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INTRODUCTION
Hello, I’m Sean and I’m going to be taking on the role as editor for my graduate project - The Impracticals! It’s an action comedy about three underdogs - Chuck, Doug and Watts soon to be graduating as the Class of 1997. Tired of being labelled as the losers, they decide to make a video showcasing their superpowers or… not-so-superpowers. Referring to our executive summary; as a group we’ve been working extremely hard and as well as collaborating with each other we’re really wanting to show off our individual talents and use this time to research and develop new relevant skills.
EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
The story follows three friends trying to get to grips with their useless superpowers. Tired of being branded as the losers of their school, they set out to make a home video to showcase their superpowers at their school assembly. Inspired by Chronicles and The Inbetweeners, this superhero-comedy aims to engage with a wide audience due to it being set in 1997. The older crowd will love the nostalgia, bringing them back to their golden years and the younger age group will get to see how characters of a similar age to themselves would have lived a contrasting teenage experience with the lesser development of technology.
Setting our film 20 years ago at a point where we were just babies obviously presents many challenges for us as a group. Nonetheless, we each agree that it’s also the thing that sets it apart from the rest. Production designer, Jade, has focused her research on authenticity of the era and Alex has been delving into 90’s music to recreate a soundtrack featuring the typical pop-rock style. The main theme centres around the three characters going through an inner understanding, realising that they don’t need to impress others to be happy with themselves. We think this will resonate with a modern crowd in today’s world where diversity is being celebrated now more than ever.
Currently, we are on the 6th draft of the script. By following advice from both lecturers as well as our peers, we’ve cut scenes down to a more manageable size to ensure the film as a whole is time efficient. Our social media platforms/website are generating interest as well as funding and we’re constantly updating our audiences with new content daily. To further this, we’re also working on a teaser trailer to promote our film. We’re constantly researching and trialling new ideas related to our HOD roles, using books, visiting expos, attending our individual seminars and taking part in external master classes. As well as doing our own research, we’re also constantly collaborating to ensure we all have the same vision on the exact look and style we want to achieve along with planning the shots for the fight scene in particular. This will be an obstacle for Brogan as Director to overcome, as she will face the challenge of blocking to make it realistic, whilst also taking stylistic choices into consideration. Collaboration will be beneficial for Sean as our Editor, as an effective workflow between roles will improve post-production results.
The production location itself comes with a few impediments, the main one being that the majority of the film is shot in low light meaning DOP Liam is going to have to adapt the generic three-point lighting set ups to give a cinematic feel. As well as this, due to the filming taking place at the end of January and a lot of it being shot outside, Connor has to consider the health and safety and contemplate the best leadership style to adopt in order to have a content and in turn, effective team.
Our main goal throughout this process is to show off our individual talents as well as collaborating with one another to ensure we have a film that we are all proud of and can impress future employers with.
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Q2. Can synched efforts for Choreographing Dialogue + Fight Scenes result in a better final film?
We’ve got 3 main characters not just one protagonist so I’m wanting to look into how we’ll choreograph dialogue as it’ll also be beneficial to how I’ll be editing the scenes. On top of that there’s a fight scene which we’re aiming to synchronise with music. I believe that synced efforts earlier on will result in a better edit.
'How to develop an effective workflow AND COLLABORATION to improve post-production results’
Editing is crucial and is used in a variety of ways to convey messages and themes within film. I’m already creating draft workflows and planning how I’m going to approach each key step in the film. We’ve set ourselves an ambitious task having our 10 minute film set in the 90’s, halloween themed, 3 protagonists and heavily influenced by visual effects. As an action comedy I’m considering montages in which shots in a fast-paced fashion compresses time and conveys a lot of information to get the audience to learn about the characters. Timing is also crucial and the use of quick-cut transitions will add to the comedic style of our film, think of any Edgar Wright movie! We want this project to be entertaining and meaningful so I’m ensuring my editing is efficient and as well as picking up techniques from experts I’m also wanting to create an editing style of my own that reflects my creative side. To me the editing and cinematography seem to be meticulously connected and synced, I believe each scene pre-planned to a high level will guarantee a film we’re proud of.
Q1. Will collaborating early correct problems in advance and improve post-production efficiency?
Film making is a collaborate art form. And that’s true wether you’re making a student short with a non-existent budget or shooting a £200 million blockbuster. All crew must coordinate and collaborate, especially the Heads of Department, in order for the directors vision to be created.
Referring back to my aim - I believe that even though the cinematographer and editor generally work in different phases of the project, by collaborating early to correct problems in advance should result in a better final product.
