FMP Research

What does an editor do?

http://creativeskillset.org/job_roles/2940_editor

Editors are in charge of editing the final footage of a film and working alongside the director where possible to create the final edit. They are also in charge of running a team of assistants and trainees during productions. They work unsociable hours, usually under a lot of pressure, time-wise, to get their work done. They must use the, sometimes, mess of shots and scenes and make sure the story flows from beginning to end. They are usually employed on a freelance term by the producer, based on reputation and experience. Before shooting starts, the editor will work with the director to understand what the intent and outcome of editing and shooting should be. Their work pattern would very much be a lot of work all at once, such as over two or three months to finish a feature film, and then a break for a while.

It’s their job to make the visual of the film appealing and make the flow of the plot work, also the physical flow, including continuity errors, and trying to fix them post. Also, editors’ job is to make sure the narrative flows. For example, make sure it’s all in time order, and if it’s not, make it visible to the audience that it’s at a different time, eg with time stamps. Or if you change locations and it might not be clear, say what location it is in.

What type of editing is commonly used in short films?

http://www.lift-off-festivals.com/short-film-story-structure/

I found this website useful as it gave short tips as to what makes an ‘award worthy – ten out of ten’ short film. The first rule about short films, is to ‘start immediately’, which means don’t begin with credits, or sometimes even what the name of the film is. This isn’t just to stop from wasting screen time, which is limited for us, but also to keep the audience engaged. As editor, this is useful as I know what to prioritise and I know to keep the attention of the audience can be based on how I edit, such as how long I dedicate to certain things like the opening title.

Another rule is to remove all non-essential element from the film. Although this is more for the scriptwriters than the editor, this does affect me, as I now know to edit out all the parts that make the film a bit too long. For example, if shots last too long or scenes do, editing down shots or removing lines might have to be a decision the editing assistant and I will have to make.

https://jonnyelwyn.co.uk/film-and-video-editing/tips-on-editing-short-films/

(This article I researched is covering an interview conducted with EditStock.com founder and short film professional; Misha Tennenbaum)

A good tip I found on this page was to keep the film efficient.This means not B-roll footage going on for too long. I will keep this in mind while we are out filming, so we know not to dedicate too much time to filming establishing shots. Another point I got from this was not to spend too much time with things like introductions and credits, or not to have them at all.

Another thing they meant by ‘efficient’ is to only use what looks great. For example, if you’re 50/50 on using a shot because it might look bad or won’t fit the scene, don’t. This is because in a film that is only 5-10 minutes long if you have a few shots that don’t match the rest it can stick in the audience’s mind and they will remember these mistakes.

Another part of this article was saying 3 things that make a good film. They were:

1. A beginning, middle, and end (this is my #1 factor).
2. Camera angles and moves more interesting than just being on a tripod
3. Interesting costumes, locations, VFX, sound design, and so on

From the 1st tip, I know that when editing I need to make the flow of the plot one of my priorities as it can be what makes or breaks the audience’s opinion. If it gets too confusing, due to the order for example, they could lose interest and it could ruin the atmosphere. Also, thinking about this we should make sure we follow the 180 degree rule, of not swapping sides of the actors with our angles, as this could mess up people’s interpretation of the area around them, and if they moved or not etc. The 2nd tip has made me consider suggesting different angles to the director and camera operator, one so I have more of a variety to edit with and so the audience feel engaged whilst watching. However, trying to edit with moving shots can be difficult. The 3rd tip helps me, as I am also the costume master, so I know to make sure the costumes have an effect on the audience. I will look more into that when writing the costume list. I also looked into VFX, and wasn’t sure what the difference between SFX and VFX was. After researching, I realised that we probably won’t use Special Effects, so it will be more focused on the VFX in post-production.

What type of style do I want to use?

For our short film, as it’s about memory loss, I want to show confusion and disorientation for the actor. Our first scene in the script has no dialogue and is therefore based on the music, shots and editing. I want to show how confused and dazed she feels and will do this through by using different visual effects. An example I want to base this on is from ‘Mad Max’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EWyQ0TXDdQ 0:18-0:25). However, this shot was very reliant on the snorricam, which may be a challenge for us to recreate, but I want to try and use the delayed, disorientating effect for our shots. This is because head trauma can cause dizziness and blurry vision, which I will try and show with different video effects in Premiere. I will experiment with different ones, and perhaps layer more than one effect to create the scene’s intensity.

