Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Log in
  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

The single best editing advice ever

Martin Weiss

Martin Weiss

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 21, 2008
Messages
6,156
Reaction score
0
Points
36
Age
56
Location
Switzerland/Norway/Germany
Website
weiss.no
(courtesy of iMovie):

bhKTvCKNAeys8572Lm9xkNl6o1_500.png


:bleh:
 
Obviously editing is about throwing the bad shots out!

(I'm being a little sarcastic here. I think there is more to editing than that.)
 
It may seem obvious, but even some pros don't acknowledge it. I'm sure I'm guilty of it all the time. Letting a shot run too long, putting a shot in because it looks nice rather than putting it in because it adds to the story, etc. Not sure iMovie was getting this deep on the topic, but suffice it to say I saw a very interesting editing exercise the other day by a veteran documentary editor and it blew me away. Made me really think about the art and craft of editing.
 
Still, think of how much net boredom Apple has removed from the world with that one little dialogue box -- because X% of iMovie users actually never would have thought of that.

"Just the good parts? Hmm...maybe that could work..."

If only there could be one that said: "That 5-minute shot isn't nearly as good as you think it is."
 
Steve,

What was that exersize you saw? Sounds interesting.

Madam,

How is the conspiracy going for you these days, any luck?




DogDay.
 
That reminds me when I was a clapper loader some of the older school DPs used to get me to print "grade for best results" on the camera sheets. I always found this curious...like the labs were going to grade it as sh*t as possible unless they saw that :)!! Actually there were one or two labs......they're not in business anymore :bye2:.....
 
Had a film teacher who, when asked if he'd take a look at your movie and give you feedback, would simply say 'make it shorter' even though he had not seen it. Student says "but you haven't even see..." "Yes, but make it shorter"
 
Paulee said:
"Yes, but make it shorter"
Click to expand...
One famous 40s director wrote that he would always put in some extra scenes before screening the "final cut" to his producer, so that he could "give them up" in the following discussion, making everyone feel valuable. He could afterward honestly say "gee, those cuts made the film much better".
 
Other interesting notes clapper loaders would put on camera sheets (as ordered by the DP) would be "S.U.P"....I didn't know what that meant the first few times till a focus puller told me it meant "Shot Under Protest" (i.e. a producer or director had made the DP shoot in less than ideal conditions like pitch black or something :)). I guess it was like a little coded ass-covering tactic?
 
Martin Weiss said:
One famous 40s director wrote that he would always put in some extra scenes before screening the "final cut" to his producer, so that he could "give them up" in the following discussion, making everyone feel valuable. He could afterward honestly say "gee, those cuts made the film much better".
Click to expand...


Great advice. :)
 
:w00t: Ha!! I was the focus puller...small world!!

I seem to remember it was the combination of a Grip, a Fisher dolly (the one with the slopey edges and the sign saying not to leave anything on it), and a Sekonic spot meter - they all came together in a tragic accident that trapped the spot meter in the jib arm :). We actually couldn't continue filming so I took a pair of pliers and a hammer to the trapped light meter and then somehow you soldered it all back together again :) Ahhh...they were the good ol' days...

The DP wasn't very happy...:angry01:

Anyway hope you're well and enjoying Norway (I was over there last year and being a Londoner I just couldn't get over how polite everyone was...serious culture shock!!)
 
dogday said:
Steve,

What was that exersize you saw? Sounds interesting.


DogDay.
Click to expand...

The editor does a lot of Frontline, the PBS show. They did one called the Choice which was about the Obama-McCain campaign. In one example he played the piece they edited on the Harvard Law Review days of Obama. He then showed us a piece that ABC news did on the same subject, as well as CNN. The differences were eye opening. The Frontline piece was far more powerful and informative than the other pieces. Granted, Frontline is more Doc style and the others are newsy, but still he was breaking it down for us and by the end you were realizing how overused the VO was, how many random shots that didn't add anything to the piece were in there, and he showed us how he cut out a lot about the relationship with Michelle during that time because it was not adding anything to the story at hand. It was a great presentation. He also showed us a section from Bush's War, which he also cut. The focus here was on sound and how powerful it can be to either enhance what's being told or to tell you something different, maybe even opposite from the pictures you are seeing.

It was an Avid User's event, so there was some technical discussion in there as well and he reminded us just how powerful the script tool can be, especially when cutting docs with tons of interviews.

A very enjoyable night and I felt I learned a lot.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top