If the editor is involved in the pre-production stages, alongside the cinematographer they’re both on the same page about the directors story visually. The cinematographer knows how long particular shots will take to set up and then schedules accordingly. If the editor was to help develop the shot list they’d also have a better understanding of what to expect in post. (creativeskillset.org)
Correcting Problems in Advance
The cinematographer has to worry about the camera placement and ensure that the footage they shoot will actually cut well together. An example; the 180 degree rule. With the editors help during pre-production, shots can be accurately planned to avoid any mistakes being made while identifying other potential editing issues.
For our film we’re planning on a shot which is one long take. So another example could be extended takes. An editor can see opportunities for alternative shots, additionally pointing out places where insert shots and cutaways would be effective, which are useful to cut to just in case the extended take doesn’t work. You don’t want to have any distracting edits that pull the audience out of the story, that’s why it’s crucial to not have the ‘fix it in post’ attitude. (http://masteringfilm.com/the-180°-rule/ 2015)
Angles, lenses and lightning all contribute towards creating a specific look for the film. These create moods through brightness, depth, direction of light and colour. All of which to some extent can be altered in post.
But during pre-production the Director of Photography (D.P) should communicate their intentions to the editor as it allows them to plan out how to approach the final colour correction and grading.
From the get go I’ve been working with our D.P to collaborate on what colour designs are best for the film. I’ve gone over what tools and software is available and I’m confident with which then allows our D.P to use the proper settings on the RED EPIC camera. Effectively capturing the image in the best way for use in the post production programmes.
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RESEARCH CONTEXT
As editor for my current short film I’m wanting to extend my knowledge and ensure we as a group tackle challenges early on as it’ll hopefully make editing less problematic. I’m an experienced editor but haven’t edited something on this scale before and really want it to be something I’m proud of.
My aim is to get a greater understanding on how collaborating and developing an effective workflow with the cinematographer will result in a better final edit. To do this I’ll be researching into how correcting problems in advance will improve post-production efficiency. How synched efforts for choreographing dialogue + fight scenes, which we’re wanting to sync with music will result in a more seamless edit. Then finally I want to sum it all up with a digital workflow which helps keep me organised.
I’ve set out to see if developing an effective workflow and collaborating with departments such as the cinematographer will improve post-production results. I’ve split this into 3 research objectives, listed below, which will be greatly beneficial for my role on our production.
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Will collaborating early correct problems in advance and improve post-production efficiency?
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Can synched efforts for Choreographing Dialogue + Fight Scenes result in a better final film?
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Film to Edit Workflow.
Just to note - I will be using various sources from online, books, interviews and case studies which I’ll be putting into a bibliography you can access if you’d like to conduct any further reading.
Montage
Our opening scene will be a montage but this example can be applied throughout an entire edit.
Editor Margaret Sixel was given over 480 hours of footage to create a 120 minute film - Mad Max: Fury Road. The film consisted of 2700 individual shots, so 2700 consecutive decisions that need to flow smoothly and immerse the audience.
“One bad cut can ruin a moment, a scene or the whole film.”
(2016) Vashi Nedomansky Workflow Consultant
Vashi Nedomansky, workflow consultant on Gone Girl (2014) and Deadpool (2016) spoke about how much of the clarity of the action, especially when it comes to being able to read shots in a fast sequence, is because of the way the shots and edit was pre-planned and keeping everything centre framed.
Margaret Sixel commented how the he communicated with director George Miller through walkie talkies during every scene saying, “Put the cross hairs on her nose, put the cross hairs on the gun.” (Margy Rochlin Oscars 2016 latimes.com)
This was to protect the footage for editorial purposes ensuring that the entire high speed film would be easily digestible for audiences!
Every new shot that appeared on screen must occupy the same space as the previous shot. This isn’t a new techniques and by no means our film will be as fast paced as Mad Max but it’s an insight into collaboration and planning the edit before the shoot and then keeping on top of continuity during filming.
For our montage and our fight scene this method could amplify and accelerate scenes, allowing me to cut as quickly as possible with the confidence that the visual information will be understood. Here’s a quick video (1:30) in which D.P John Seale talks about this ‘Eye Trace’ editing technique. (Mad Max: Center Framed Vashi Nedomansky 2016)
Reading into these various editing techniques is helping me understand how collaborating early can improve post-production efficiency. From industry expert interviews, trusted bloggers and academic sources I’m starting to learn the trends, techniques and now have a greater understanding of collaborating to push boundaries hopefully resulting in a greater edit.
Collaborating
This leads me onto research into successful collaborations.
I’ve had so many people mention to me that the editor doesn’t need to be on set. And I know that there’s many editors that refuse to be on set as they believe it will change their style of edit and collaborating with a director they become fixated on particular shots they like or ones that took ages to get perfect on the day - and I see the benefits of that.
