Ladies & Gentlemen

"Film editing is now something almost everyone can do at a simple level and enjoy it, but to take it to a higher level requires the same dedication and persistence that any art form does."

Walter Murch.
My new favourite editor

Might have to invest in some Final Cut Pro after hearing this.

Wicked wee teaser

First attempt at a teaser for the film, Too Much Love.  It's a very basic edit, but it's exactly what I wanted.  There is a mystery that surrounds the teaser and that's exactly what it oughta' be like.

More on action editing, sequence from "Naked City"

I'm becoming really interested in action editing and the principles that go into that/  I'm becoming more interested in editing in general and I'm so glad I chose it as a craft.  I've learned so much from researching it and I feel it's going to be so valuable to me in the future.

There's a great clip from the 1940's noir film, Naked City, here.

And here's a few things to bear in mind while watching.

Continuity of action, people are moving in the same fashion, generally from left to right across the screen.
Match cutting, from the man who is being chased to the man who is chasing him, we follow this scene well because there is great cutting between the two, which links into the next point.
Thematic pacing, of the cuts, we are not left dwelling on one shot for too long.
Cutting on the action, when there is a big action moment, a cut will happen on, or just slightly after this, possibly also before.

Enjoy the clip!  Watch the full movie actually, it's awesome.

Editing action scenes

Exactly as the title said, here's a neat little video which tells you all you need to know about the basics of editing an action scene.

Oh and one more thing...

I am currently working on a bunch of edits as well.  We've filmed a lot of the movie now and I'm putting together bits and pieces as I go along.  I feel like I could come up with a million and one cuts and trailers but I'm obviously going to limit myself.

I'll be doing a couple of teasers soon though.

What's the difference?

So what's the difference between cuts and transitions I hear you asking?

The most basic transition is a simple cut from one scene to another, whilst there are other more obvious transitions like fading and wiping.

More transitions

I've been reading a lot about transitions lately and have come to the conclusion that they must be used very effectively and be in keeping with the rest of the tone of the movie.  Wipes and the like worked in Star Wars because it was that kind of kids adventure story and wipes were a neat way to signfy a shift between one scene and the next.

Fading scenes in and out was a hugely common theme in early movies.  If you think back, these transitions are particularly common in black and white movies from the 40s and 50s.

Of course every movie is different and edited in a different way.  Yet certain films follow certain guidlines when it comes to editing.  Stay tuned.