Editing question: How do you do cut walking?

[Stephen Pruitt]

Hi all. . .

I've never been to film school, so forgive me if this is elementary knowledge, but I'm very curious how "the pros" deal with this situation.

You've got two shots of a man walking into a bar. The first one shoots him showing his face. The second his back. Now, as people walk, they rock side to side. My question is do you typically time the steps so that he is planting the same foot on the cut? Or do "cheat the rock" and cut with him planting opposite feet to keep the motion on the same side of the screen?

I'm a continuity fiend (way, way, way more than a "real" editor ever would be!), but I'm wondering if the cheats are actually something people do more often or not.

Any comments on this issue would be very much appreciated.

Stephen

 

[Nick Gardner]

It really just comes down to if the cut works. Matching motion and pacing are usually more important than strict action matching.

Nick

 

[Hrvoje Simic]

You've got two shots of a man walking into a bar. The first one shoots him showing his face. The second his back. Now, as people walk, they rock side to side. My question is do you typically time the steps so that he is planting the same foot on the cut? Or do "cheat the rock" and cut with him planting opposite feet to keep the motion on the same side of the screen?

Depends on the action, composition, camera angle, viewer's focus, rhythm, context...and what feels right.

I'm a continuity fiend (way, way, way more than a "real" editor ever would be!), but I'm wondering if the cheats are actually something people do more often or not.

There is no strict rule. You are telling a story with meaning and feel. Continuity depends on multiple factors, some of which are more important than technical accuracy. Cut can be wrong on the correct step if other factor(s) perceptively outweigh the impression for the proper sequence flow.

 

[Phil Holland]

Any comments on this issue would be very much appreciated.

In scenes where an actor is walking and true continuity is important I have the actor or actress lead off a starting mark with the same foot for each take if coming from the same mark from multiple angles. That helps a bit.

If there's something really specific that needs to happen, you can give the actor direction to end on a step too. Example, "when you get to the door jam, cross the threshold with your right foot".

Everything else that needs more precision than that, consult playback or your scripty.

To answer that last question, as far as editing "cheats" go, yes this is one that you just want some flow typically to the scene. When you watch a show like the West Wing for instance there's a lot of walking, often in one take, but they have shots where they certainly cut together, more important really is to keep a consistent pace and finding your editing moments.