Having more or less finished the piece the previous week, I can back and looked at it this week and got some informal feedback. From this I had to tweak and add a few things to the piece. First of all I had avoided cutting the montage sequence to the beat of the chosen music because I knew it would make the piece be a lot shorter than the designated two minute allowance. Realising that that meant loosing possible comedic points I has to work out something else.
I broke up my initially finished piece and began to rework at it, by separating the sections that needed reworking (The Montage scene) from the others and going from there.
At a second look I realised I needed to diversify my shot choices, which was agreed upon during the informal feedback I got. So I added more wides whereas before I had relied on close ups to tell the story and give it more comedy. I realised this just made me an an audience member feel claustrophobic.
Finally as suspected the montage sequence now having been cut to the beat, meant that the overall sequence running time had been pulled down. To make up for this I had to incorporate the beginning of the next scene, which in the end I thought worked really well, giving this short two minute sequence a beginning a middle and an end. Now all that's left is for it to be judged with the others next week when it's due.
SENNA
The film Senna (Kapadia, 2010) is a British made film about the life and eventual death of Brazilian car racer Ayrton Senna. The Documentary is portrayed through a range of archive footage of the racer as well as interviews with friends family and colleagues. The movie won a BAFTA for best documentary and best editing, beating the likes of Drive and Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy in the latter category.
The film was edited by Gregers Sall and Chris King. Reading articles about the film [http://www.firstpost.com/sports/senna-wins-baftas-for-best-documentary-and-editing-211171.html] [http://docgeeks.com/2012/02/13/senna-wins-baftas-for-best-documentary-and-best-editing/] it seems that the editing won audience members over through the use of telling an emotional story whilst being limited to not using any Live TV footage, and by having a subject matter that was a good person taken before their time. As well as that the way the movie itself is quite slow which is then juxtaposed with speed and dangerousness of racing and knowing what the outcome of this beloved protagonist will be keeps you on edge through out. And this is seen not only in the movie but gives you a glimpse of in the trailer as well.
Use of music in Shane Meadows Films
Shane Meadows is a British director most commonly known for his directorial films; Dead Man's Shoes (2004) and This is England (2006). He is one of Film4's most well known directors and as well as directing films he also has a number of short films and Television series under his belt.
After listening to a few songs from the various soundtracks and rewatching both trailers I can deduce that Shane Meadows uses music that is soft and seemingly non-threatening but holds a chilling undertone to them, possibly described a a terrible beauty. As well as that the music there are a few songs with lyrics that hold meaning to the goings on of the movie, which can be noticed in the Dead Mna's Shoes Trailer above. Of course for authenticity reasons, there are a few songs in the soundtrack that are present for that reason only, which can mainly be seen in the This Is England soundtrack whereby well known early eighties songs are played. In retrospect, though a few songs from the ear were necessary there was still a whole library of musical selection that could have been chosen, but by picking happy-go-lucky tunes it is seen as sort of irony to the actions that will later take place to or around the characters.
This short film was uniquely co commissioned by the BBC, Film 4 and The Olympic/Paralympic Games, from the snippet shown above, the first thing that stood out to me once I had finished was that I cannot imagine the film being in anything other than black and white. It was really powerful as I could imagine the colour but the absence of it made more sense. The metaphors/ correlating images between the swimmer and his inner turmoil were brought together really well through the use of music, especially in the first scene where the swimmer was being hunted under what seemed to be a murky lake. Though when reading the synopsis of the film after... SWIMMER is a poetic journey through the waterways and coastline of the British Isles, following a lone swimmer through lakes, rivers and coves. The journey is framed by a soundtrack of seminal British music, combined with a sound tapestry of hydrophonic recordings and snippets of bankside conversations. The film aims to give a real feel for the diversity of landscape and people of Britain. [http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfilms/film/swimmer]
...In a way by saying that the film aims to give a feel for the diversity of landscape and people of Britain, my own interpretation stems from my diversity of understanding which relates to the theme of the short itself. Overall I wasn't sure what I was expecting but found this clip very enjoyable and hope to one day find and watch the full version.
This book is really simple and uses modern films to explain the basis and basics of cutting.
