cut and the 'J' cut. Let's look at each of these in turn The cut occurs when two scenes are slammed up against each other with nothing in between them. these are the kind of cuts favoured my music video editors and the guys who cut the climax of movie trailers together. Sound and image transfer instantaneously from one picture to another. This is the most common type of edit. It works rally well for telling a simple story or where the action moves from one place to another quickly. The most famous cut like this is in David Lean's "Lawrence of Arabia The Dissolve This is where one scene overlaps another at the beginning or end. This type of edit is favoured by the guys who put the beginning of movie trailers together: The scenes where characters are discussing things and the screen slowly fills with black. A title appears and this is slowly replaced by another scene. This is a dissolve. Very effective for pacing and for extending scenes out. The 'L' Cut An 'L' Cut is a transition between two scenes where the sound and the visuals transfer at different times. in an 'L' cut the sound for the original clip is retained after the visuals have been transferred to the second clip. Usually this occurs during a conversation where one person may be talking and the picture switches to someone else listening to them. The first persons stops talking and the second person continues. It's called an 'L' cut because when editing, the sound and picture are cut in 2 separate points which creates an 'L' shape on the timeline. The 'J' Cut is the opposite of an 'L' cut where the picture shifts before the sound. Good examples of this are in western movies where the sound of a train can be heard arriving and then the picture cuts to the train pulling up at the station. Don't forget to check back soon for more, and a different video editing tutorial!
|
, editing should occur on the following points:
" where the lit match is blown out and instantly cuts to the rising sun.
