Montage Status

For my montage assignment, my idea was to depict a typical father-son relationship from the son's birth, to his marriage. My overall theme is that a father's love for his kid is unbreakable, and I want to highlight that by showing the separation between the two as the son gets older, and then end it with a moment where they're together again, just like old times. The montage itself will be a mixture of rhythmic and tonal montage, because I want a majority of the emotion to come from the relationship between the pictures and the music, and also the tone behind each shot. In terms of status, I'm hoping to complete the project on time, and I think that's doable because I've spent a lot of time outside of class planning it out. The only factor that slowed me down was the music choice, because I pondered over several ballads for multiple days, and I didn't start compiling all my photos until I had the perfect song picked out.

10 Keyboard Shortcuts for Premiere

I plan on using the thumbnail shortcut, the one that allows you to move graphics at different speeds, and the shortcut for grouping clips in the future. For the thumbnail shortcut, it allows you to alter the videos in your Project Manager, so that you can find the point you want to serve as your thumbnail, and set it with Shift + P. This shortcut will make my life easier in the future, because I'll be able to tell by the thumbnail what the clip is about, and that can help me locate certain videos as quickly as possible. In addition, I was intrigued by the tip about moving text or graphics on the screen, and how holding Control or Shift while moving your cursor can slow down the movement, or speed it up respectively. This simple shortcut will allow me to create my title slates with more ease, and if I do start adding graphics to my videos, I'll save time with positioning them. A final shortcut that I know I'll end up using is the application of Control + G to group clips that've been highlighted, as I'm always trying to move large amounts of footage together, and this will make it so I don't have to waste time doing it clip by clip.

Walter Murch on Editing

Walter Murch's six rules for when to make an edit are based on emotion, story, rhythm, eye-trace, the two-dimensional plane of screen, and the three-dimensional space of action. Emotion deals with having a cut that is true to what the editor wants the viewer to feel, story ensures that the cut advances what's happening in the plot, and the rule of rhythm is based on cutting at a place that makes rhythmic sense. For the ones of lesser importance, eye-trace is essentially paying attention to how the cut affects the audience's focus, the two-dimensional plane of screen is based on the 180 degree rule and whether the axis is followed properly, and the three-dimensional space of action is when a cut stays true to physical and spatial relationships. In my opinion, cutting on emotion and story are so important because when not done properly, it's easily recognizable and distracts from the essence of the film. Also, a cut that doesn't pay attention to story could easily confuse the audience, as suddenly something happens that has no relation to what has been happening, and the viewer doesn't know what to make of it.

Exporting Your Project

When exporting your project, it's important to remember that your file should be named properly, it should have the correct setting depending on what you want to do with it, and it's being stored in the correct container. To export any video on Premiere Pro, you go to File-Export-Media, which opens an Export Settings window. From there, you want to make sure you're choosing the correct codec and preset for your video, usually a H.264 format (Full High Definition) and an installed preset that matches where you want to upload your project. Also, it's incredibly important to name your finished project and put it in a container like mp4, because you'll be able to easily find it later and use it for most video services, as they use mp4. So far, I've forgotten to set my in and out points before exporting a project, and although that hasn't created much of a problem yet, I need to ensure I'm doing it because it prevents any random footage or blank space from staying in my finished products.  

Manipulating Time

Three important techniques that were introduced in the video are time remapping, how to create and move keyframes, and ramping the speed change. Time remapping allows an editor to change the speed at various points in a clip. I will definitely use this technique moving forward, especially in establishing shots, because I think they need to be sped up, but then slowed down when they get close enough to the scene they're introducing. Manipulating keyframes is another important aspect because depending on where you want the speed change to occur, keyframes need to be set so only those portions of the clip have an altered speed. For instance, I would set two keyframes around the portion of my establishing shot where the camera is moving slowly, so I could speed it up without messing up the rate of the entire clip. Also, I would want to know how to ramp my speed changes, which is essentially changing the transitions into and out of keyframes, so the altered speed builds up gradually, and doesn't just change instantaneously. In terms of the establishing shots I plan to make, this technique would allow them to almost flow as they slowly build up speed, so it doesn't catch the viewer off guard.

Split Edits

J and L cuts are both different types of split edits used in every major production. They both alter the starting point of an audio piece to be different than the clip its from, and derive their names from the shape that's formed as a result. For a J cut, the video track is rolled so it starts later than the original audio, and in a L cut, the video track is rolled before its audio, essentially starting while the audio from the prior clip is still playing. These techniques can improve an edit by hiding mistakes and creating an effect called reactive editing. Since the audio isn't lined up perfectly with its video clip, it allows the viewer to realize someone else is talking before they're actually shown, altogether adding a sense of reality and clarity to every transition.  