Page 2 entitled CUT states: Every cut must be motivated; in other words, the editor must have a reason for making it. A cut builds story, idea, or emotion, changes the point of view, or keeps the pace going: In fact a cut may do some or all of these things. This statement is accompanied by two pictures from Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Mans Chest signifying one cut. The book continues in the same style through out, addressing a range of editing techniques from Cutting for Pace, Rhythm and Time (Stopping, Expanding, Compression of time etc.), Cuts That Use Time Effects (Freeze Frame, Slow Motion, Speed Up) .
Even though it feels and reads like a beginners to editing book it takes away all the complicated jargon and lays it out on the table simple, which is sometimes what you need.
Chandler, G. 2009. Great Cuts Every Filmmaker and Movie Lover Must Know. USA. Michael Wiese Productions
As a change I will be looking at the editing of a movie trailer, continuing in the spirit of the latest assignment it will be a comedy.
Edited By: Tom Costain (Also edited the first instalment Grown Ups in 2010)
The opening immediately comes in with a guitar riff that is uplifting with a pinch of retro. The colour of the titles also adds to the uplifting theme as a quick back-story is displayed through the texts and the yearbook style photos, everything is kept short, sweet and to the point. The opening texts also appear to the guitar notes being strummed in the background, emphasising the point.
As this film is a sequel an appropriate amount of "Previously On..." footage is displayed as a quick, reminder to viewers who might have forgotten the plot etc and to show those who loved it the first time just why they did by choosing clips that are funny.
The audio then changes as we are then lead on to the trailer of the actual movie, the Text emphasises this by stating boldly "THIS SUMMER" As we all know the point of a trailer is to give a brief synopsis of the movie without giving away any major spoilers, or in the case of a comedy reveal to many of the funniest lines and scenes. This is done by using a mixture of text and In Film Dialogue. A taste of what kind of humour this film will have is essential for those who may not have seen it's predecessor and so a couple of examples are shown (The Deer and the Cop Scene).
Lastly this film stars four very well known comedic actors so it's essential to try and capture all of them in a funny action as they are introduced to the audience. This trailer cleverly combines that by the jumping off the rock naked scene.
The trailer also ends on a funny and most importantly memorable gag. Then after the movie title appears we get a coda (Post Credit Scene) that adds that extra bit of laughter to the movie, this is backed by a well known song that may stick in audience members heads subconsciously preparing them to see the movie when it comes out.
I though this trailer worked really well as a short comedy piece, it made me laugh and I watched it twice, though the plot seems really thin in a comedy nobody really cares, the main point is to make audience members laugh.
Having already decided on which scene I would be focusing on I went about putting together an assembly then a rough cut before then going on to find an appropriate soundtrack to go with the montage piece.
I chose the music because I thought it was appropriately comedic with a touch of irony as well as being a well known tune.
After down loading it as an MP3 I had to then convert it to a WAV format, and I was told that this could be done through iTunes as my Soundtrack Pro kept crashing. I went on an Apple forum and followed the steps to change my chosen song into the right format.
After that I put together the final cut, playing around with what section of the music worked the best with what part of the montage sequence.
I then tidied everything up adding fades to make the coming in and out of the music smooth, and added the appropriate titles etc. Then I was done, but I decided not to export it, deciding to come back a week later and re-watch it before I export it an add it to the disk with my other two pair projects which will make up my portfolio for the semester module.
Bullet Time
This is in reference to The Matrix (A/L Wachowski, 1999) whereby Neo dodges bullets by defying the laws of gravity and orthopaedics. Not to be confused with Mr Smith dodging the bullets by moving from side to side faster than the speed of sound.
The term Bullet Time is trademark of Warner Brothers but the concept pre-dates that of cinema, where it is more commonly known as frozen time or flow motion whereby the object slows or freezes but the situation around them continues to go on at a different speed to it. Like how the sun is stationary but the earth travels round it. To create the effect the use of photography is called up, which was the method they used back in the day. The effect can also be made with recording cameras.
Vuala. Though there are a few other substitute methods that can be used to create the same effect, but the subject will have to be moving slowly themselves or be in a more comfortable position. An example is putting your camera and tripod on a standard dolly and then wheeling around the subject. This is an effect that I have used to a decent effect.
