Shoot Day and Post Production

Shoot day arrived last week and everything went smoothly - I had made a shot list with each shot we could do with and and without the extras, so shot the scenes with the protagonist first as we had the actor playing him all day, then after lunch we shot the footage with the extras in.



We did have a problem with the actor who agreed to play the part of the doctor - they dropped out last minute, but luckily one of the extras coming on the day agreed to fill the role, and our shoot continued without a hitch.

We managed to get all the shots we need, as when it came to editing the week after, we had lots of footage. In my role as the editor, I got my groups footage before the editing day the next Saturday, and went through it to order the shots, and to find which ones are best and the ones I would use during the edit.
On the day of the editing, my preparation before managed to save us time as we were able to get straight to cutting the shots, meaning the edit was less stressful. We were also fortunate enough for someone in our group to get into contact with a composer, so we were able to put some original music in which was actually made for our film.



We had some difficulty editing to the heart beat and the clock sound effects, as they had slightly different timings, so we decided that the opening should be edited to just the heartbeat, and inside the room should just be edited slightly to the beat as it was very hard to completely sync up.

Our film is now finished, but we haven't seen the finished film with the black and white effect we wanted to have, so I look forward to seeing it in its final format.

Graphic Match

This week I will look at the editing techniques we plan to use in our film, and how editors use these techniques to connote meanings.

Graphic match is a technique used in editing where one shot cuts to a shot with a similar image - a famous example being the match of the drain and the Marion Crane's eye in the shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock's 'Psycho', which was edited by George Tomasini. The shot of the drain and then the eye suggests ideas about the life leaving Crane, like the water down the drain, and her body becoming empty and lifeless.

This is an editing technique we will be using in our short film, so I want to familiarise myself with it's use by editors in film. It uses consecutive shots to covey meanings, taking ideas from Soviet Montage, a type of montage used where one shot being put next to another, often more emotive shot, can give the shots a different meaning altogether.

Another famous example is in Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey', which was edited by Ray Lovejoy. An ape throws a bone into the air, which transitions into a shot of a space station, suggesting that man has evolved, and also connoting the change in the time setting.

Like most other editing techniques, graphic match is easy to spot in many films today when you know what you're looking for.

It can be seen clearly in Wes Anderson films, such as the opening of 'Fantastic Mr Fox' (edited by Andrew Weisblum, Ralph Foster and Stephen Perkins), to show that the viewer is 'entering' the storybook.

In our short film, we will graphic match the images of the clock to people in the waiting room's blank and expressionless faces, emphasising the protagonists nervousness as everyone around him seems to be almost machine like, as these graphic matches will juxtapose with the protagonist's face, which will be much more emotive, using ideas from Soviet Montage to create tension in our film. 

Being an Editor on Saturday

With my group scheduled to film on Saturday, the skill I want to develop in my role as editor is to be organised and focused, and to build my confidence in collaborating with others in order to make our film what we want it to be.
As I have filmed a short film before, I know a bit about the problems that can arise when filming, especially time constraints, so I want to make sure my group is always focused so we are able to get all the shots for the edit next week in the time we have.
The producer's role in the film is to manage the cast and crew of the project, so in a way the skill I want to develop links into this, but my focus will more be on obtaining the footage we want and need, and to make sure we continue with the same vision for our film, maintaining our aims of creating tension and creating a cliffhanger at the end of the film.
I look forward to filming on Saturday, and helping with the filmmaking before coming to edit next week.

Intro to Editing

Film editing is used in cinema for creation, manipulation and juxtaposition.

There are several types of editing which is used in cinema:

Continuity Editing - Editing made to look almost 'invisible' as shots are linked together in a smooth, unobtrusive way to draw your attention away from the edit. This is the most common type of editing.

• Action match - cut is made halfway through an action. We see the action start in one shot and then finished in another.
• Eyeline match - when a character looks off screen, and the next shot matches the angle/direction they were looking from.
• Establishing shots - scenes starting with a location shot.

Rules observed in continuity editing are:

•  180 Degree rule - the camera can be placed anywhere on one side of the line between two subjects.
• Shot reverse shot - one shot is followed by a reverse shot from the opposite side.
• 30 Degree rule - the camera must always move at least 30 degrees between shots.

Discontinuity Editing - editing that deliberately breaks the rules if continuity editing to draw attention to the edit.

• Jump cut - a jarring cut that jolts the viewer. Can be made to look like something is missing.
• Non-diagetic insert - the film including a shot that doesn't belong in the world of the film.
• Soviet montage - a type of intellectual montage pioneered by filmmakers such as Vsevolod Pudovkin. It is when two shots are placed together that have no obvious link, and the audience are forced to consider why they have been combined.

After identifying these types of editing, it becomes easy to spot them in films, and identify the effect on an audience.

Challenge

The challenge I have set myself for the Arts Award is to learn more about editing and different styles of editing. I will be the editor of my groups short film, so I’d like to prepare myself more by developing my knowledge on editing.
To do this, first I will become familiar with editing techniques before our first editing workshop on 14th November, then I will start looking at films that use the editing techniques that we plan to use in our film, before finally starting to do a couple of edits myself before I edit my groups film on 28th November. After this I will carry on looking at editing, and developing the skills I have learnt.
I look forward to learning about a microelement of film I have not focused as much on before for my Arts Award.