Martin Scorsese has to be one of my favourite directors of all time. But what would a Martin Scorsese film be without Thelma Schoonmacher?
One of the longest ‘marriages’ in cinema history is between Martin Scorsese and his editor of over 40 years, Thelma Schoonmaker.
Schoonmaker first worked with Scorsese’s feature debut, Who’s That Knocking at My Door (1967). They would then be reunited for Raging Bull (1980) and has then edited everyone of Scoresese’s films since - 8 Oscar nominations and 3 wins for Raging Bull, The Aviator and The Departed.
“He is a great editor and taught me everything. He felt he could work with me; that it would be a collaboration, it wouldn't become an ego battle. We have just the most fantastic collaboration and I can’t tell you what an interesting time it is to be the editing room with him. He’s so fascinating, and it’s great to share it with him.”
The collaboration between these directors and editors is undoubtedly tied in with the style and success of these films. I’ve learnt a close collaboration between departments - Director, Cinematographer and Editor coordinating efforts allows us to work out any potential problems, provide support with any outstanding duties or responsibilities making the filming and editing process easier.
(goldenglobes.com/thelma-schoonmaker)
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For our film we’ve taken inspiration from Edgar Wright with films such as Scott Pilgrim VS the World (2010) and The Worlds End (2013) and while conducting research looking into synched efforts I’ve found an interview and article between Edgar Wright, Bill Pope (D.P) and Paul Machliss (Editor) on their very different editing style.
There’s plenty of films, let’s say 99.9% of them, that get made without the editor on set; and there are plenty of people to say the shot looks good. “But, there’s a difference between saying ‘The shot looks good’ and ‘The shot works’.
Baby Driver - Case Study
Baby Driver (2017) had a unique editing style. The editing started in pre-production. Most productions would create a storyboard but Director Edgar Wright, D.P Bill Pope and Editor Paul Machliss did a ‘pre-edit’ of the film ahead of the shoot using Animatics.
(Baby Driver Avid Blogs 2017)
For our teaser I would really like to try and adopt this style of creating an animated storyboard. It would give me the opportunity to create a practice ‘pre-edit’ for our teaser seeing how effective and useful it could be for our short film.
A lot of what makes Baby Driver so unique is how the editing and cinematography seem to be closely connected and synched. The timing, colouring, sound and look of the film are pre-planned to a level that separates it from many films! I believe it was the pre-edit being used as a vital guide as well as the collaboration from the director, editor and cinematographer.
We have 3 protagonists, dynamic dialogue and action scenes.
“When you’re working to have your actors and actions so meticulously choreographed, you can’t leave anything to chance.”
“At the end of each take, Paul would drop the shot into the Avid timeline, on a track above the pre-edited animatics, to make sure the continuity and duration worked.” (Studio Daily 2017)
He would be editing the film quite literally in real time as the shots came in, replacing them one at a time.
For our short film - The Impracticals we’re trying to work within the boundaries of storytelling. So my purpose on set is to not only ensure they got the shot, but to make sure that the actions in the scene whether it’s a fight scene or a conversation, fit within the context of the music and choreography. Quoting Paul Machliss, ‘There a difference between the shot looking good and the shot working.’
Looking into this case study has helped me understand how dialogue, action scenes and actors proceeding through scenes being pre-planned can result a more seamless edit. Learning to edit on set and creating animated storyboards may be hugely beneficial.
Fight Scene
A fight scene is something I’ve never actually done before. And we’re wanting to keep the audience invested as it’s comedic action. Obviously we don’t have the largest budget so I’m looking to find ways to achieve the same effect with other methods.
Atomic Blonde is one of the most recent films I watched, and I thought it would be worth looking into the fight scene!
There’s a common editing technique used - Frame Dropping.
‘Action and fight scenes that involve removing (dropping) specific frames to make the action seem extremely fast and violent.’
In this Atomic Blonde scene, Sam disarms the gun and there have been two frames in-between which have been dropped. It tightens the action and makes it appear more aggressive. (BlogPremiumBeat 2017)
Another technique I liked was how Sam would leave the frame in one shot and then enter the frame in another shot, through screen direction. This get my thinking about how we need to be on top of continuity making sure the subject is moving the same direction, shots match up and any moving parts must be moving in the same direction in subsequent shots.
