Why Won't the Director Trust Me?

A Message to Editors

Written by Rob Ashe

"Why it's really hard for low budget directors to trust you"

“I think editors know so much about how to tell a story with pictures, … It’s such an important facet of becoming a film director to know how footage can be controlled and manipulated.”
Martin Scorsese

People starting out in the post production business as editors usually have the same complaint. They wonder why they are not being “trusted” with the material. They seem themselves as the person who will make the piece great. The running back who will run the football pass the goal line. Here is the problem with that mind-set.

Directing is REALLY hard.

Imagine if you spent the last ten years writing a script for a short film. You toiled over all the small details, the story, the characters arc. You raised money by maxing out credit cards. You borrowed from your parents and other distant and cold, mean relatives. You wrangled together a cast that may or may not have that one actor who is doing you a favor that could possibly land the film in a position to be seen. You find a way to make the props happen. You find a way to get your characters costumes which probably came from a thrift store. You shoot the thing at all hours of the night with a crew that probably doesn’t share your passion for the project because it’s your baby, it’s your life’s blood. It’s your chance and being somebody.

Now imagine that you have to hand over all your footage to someone sitting on a computer and they are the ones who get to decide whether or not your film is going to be any good?

Have a little empathy. Earn their trust by ensuring them that you are on their side. This is accomplished by always helping them get to where they need their piece to be.

I promise to only bold four more words.

The bottom line my young editing learner (huh?) is that you have to realize that it is not your piece. Your position on the project exists because either the director needs to execute their vision or they need you to interpret what was shot in a way that gets them to their destination. This is your job. If you want to direct. Go direct.

But make sure you hire an editor. I hear they are good at helping make your piece better. My bolding is complete.
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Article Source
Article by Rob Ashe



Should I Use an Editor?

A Message to Directors

Written by Peter John Ross

Should you edit your own movie? This is a question I think needs to be asked more often. Some of the great directors never edit their own films and others do. Kevin Smith and Robert Rodriguez famously edit their own material, as does James Cameron, but he usually is on a team of editors with him. Steven Spielberg never edits his own films and relies on Michael Kahn as he has for 35 years with only 2 exceptions in his feature film career. Why would you want to work with an editor?

I cite as an example a single scene from Star Wars A New Hope from 1977. The scene where Luke and the droids are sitting with Ben Kenobi in his house. In the script and in the shoot, the scene started with R2D2 showing off the hologram of Princess Leia saying “Help Me Obi Wan Kenobi” and then they talk about the Clone Wars. Do you remember this scene? During post production, editor Paul Hirsch looked at this and told George “I don’t think this is right. You have the princess begging for help and saying her ship was under attack, and THEN you have Ben and Luke talking casually about his father and going on about historical things. I think we need to reverse this because once you see this hologram, they need to be in a hurry and get on with the story…” and George agreed.

As a writer/director, sometimes you are so close to the material you lose sight of how the audience will view it. Simple mistakes like this might slip past the goalie if you are creating in a vacuum. Paul Hirsch won an Oscar ™ for Star Wars by the way…Editing is the process of possibly fixing mistakes and re-motivating characters. It’s a 3rd chance, after the script (1st) and the shoot (2nd).

They call editing the Final Re-Write for a reason.
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Article Source
Article by Peter John Ross

Learning the Basics - Pt. 3

Several years ago Digital Juice produced several training series for the web called DJTV. It covered topics ranging from Audio, Tech Info, and Filmmaking Basics. One of the shows I enjoyed the most was "Cutting Class" by Chris Gates.

Cutting Class

More often than not, the edits in your sequences need to seamlessly flow, and not distract from the big picture. In this episode, Chris "Ace" Gates, looks at the decision making process and covers some basic training for camouflaging your cuts.

Topics range from Color Correction, Scene Transitions, ADR, Blending Modes,Tips for Text, Green Screen, and more! Chris "Ace" Gates shares some simple but effective editing tips and techniques for utilizing mattes and masks to build multi-layered composites.

Here is a link to watch all the Cutting Class videos, be sure to start with the first video on page 1, for some reason it has all the episodes listed with the last one first.

WATCH CUTTING CLASS

iPhone 4 Shoots & Edits HD Video

Mobile media moguls just got an early Christmas present.  Apple has announced the new iPhone 4 with a sweet looking, built-in HD Video camera.  It will capture 30p video 1280 x 720 (not 1920 x 1080).  Disappointed it can't record 1080?  I'm not… at least not yet.  I've got several consumer video cameras, all claiming to shoot 1080p… which the do… and they also suck (I'm looking at you, Kodak Zi8).  So, what good is 1080 if the quality is terrible? I'm hopeful that Apple stuck to 720 because they know they can do it well.  Then again, if their HD video looks lousy, I'll be doubly bummed. 