Non-film influences

Something else that I noticed during researching memory was a lot of blurriness to show forgetting or blocking something out from memory. A website I used was art2day.co.uk. You can use this to search different keywords, and look at photographs, painting, drawing etc to do with that topic. When searching memory I noticed straight away how many blurry pictures there were:

This again made me think of the symptom of head trauma blurry vision. Another thing I noticed was the colour blue was used a lot in these pictures (almost half of them, some examples below). This has inspired me to start thinking about the way I will clearly show past tense and her memories in our film.

What have other editors done similarly?

Memory 2.0

A short film that I watched that was similar to ours is ‘Memory 2.0’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cd2ka3-hvKA), edited by Luke Lynch, and the VFX by ‘BEMO’. A difference between Memory 2.0 and our script is that ours is about memory loss, and she can’t remember, but in Memory 2.0, he is remembering.

A part that I liked was during the opening credits (0:40-1:20), when you could hear them talking, but couldn’t see them saying their lines. I like this as it makes it seem like the person can’t stop remembering certain things and words said. Also, during this sequence there are very quick shots, going between shots of B-roll and shots of the actors. Also with the added effect of blurriness, it almost shows a lack of concentration, as if the person is struggling to remember.

Another part that I thought was effective was how quickly they went from reality back to memory. This really shows how rapid his thoughts were and that he couldn’t control them or the strength of them. A good example of this is at 4:41 or 8:19.

The next part that interested me was from 3:30 – 3:37. The effects of her being delayed and glitching looked great. Although the story of this short film is to artificially bring memories back, which could be the reason for the glitching effect, it was still be good for our edit, especially when it was like she was delayed and blurry. This happened again 3:53-3:57.

Shutter Island (2010)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1130884/

The plot: ‘In 1954, a U.S. Marshal investigates the disappearance of a murderer, who escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane’. Shutter Island was edited by Thelma Schoonmaker.

Throughout the film there are various flashback scenes that Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) experiences. During his first war flashback there were very quick shots, much like Memory 2.0. However, as his were war flashbacks, it’s much more likely that he was trying to block them out, and not remember them. During another war flashback, where he’s watching a man die a painful death, it’s in slow motion, as if it’s such a slow moment for Teddy to go through.

Another time he has a memory is when he sees his dead wife. This scene completely contrasts, with bright colours, which differs from the usual dull colours of the film. Also, there’s echoing when she speaks, as if she’s far away, showing that she’s an illusion inside his head.

Two more things that were similar to Memory 2.0 is when you hear the actors talking, but they show a shot when they’re not talking, as if certain things loop in their head without them even thinking. Another similarity is that there are very fast cuts between his dreams/memories and reality.

Another key part of Shutter Island is that his memories enter the real world. He sees his dead wife and child while having real conversations.

The final flashback he has is a very bright scene, even though the contents is very emotional. This may be because he’s trying to keep the memories of his past life happy and positive in his mind. There are birds chirping, and bright trees and water which completely contrasts to what’s happened.

Sound Assistant

http://creativeskillset.org/job_roles/311_sound_assistant_tv

‘Helping record the best quality sound in studios or on locations, working closely with Sound Supervisors and Boom Operators’ is the definition of a sound assistant according to the above website. Some responsibilities of sound assistants include:

• assembling and maintaining sound recording equipment
• positioning microphones
• may also play in music or operate sound effects as necessary
• report any technical faults

After discussing with our sound producer, we’ve discussed that I will be in charge of holding the boom mic, but won’t be listening with the tascam, as that will be done by the sound producer herself. Her and the director will tell me where to position myself, so I am not in shot but also getting the correct sound levels.

Using Premiere

As I was spending time doing research and pre-production, I didn’t have much time to practice editing. However, when I was at home I edited an introduction to our film, as we hadn’t yet written the second draft of the script. The finished product: https://youtu.be/cXENmLylk2Y. Although it is not a long clip, this, at the time, was the most I had explored into Premiere. As I didn’t worry about filmed footage, I explored the essential graphics and video effects in detail. I also learnt how to use green screen effects with the Ultra Key. I think, although it was only short, it built my confidence in Premiere a lot as it was up to me, with no storyboard or shot lists to limit me. I will talk about what techniques I used for the final edit in my evaluation.