Tuesday, 29 November 2011


Congratulations on completing your scripted scenes!
I managed to see most of you edited work in the session today and the quality was high which I was pleased to see.
FOR THURSDAY!!!
  1. Production diary - A write up of your day editing on Tuesday. Step by step through your process.
  2. Write an evaluation of this project. Think about what went well and what went poorly, problems you encountered and how you overcame them as well as how you worked within your group.

Consider the learning cycle below when you write your evaluation and think how you might improve your work if you where to do it again.

Tuesday, 22 November 2011

Production Day!

Hi Class,

I would like to start by congratualating you all on the hard work you put in today! I spent time with all three of your groups and I was very impressed with the teamwork and dedication that was clearly on display from all of you.

Hopefully the quality of your footage is as high as your work rate and you will have some great shots to edit next Tuesday.

Before then you all need to do a blog evaluating the day's filming?

Things to write about:

  • Talk through the days work.
  • Describe your role within the crew and highlight the strengths and weaknesses in your preformance.
  • Describe any problems you encountered during the shoot and how you helped overcome them.

I look forward to seeng you all again next week.

Rich.

The Development of the Principles of Editing

Quentin Tarantino says...



“For a writer, it’s a word. For a composer or a musician, it’s a note. For an editor and a filmmaker, it’s the frames. The one frame off, or two frames added, or two frames less… it’s the difference between a sour note and a sweet note. It’s the difference between a clunky clumsy crap and orgasmic rhythm.”



Create a blog which discusses the principles and development of editing.


Consider the principles of editing:


1. What is the Kuleshov Effect: Using the edit to create meaning


2. Cross-cutting - how does this create suspense?


3. Types of transition - what do they signify? Describe straight cuts, fade in/fade out, dissolve, wipe - what do they each signify? Can you give examples? If you can, embed them from Youtube.



Consider the purpose of editing:


1. Why do we need editing?


2. What is the job of the editor? How much impact do they have on meaning and story?



How has editing developed over time?


1. Discuss the evloution of editing.


2. Who are the key people who developed editing techniques?


3. How did films develop in Russia/USA?


4. Discuss different techiques that have been developed along the way - e.g alternative cinema



Write up anything else which interested you when we watched "The Cutting Edge".


Give examples for everything you write about.


Do not exceed 2,000 words.


Have fun!


Friday, 18 November 2011

Line of Action Edit

Task:

In your teams, you will have planned and shot your line of action in as mush detail as possible. Yesterday, I saw some examples of some excellent practice - white balancing every shot during week eight of your first year shows marvellous attention to detail! Also, lots of manual focus and one group even managed to film in 16:9... This brief should give you the time and space to practise new things and improve.

Here's what you need to do now:

1. Write up your shots list from yesterday and write a production blog of what you were required to do and what you did.

2. In your teams, capture footage using batch capture like we did last week. This time though, you are going to log every clip (so it becomes an offline clip with a red line through it in the project bin). As you go along, mark up which clips you actually want to capture. At the end of logging, select the clips you want to capture in your project bin and get batch capturing! Screen grab all the way - this brief is about editing - so you need to show me that you really understand this process. Whilst it is batch capturing, type up your technical journals whilst it is all fresh in your minds.

3. Transfer captured footage onto the student shared area and set up your own projects.

4. Edit your film using the long version - take us every step of the way using every shot you took to describe the line of action. Add in non-diegetic sound and mix with your diegetic sound i.e. don't delete existing sound...

5. Once you have completed that, try your second, pacier version. You will make this a third of the length of your original - it will rely on fewer clips, but it will still make visual sense and describe the line of action.

6. Send both edits to Vimeo. Upload to blog. Job done!

Tuesday, 15 November 2011

History of Editing Lesson two - 15.11.2011

Hello class,

As promised here is today's lesson and the topics you need to write about in your blogs:

  1. A brief history (in your own words) of D.W Griffith and his importance to the development of seamless continuity editing.
  2. Explain in your own words the 180 degree rule - Use examples to explain how the rule is used in film an television today.
  3. Explain the steps you where shown in the morning session: Using tie clip microphones, framing shots, setting white balance and setting focus.

Here is the prezi presentation from today's lesson for you to look over if you need to:



Thursday, 10 November 2011

Video Postcard – The Sequel

Right then folks, this is the plan. There are many editing techniques. One of the most popular is that of montage. You have already produced an in-camera montage when you did your video postcard at the beginning of your course – way back when...



It’s amazing how through a combination of shots, you can create pace and energy – by what is in the shot and by how the shot is filmed.



In your small production teams, you will plan and produce a montage of shots by the end of today for a minute montage section about the college to go into a promotional film about the college. Each group will focus on a specific aspect of College:



1. Eating places



2. The LRC



3. College Reception area and student services



4. College grounds



5. Various schools across college



Next, go and have a scout about college and come up with a shooting script and sequence idea.



Finally, go and film your shots. Use appropriate conventions – take two takes, be steady and calm and produce some excellence!



Your film will include at least 30 shots. Within those shots you will create an opportunity for a focus pull, a jump cut sequence (therefore you need to film a piece of action), a piece of single camera continuity (therefore you need to set up a piece of action). You will also include 2 ECUs with long background and 2 Worms eye shots. Do not use any zooms.



In montage, sequences are rarely created by chance but happen through planning.



After you have done this, you will start to put a sequence together to music. Make sure you keep detailed notes about how you are doing things and what looks good and what could look better.



You will edit these pieces on Friday to a set piece of music and write a blog which discusses the development and principles of editing.



When you are doing this work, you will be addressing Unit 15 – Film and Video Editing Techniques

Wednesday, 9 November 2011

History of Editing - Lesson 1

Hi Class,

I'd like you to write in your blogs/journals a brief explanation of the two montage theories I introduced to you on Tuesday (Kuleshov and Eisenstien) as well as an evaluation of your own Kuleshov experiment.
  • Explain the production process you worked through and talk about the aspects of your work you are happy with and not so pleased with.
  • Consider what you might try to improve if you where to film this project again.
  • Think about how the principles demonstrated in the Kuleshov experiment could be applied to your future work.
Here is the presentation on The History of Film that we started to work through this week. If you click the arrows under the image it will move through the slides. The video clips and example are included.