Side by Side
Side by Side (Kenneally, 2012) is a Documentary that stars just about every director you could hope to be even a fraction of a percentage as good as, as well as a number of producers, VFX, SFX and editors. The film is about the history and development of film and digital film making. Not personally being a massive fan of documentaries and after reading what it was about, I was already sceptical before pressing play. Saying that, having watched the opening [0:00 - 04:49] of the documentary I was surprised at my want to continue watching, not only because of the honey pot of having all the key film makers in one place at one time but also because of the passionate debate about what will become of photochemical filmmaking.
The introduction lay a very solid foundation for the way that the rest of the documentary would be built. It drew you in imediatley by giving snippets of opinions from the most well known directors, from the introduction I can already tell that there are so many different opinions about the future of photochemical and digital film making that there will be no closure in the conclusion of the documentary, that that is perhaps the point. Not to come to a definitive conclusion but to make film makers, especially the young one who were brought up on digital film making about its pros and cons. By getting such a high rank of professionals to express their thoughts, many of whom are looked up to or idolised by the new generation of film makers, the documentary is almost a form of propaganda in making us keep photochemical film making alive.
Quotes that stood out Scorsese: It's exciting because its a reinvention of a new medium If the photochemical process has worked its way through our culture, we're on to another level. Lynch: [Are You done with film?] Don't hold me to it Keanu but I think I am. Nolan: I am constantly asked to justify why I want to shoot a film on film but I don't hear anybody being asked to justify why they want to shoot a film digitally.
Bill and Teds Bogus Journey FX From the trailer Bill and Teds Bogus Journey (Hewitt, 1991) was made in the times of old school Power Rangers where the bad guys were actors in sweat, heavy and smelly suits. Comparatively to this day and age where they would be dressed in lime green spandex, or better yet be holding a tennis ball on a stick. This I believe adds to the believability of the world Bill and Ted reside. There are talks of a new Bill and Ted movie being made, and it is tough to imagine the monsters being digitally added in and not being the really fake cardboard style of the originals.
Part One - How To Approach The Footage
Chapter Seven - From Animation To Reality: Editing Different Genres.
This book is really up to date and looks at a number of popular films and TV shows as examples. This is actually quite refreshing because though some of the other books read as part of the reading list are inforamtive and interesting and reference some well known films. The odds that I have watched them in the last year or two are usually quite thin so I find myself having to think back or Google the synopsis as a reminder. With this book however, published in 2012 it's a lot easier for me to read aspects and put it together clearly with the scene, or cut they have in mind.
Page 197 starts the topic of Editing Comedy and this section starts off with the following; Cutting comedy is similar to performing comedy: It's all in the timing. Sometimes you let the scene "play" (run as filmed): other times you shorten time by accelerating the action to earn the laughs.
This is something that I need to keep in mind when I start editing my comedy piece. Timing. When best to hold on the main conversationalist and when to switch to show the reaction shot. The tricky thing about comedy is that it is not universal. You could watch the same clip with a room full of people and only a third might laugh, whereas the other third might not find it funny at all, the last third not even understanding the joke in the first place. When I am editing the comedy piece it may just be simpler to edit it to my own comedic specifications because you can please them all.
This section talks a lot about the different styles of comedy filming and mostly editing, touch on a paragraph here and there about The Rule of Three, Comedy Styles Today, Multi Cam Editing and Single Cam Comedy to name but a few. Each kept the facts simple with an easy to understand example with the latest in TV (The Office, How I Me Your Mother)
The last word in the section ends on this note; If you can cut comedy, you can cut anything because you understand timing, characters, reaction shots and how to start, build, sustain, and end laughs and therefore scenes. (Page 204)
All of which is true as these are the staples necessities when it comes to editing Drama, Documentary and other genres. Editing comedy might be far from easy but it's a skill that once grasped will be beneficial throughout.
Chandler, G. 2012. Cut By Cut. 2nd Revised Edition. USA. Michael Wiese Productions.