Natural Transitions

A natural transition is a subtle change from one shot to the other that can signify either a change in location or a passing of time. To achieve this goal, some techniques that should be used are switching between common objects like shadows or the sky, filling the entire frame with the wipe object, and using fades or dissolves post-edit to smoothen up the sequence. By transitioning between two common objects, a cinematographer can seamlessly change to the next scene without any movements that seem distracting to the audience. While doing this, it is important to fill the entire frame with the transition image, because if not large enough, other nuances in the background can be seen, which can appear out of place and confusing. In addition, a person utilizing a natural transition should implement some type of dissolve between two clips, as it allows the entire sequence to appear less choppy and more natural, as intended by the cinematographer.

Cutting On Action

Cutting on action is when a cut is made during motion to transition to another shot with action, which altogether makes it appear continuous, despite different camera angles. It is able to seamlessly blend two shots together because the motion takes the scene from one shot to another, without being noticed. There are multiple ways to use a cut on action, including to carry the reader through time or to simply connect shots that are in completely different locations. Regardless of the intent, it's important to remember that while using a cut on action, the action in both scenes must be matched, so continuity isn't disrupted and it doesn't confuse the viewer. Also, it's a good habit to cut during the first third of the action, as it can always continue within the next shots, altogether adding more tempo and variety to the string of action.  

Mise-En-Scène

Mise-en-scène is the artistry behind a scene that includes props, spacing, character blocking, lighting, costumes, and the many elements of a camera like angle, aspect ratio, and color treatments. Its translated definition is "placing on stage", and it's used in the film industry to describe the personal style of a filmmaker that's helping him achieve his overarching goal. Although some films have more noticeable and beautiful mise-en-scènes, it's present in every video and can't be avoided, even when minimal thought is put into it. Regardless of its components, mise-en-scène is an important concept in cinema because it grants a uniqueness to every film, and allows for an appeal beyond the general storyline and acting. Also, it's crucial that different filmmakers keep a constant mise-en-scène, because failure to do so can create discontinuity and confusion in the audience, as parts of the scene are magically moving new places between shots.

Understanding Timecode

Timecode is quite simply the time that is assigned to the sequence of clips that are being edited. Just like a normal timeline, going left down the timecode represents a moment earlier in time, and going the other way results in a moment later in time. Timecode is measured in standard units like hours, minutes, seconds, and frames, and an editor can go to any portion of his footage by changing the units, which in theory is going somewhere else on the timecode. In the realm of editing, timecode is so important because editors need to sort through hundreds of footage daily, and having that timecode allows them to keep track of the whereabouts of each clip and where it appears in the sequence. With this organization, it allows for easy navigation and an altogether quicker experience, which is paramount in the film industry, because time equals money.

Video Resolutions

Resolution is a measurement of the number of pixels in a video file that forms dimensions. This measurement usually appears in a format like "1920 X 1080", which in this case, refers to a shot that's 1920 pixels wide and 1080 pixels high. Aspect ratio is closely related to resolution, as it derives its value by the ratio of horizontal pixels to vertical pixels. For instance, a frame with a resolution of "1920 X 1080" would have an aspect ratio of 16:9, which translates to the common widescreen on most televisions and computers. However, aspect ratios can get more complex with resolutions larger than HD, and in those cases they're expressed by a ratio of one pixel of height to the number of pixels of width, like 1:1.9. Both these concepts are important in video production because depending on how you want to display your videos, it's important to know what resolution to shoot at, and what camera offers you the best aspect ratio to get your work done.

Codecs vs. Containers

Codecs come in many varieties with different advantages, but their main purpose is organizing media data that's stored in a container. They are essentially the order of data from an audio or video file, and they allow the data to be played back, edited, or transcoded, which is changing the codecs. However, they are different from a container, because containers are the space where audio and video codecs are held in a single file. Some containers are particular with the codecs they hold, whereas others are compatible with a variety of audio and video data. In addition, containers have the ability to hold metadata on the file they're carrying, which gives information about the video, such as the frame rate, the camera and lens used, and specific production standards.