The new iPhone boasts a built-in led video light (that also serves as a flash for low-light photography), and a long overdue tap-to-focus feature.  In addition to the standard rear-facing camera, the iPhone 4 can also shoot video using it's front-facing camera -- handy for intimate, personal, soul baring videos you intend to post on youtube.com.  The front facing camera isn't HD, however.  It tops out with VGA quality.

Like the current iPhone camera app, the new HD app will allow you to trim your videos by dragging in and out points with your finger.  But forget about that.  Why?  Because Apple has also announced iMovie for iPhone!  This relativity cheap app ($4.99) allows users to swipe and pinch their way through an elegant editing interface.  Apple has provided themes, transitions, location-based titling, and the ability to import your own music.  Once your project is complete, you can export it in multiple sizes (640x360, 960x540, 1280x720), and then share it in a variety of ways (email, MMS, MobileMe Galleries, YouTube).  There's no indication on Apple's site as to whether iMovie will work on an iPhone 3GS, using its built-in standard definition camera.  As soon as we get the answer, we'll post it.

The iPhone is set to be released on June 24th, with reordering beginning on the 15th.  The new version of the iPhone OS, now known as iOS, is set to be released for current iPhone owners on June 21st.  It's going to be a busy month!

With the new iPhone 4, Apple is once again empowering mobile media makers to create and distribute their unique visions from wherever they happen to be when creativity strikes.  Now, if we could just convince Apple to allow shooting at 24p.

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Source article here.

Film Editing 101: Eye-Blinks

"We’ve been going through my notes from my Editing 1 class that I took in Film School from Professor Gerstein.  Today, I’ll share an extremely practical tip about eye-blinks.

When someone’s eye blinks, the window to his soul is closed.  It distances you from the person.  Avoid closed eyes and lazy eyes on the cut.  It has a subconscious effect on the viewer.  Cutting on an eye blink is not wrong but it must only be used intentionally and carefully.

I make it a habit to go back through my edit when I’m finished with a scene and skip from cut to cut checking the actors’ eyes for blinks.

About a month ago, I went to see Scorsese’s Shutter Island.  This movie is full of “bad” cuts.  But they are in there on purpose.  If you’ve seen the movie, you know why.  The plot/story drove all the decisions – including the edits.  Like the movie or not, that’s pretty cool.  You gotta love Scorsese.  I’m looking forward to seeing the film again when it comes out on DVD so I can look at the cuts more closely – including the eye blinks." ~ by Jeremiah

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Source Article

NOT A FAN - Director's Journal 5

Does watching paint dry sound like your idea of a good time? If so, you'll love this latest behind-the-scenes look at the editing process of NOT A FAN. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is the vibe of the day as we assemble this six-episode jigsaw puzzle - but it sure is exciting to see it come together! 

FILM PIPELINE - Part 3

Post Production

"At last, we get to the end of the film pipeline.  Postproduction is everything that comes after shooting has finished."

Topics:
- Acquisition
- Visual Effects and Effects Editing
- Editing, Sound (Editing, Design, Foley, Dialog Editing and A.D.R.) and Music (Scoring)
- Job Descriptions for Post-Prod Jobs
- Sound Mix
- Color Grading / Timing and “D.I.“
- Print It!
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By Stephan Vladimir Bugaj

- All the "Film Pipeline" links can now be found in the Basics drop-down menu in the header bar.

The Art of Editing - "Crossing the Line"

Crossing the line is a term for mis-matched screen direction. Christine & Steve discuss and show examples of when and why an editor would purposely "cross the line." Why would you want to cross the line? How can you plan ahead of time to allow or avoid crossing the line? What editing techniques can be used to "fix it in post?"

To learn more tips, check out the MacBreak Studio Podcast on iTunes!

FW800 vs. eSATA

It's an established fact that SATA is faster than FW800. I know a lot of editors who own external drives like G-RAIDs but never use the e-SATA connection, sticking to FW800 instead. I recently purchased a SATA card for my Mac Pro and connected my G-RAID up via eSATA. Here are the speed differences:

G-RAID via FW800

Via eSATA:

A $40 or so internal card and a different cable and you get a pretty decent speed increase. So if you own a G-RAID or another external drive that includes an e-SATA port, you should definitely consider getting the most out the drive as you can.

Source Article.

FireWire vs. USB: Which Is Faster?

"USB 2.0 has a maximum theoretical bandwidth of 480 Mbps, vs. a nominal 400 Mbps for FireWire 400, via real-world experience I can attest that USB 2.0 lags well behind FireWire 400 — to say nothing of the FireWire 800 used on all Macs still sold today with FireWire support. And adding insult to injury, USB 2.0 doesn’t support incredibly useful Target Disk Mode. I’ve also found that while booting a Mac from a USB 2.0 drive is possible, it’s not nearly as satisfactory and low-hassle (or speedy) as booting from FireWire drives. However, the report also notes that the imminent release of USB 3.0 products in early 2010 promises speeds greater than FireWire 800 or even eSATA."

Whether you use a Mac or not, if you are a video editor, or use external hard drives for some other purpose, I highly recommend reading the full article.