In the spirit of the latest assignment this next Editing Review will be in the comedy genre. The Gilmore Girls in classed as a Comedy-Drama though the comedy element is one that requires a unique sense of humour as the characters are all zany and fast talking and the show is heavily relied on pop culture references, spanning from music to film to theatre. Every year or so when I come back and re-watch all seven seasons I will understand a new reference thus making the context it is said in funny. This is because between the last time I would have watched it I will have been exposed to more films or music or just general facts etc.
The Gilmore Girls is based on a mother and daughter relationship and the mothers relationship with her parents after she ran away from home at sixteen when she got pregnant. Due to financial obligation having Friday Night Dinners with her parents is a running theme throughout the seasons.
Edited By: David L. Bertman
Filming Dinner scenes is especially hard when you have more than three characters. This is because when there are three or less you can have a "fourth wall" where the camera can get in all the characters face-on in one shot. When you add more people into the equation it becomes a lot harder to film and therefore edit. This scene opens really nicely focusing on Lorelai who is the dominant conversationalist and does a nice sweep to then show all the characters at the table, though Richards face is half masked but unavoidable. Therefore with that in mind the first cut is to a direct shot of his face. The scene plays on in a serious of cut-to going from talker to talker before ending the way it started with a shot of all four characters, this time it is okay to use where Rory sits as the "Fourth Wall" whereby we see only the back of her head as she has already been established in the scene. The classical soft music in the background is a juxtaposition with the zany, animated and pointless conversation that they are having and the overall whit and quip of Lorelai.
This scene does have many cuts because of the position of the characters but outside of the Friday Night Dinner scenes the show has a very "Walk and Talk" dynamic which allows for longer scenes and therefore fewer cuts, which works well because as you can tell from the clip about the characters can talk for long periods of time without inturuption, therefore maybe needing only one responsive nod from their companion.
Today I just decided on which scene I was going to edit, after having a look through the footage I decided on the dress up montage scene. The entire piece didn't quite come across as very comedic to me, perhaps it's my sense of humour or the pantomime time acting. Either way I will try and get the editing to come across as being somewhat comical.
Yorkshire Film Archive
The YFA collects and preserves Yorkshire based or made films and other moving images, they are a charity and provide public access to their archive. Films both Amateur and Profession can be deposited to the YFA where they will review it to see if it matches their requirements. The archive is easy to navigate to help you find films depending on genre, decade or region of Yorkshire.
Russian Ark by Aleksandr Sokvrov
The unique thing about this film is that it was shot using a 96 minute steadicam sequence shot
Having never seen the film I have chosen this scene to analyse with the limited knowledge that I know about the movie. The camera has to capture a lot in this 9 minute sequence, crossing across the ballroom a number of times as well as flirting on the outskirts to view all that it can view. On the cameras movements, it's all very fluid as though the camera is just another dancer at the ball or graceful noble who eyes the events with a raised chin and judgemental eye. The way that the camera also piggy backs off various characters to get from one place to another in a more affluent manner as opposed to just using a simple sweep across the room to get to the next focal point. It was a very interesting sequence to watch as there are so many things going on at once and therefore so much to take in, from the main characters to the dancing to the orchestra to the artwork and the costumes as well as general décor it's no surprise the scene is so long yet doesn't seem long enough.
Stereoscopic Verses Anaglyph
Both of these are a form of 3D viewing. The Former refers to the way we watch 3D today, in the cinema or at home with the use of "Real 3D Glasses" this way of viewing imagery using two offset images that each eye processes separately and then brings together to create a 3D image.
How it works internally
What we are seeing externally without the glasses
The Glasses that help the image come together and seem 3D
The latter on the hand is still a form of Stereoscopy, but this instead uses two opposing colours to create the same effect. This is easier to achieve but the realism of the image is distorted because of the obvious colouring issues.
How it works technically, the image projection and how the glasses act like a filter to make us believe the 3D
What we see on the screen without the use of the glasses, not the Red and Blue double imagery in contrast to the double picture shown in the Stereoscopic example.
What the glasses look like.
Final Project
The final project for the semester involves constructing a comedy piece. We were given all the raw footage of a previous students short film. Out if the footage we were given we have to pick one scene to construct perfectly. The piece has to be two minutes long and it is an individual task.