Cutting on the action is useful on ‘less-explosive’ action. You cut from one shot to another and match the action of the shots. The film will develop a better flow if you cut on action instead of waiting for pauses. A great example is The Matrix (3 mins). Pretty much every cut in this scene happens mid-action. The results are a much smoother transition which creates more tension. nofilmschool.com/(2016)
Storyboards, shortlists and time keeping is important. If we have a clear vision it makes it easier to adjust on the go. So if we can’t get a certain shot set up due to an effect not working out, we can pull off another part of the sequence. Similarly to what I’ve mentioned above both the editor and cinematographer need to know the beat and every shot inside and out, allowing better creative improvisation. Consistently review footage throughout production, it may be helpful to cut rough pieces together during the shoot so you can see whats missing or whats needed. Katz, S. (2004)
And to sum this section up what better than Jackie Chan's 9 Principles of Action Comedy:
1 Start with a disadvantage
2 Use the environment
3 Be clear in your shots
4 Action and Reaction in the same frame
5 Do as many takes as necessary
6 Let the audience feel the rhythm
7 In editing, two good hits = one great hit
8 Pain is humanising
9 Earn your finish
(I Am Jackie Chan, 1999)
Q3. Film to Edit Workflow
This section is slightly different, short and sweet, I’ll be creating a workflow I’ll be referring to throughout the production. I need to construct and find out what elements - software, hardware, resources and information.
We’re going to be shooting with the RED EPIC W. The RED ONE revolutionised independent filmmaking allowing us to produce films that had 4k - 6k resolution! I’m wanting to get a better understanding of workflow and what’ll improve the edit.
(Transcode video from Prelude | Adobe Media Encoder tutorials 2016)
(RED Digital Cinema Workflow Articles 2017)
CONCLUSION.
To conclude, referring back to the executive summary I wanted to learn if collaboration would be beneficial for improving post-production results. My research through various sources has been extremely helpful as I didn’t have a strong understanding on any of these techniques, applications or workflows. But they’ll now be applied and used throughout the rest of our graduate project and I’ve taken away valuable information for future work. Learning how collaborating early to correct problems in advance was really useful as I understand the improvement on post-production efficiency. I’ve starting to learn trends, techniques and now have a greater understanding of how preparing the edit early on and pushing boundaries hopefully results in a greater edit. Remaining consistent and reviewing footage throughout production, while working close with other department roles will help me with the choreographed dialogue and fights scenes which is a factor I’m particularly worried out. Finally I’m feeling more confident as I’ve even been able to construct my own workflow chart while I’ll be referring and adding to as we progress through our project. If I was to do this again I’d like to gain more primary research and look into my advanced topics, but this is the first project I’ve ever been editor on so I’m beginning to build myself up to ensure I deliver a high quality edit.
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AIMS
SOURCES
ONLINE
BOOKS
INTERVIEWS
HOD SESSIONS
1.Greater understanding on effective collaboration + workflow
2. Be able to apply this research in production/ post production
3. Grasp aspect of editing I'm unfamiliar with.
"Collaboration will be beneficial for Sean as our Editor, as an effective workflow between roles will improve post-production results."
Update: We finished editing our teaser and using After Effects I'd happily create an animated storyboard similar to what was created for Baby Driver.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
John Rosenberg Mastering Film » The 180° Rule Masteringfilm.com
Margy Rochlin Oscars 2016 latimes.com http://beta.latimes.com/entertainment/la-en-craft-mad-max-20160128-story.html
Mad Max: Center Framed Vimeo https://vimeo.com/129314425
https://www.goldenglobes.com/articles/thelma-schoonmaker-editing-scorsese-working-picasso
https://vimeo.com/129314425 (2016) Vashi Nedomansky Workflow Consultant on Deadpool Gone Girl
Q&A with Editor Paul Machliss, ACE, on Baby Driver Avid Blogs http://www.avidblogs.com/qa-editor-paul-machliss-ace-baby-driver/
Film Editor Paul Machliss, ACE, on Baby Driver Studio Daily http://www.studiodaily.com/2017/06/film-editor-paul-machliss-ace-baby-driver/
The Beat: A Blog by PremiumBeat (2017) https://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/editing-atomic-blonde-fight/
https://nofilmschool.com/2016/09/how-create-convincing-practical-effects-your-indie-action
Beach, C. (2015). A hidden history of film style. University of California Press.
Katz, S. (2004). Cinematic motion. 2nd ed. Studio City, CA: Michael Wiese Productions.
(Jackie Chan, I Am Jackie Chan, 1999, London, Pan)
https://helpx.adobe.com/media-encoder/how-to/transcode-video-from-prelude.html Transcode video from Prelude | Adobe Media Encoder tutorials Helpx.adobe.com (2016)
http://www.red.com/learn/workflow RED Digital Cinema Workflow Articles Red.com (2017)