Editing: Where the Magic REALLY Happens

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Post-Production

Editing

Written by Jeff Lanctot

Labels: Editing, Post-Production

Some people say that editing is where the magic takes place. Everything else is just preparation for the edit. There's a lot of truth in this as the edit is where the actual story of the film is pieced together in its final, awesome form. Sadly editors aren't usually the ones who get invited to the Playboy mansion and live the lifestyles of the rich and famous on Entertainment Tonight, but that just may be a good thing- they spend a lot of time alone anyway.

Of course we're joking... The truth is that editors have a huge impact on the final tone and feel of a movie. In fact, it's often the editor that makes up for the Idiot called the 'Director' who didn't manage to properly cover a scene (that is to get all the shots necessary to completely edit together a coherent chunk of the movie)- or sometimes even an entire movie- properly. Knowing how an editor thinks, and knowing what he or she needs in order to edit the best scene possible, is one of the most important jobs of the films director. If you're on an indie enough production that you're both the director AND the editor, shooting your movie so that it can be edited properly will save you countless hours pulling out your hair in the editing bay.

Make A Film, Write A Book

When you hear the phrase 'film grammar' you might get a bit of half-digested food climbing up to your mouth. It sounds pretty gross, but the fact is there is a grammar and language to film that the audience will understand and that the audience will expect you to play by. Of course you can give them the middle finger, but if you ignore everything in the book, you're either a revolutionary genius or a waste of time. Seeing as the primary reason people see films is to be entertained, any radical new techniques may distract the audience too much and actually stop them engaging with the story.

Film Image

The first concept that is important is that each shot is a statement. Just like a book, each shot you take says something. Next time you watch a film, try to figure out the sequence of statements that the film displays. There is a different logic to film, but logic is still there. Once you focus on telling a story, and you clarify what each shot says, you will be a better editor as you can then edit out random stuff that doesn't contribute to the story. A lot of films ouot of film school are unwatchable because the students over-estimate their audience's patience. They want a story. Art films don't make any money for a reason. They have lots of great visuals, but fail to engage the viewer emotionally, so they are kind of boring. Let's make this clear- storytelling is the most important thing. If the story sucks, your film will suck. It may be pretty, but it will suck. Think of any great film, and you'll be thinking of a great story well-told.

When you think about films as statements, you should think about shots also as information. Audiences have a tendency to assume things. It's the only way that storytelling is possible in film, without it getting really boring. They will assume that any information you provide is relevant to the story. They might even enjoy trying to figure out the story before the end just by what information you provide them. I know my mum does. So what's an example of a piece of information that films give.

Let's go with the insert first. Imagine a shot of a man walking. His coat flaps in the breeze, and he begins to walk at a faster pace. Then there is a close-up of his belt- wow, there's a gun in his belt, something dramatic is probably going to happen next, this man is dangerous. This insert of the shot of the gun in his pants provides extra information about the scene. What it also does is raises questions about the scene. Who is this man? Why has he got a gun? The audience assumes you will answer these questions. If you don't, it should be for a good reason, as a lot of people will just get frustrated with random information.

Cut A Little Bit Of This, Cut A Bit Of That

Cutaways are another example of information being given to the audience. Say Lassie is running along to tell Ranger Bob or whoever that Timmy is trapped in the burning barn. We see Lassie sprinting along to the troubled ranger, and then BAM we see a shot of poor Timmy about to be burnt alive. It's a truly moving scene. If you think about it, you've just seen a shot of a dog running to a man, and then a completely different shot of a boy in a burning barn. There is no reason why they should be connected, but the audience assumes they do- otherwise why would you bother to include the shots one after another?

The audience tends to assume that there is a relationship between one scene and the next. The fact that you spent all your time and money making the film suggests that you wouldn't waste your time. Film depends on the audience assuming things. The language of film is based around it. What's interesting is that the language is actually evolving. Audiences can deal with faster moving scenes, with lots of intertwining storylines without getting too confused. In fact they almost require the extra stimulation now- the old way of telling stories with film is too boring for their eyes.

The audience will let you take them on a ride as long as you play by the rules. A lot of time is dedicated to continuity in film-making. Without continuity, you draw the audience's attention away from the story and on to how amateur your story is. That's why you have to make sure the lighting doesn't change too much, and actors don't suddenly lose mustaches as they walk across a room. A lot of continuity is technical, for example keeping the same quality of sound and video. You need to make sure the continuity works for your audience to allow themselves to go into your reality. This is one of the reason editing is so important. Without editing we'd all be watching home movies of you and the family by the beach. And that's really, really boring.

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