Linear vs. Non-Linear Editing

In order for the editing industry to change from linear editing to non-linear, several technologies had to be invented, including the CMX 600, EditDroid editing system, and editing softwares like EMC and Avid. The CMX 600 was the first computerized nonlinear editor, however its success also came with a list of problems, as it required massive disk drives. Over time, feasibility needed to be improved. and that came about with LucasFilm's EditDroid system, which allowed random-access editing across some computer workstations. Although introduced, non-linear editing wasn't fully popularized until editing softwares like EMC, Avid, and Adobe Premiere adopted it, allowing a global spread that welcomed an era of non-linear editing. I think each of these technologies was important because they corrected the mistakes of the former, and allowed non-linear editing to slowly transform into the phenomenon that it is today.

Montage Editing Techniques

One of Pudovkin's techniques that interests me is parallelism because I love how one scene can seamlessly flow into the other in a way that's visually appealing. I definitely want to use this technique in the future because it makes it easy to jump from one location to another, and I find that hard to do because it can disrupt the flow of a story. For its application in the modern movies clips, it's apparent that parallelism adds a degree of elegance to each scene shift because the viewer can pull matching elements out of both, so regardless how drastic the transition, it just seems natural. I find that interesting because most editors try to hide their transitions and make them seem unnoticeable, but this technique is supposed to be highlighted, so it can be appreciated. Overall, I think parallelism is a useful technique that can add appeal, but it must be executed properly, or the filmmaker risks confusing their audience.

Continuity Editing

Griffith's contributions to the realm of editing include several techniques like the cut-in, crosscutting, and overall creating a scene through continuity editing. Continuity is when an editor cuts between shots of different angles to maintain a sense of space and time in the scene.  It was first introduced by Griffith, who found that he could cut from a long shot to a full shot in the middle of a discourse, thus tightening the emotional impact. He also discovered the 180 degree rule, which says that a camera must be kept on one side of the axis of action, just like an eyeline would be, to avoid problems with continuity. These tips are important for the edit of a film because they allow the filmmaker to incorporate different angles in an accepted fashion that doesn't take away from the cinematic feeling, but only enhances it.  

The Early History of Editing

Early filmmakers toiled very little with editing because their films often consisted of one scene with no cuts or camera adjustments. Because cinema was so new to the public, it wasn't necessary to have dramatic transitions or scene changes, because the audience was just as satisfied with the simple images appearing in front of them. Over time, some editing was introduced as filmmakers started using multiple camera angles and scenes that had to be compiled to tell a story. These early films are very similar to the mobile ones we make for this class, because often the quality is just as shaky and there's very little editing that goes into them. Also, both films have scenes that seem to go on for too long, as the creators are less familiar with post production, and want to tell everything with what they can capture in the frame.

Editing Tools You Should Now

One of the three tools covered in the video was the razor/slice tool. This feature makes it possible to go anywhere in your footage and cut the clip in two parts, so that it can be adjusted as needed. Another tool is the ripple edit tool, which allows an editor to trim the in and out points of a clip, without messing with the other footage surrounding the clip. A third important tool is the rate stretch tool, which can essentially speed up or slow down a clip. This is done by clicking on the end point of a clip and dragging it to be either longer or shorter, therefore adjusting the rate at which it plays. These tools are important to learn to edit video because they are used so often that they require a general knowledge, and they can speed up the process altogether.

Organizing Your Footage

Organizing your footage is so important in editing because editors go through hundreds of clips a day, and without labels and bins, it would be extremely difficult to find a clip, therefore prolonging the editing process. When looking for a certain clip, it makes it a lot easier when you know exactly what bin to go to and what the clip should be titled, because there's no time spent rewatching files to find the right one. I think the video did a good job at breaking down the logistics behind the bins you create, and how it's a virtual folder structure that isn't actually organizing the files on your desktop. Another topic I found helpful was the idea of slating, and how labeling shots by their title and take with a marker makes it easier to organize post production. I also thought it was interesting that you can add a color to each clip, so that they're organized by the type of shot like dialogue, cut aways, and audio.

The Editing of Raiders of the Lost Ark

The boulder scene from "Raiders of the Lost Ark" was edited so that numerous clips of various images and angles were put together in a way that didn't distract from the scene, but only heightened its intensity. Many times, the image of Dr. Jones walking through the temple would cut to a close up of his feet or face, allowing the viewer to understand his nerves and just how cautious he has to be. Upon grabbing the idol, the scene becomes a mad escape and the editor employs new clip after new clip, which adds haste to the whole situation and makes it seem like a matter of life or death. This editing was crucial to opening the film strong because it gives the audience a good first impression of the protagonist, an adventure junkie who is willing to stop at no costs to protect an artifact. Also, not many films choose to open with their craziest scenes, so the decision to have the boulder scene in the intro allows for a memorable moment that catches the audience's attention, so they're hooked instantly.