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Welcome to DIRECT. This magazine is a token of the small contribution that we can make to the film and video industry and especially to those of you who are interested in video production directing and do not have the means to enroll at a film school.
Our contributing writers are:
Johnny Taute - Editor
You might even enjoy amateur video making or need some tips for a school project. We are the personnel from iLine Films, a production company in South Africa and we have walked the hard road of on the job training and reading books and magazines. i – LINE FILMS was founded by Johnny Taute in 2003, primarily to specialize in entertaining, informing and equipping the people of South Africa. The production company is situated in Pretoria, South Africa and delivers video productions for the Broadcast, Documentary and Corporate markets.
Dirk Pieters - Photography
i-Line Films delivers from concept to final mix and supplements the video facility with Photography as well. We deliver on the following Solutions: Pre production Script writing
Jean Pohl – Audio & Video
Productions for the Corporate, Training and Broadcast spheres Post production services Audio production Corporate & Magazine Photography Our production team is the main contributor to this magazine and we hope the articles inspire you to grow and learn more about the exciting world of video production.
Shani Kuhn – Video production & Editing
Contact info: www.iline.co.za
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EDITING the Chronological Association
Creative editing will give diverse meanings to your production. In both corporate videos and narrative films, shots are influenced visual and audio elements which you can arrange to communicate your idea and tell a story according to the video script.
Every sequence you filmed according to the script contains plot and visual information which should determine key editing decisions already. A good editor will assist you and your writer in shaping the story because structure controls the order in which the scenes, sequences and shots are presented to the audience. The visualization process is thus considered part of the writing- and editing process since a structure was already presented in the storyboard in ways that your script could not communicate. The viewer should be lured into speculation by the order and style in which the narrative or conspiracy is revealed. Make use of the cause and effect method to set up questions and answers to create suspense and entice the audience’s participation. Then withhold the answer of the biggest question of the story for a cliffhanger end. Employ this question and answer approach in several ways. Questions may be answered
through the accumulation of detail or it might be answered abruptly after it has been posed. In fact, the Q & A presentation of information should occur throughout your script and on several levels simultaneously. Continuity (chronological) editing is based on the Q & A tactic or association. Here are 3 basic types of associations found in continuity editing: •
Chronological connections: Cut from a character flicking away a cigarette in one shot to the cigarette bouncing on the ground in the second shot.
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Spatial connections: Cut from a wide shot of a police precinct to a recognizable detail (police cells) in a closer shot.
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Logical connections: Cut from a wide shot of an office to a shot of a policeman seated in an office.
No temporal or spatial connection is necessary if we are familiar with a precinct and if we can identify a police officer. The audience can make the logical connection that he’s seated in an office in the precinct. These connections (background connections that establish the environment of a film) create the illusion of an authentic, physical world but they also can be
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employed to form the plot and dramatic content as well. Narrative Motion: To advance your narrative it is necessary to set up expectations together with the Q & A scheme. For example: The man smoking the cigarette and then flicking it away means something quite different than when the audience knows that he is an assassin who enjoys a cigarette before every hit he makes. Your viewers are motivated to ask who, what, when, where and why questions, and since they bring previous knowledge and experience they are able to speculate about possible answers. Almost all narrative editing strategies are devised to set up a structure of expectations in a sequence of shots. The result is narrative motion. Patterns Simple Q & A editing patterns require only 2 shots—a shot of someone looking off screen followed by a shot of the item the person is observing. Patterns may need lots of shots to complete a Q&A cycle or patterns can be varied by re-arranging the order of the shots.
Context: The meaning of a Q & A pattern can be extended or tailored by changing the context it depicts to make interesting structured sequences. Interesting edited sequences are the result of story development. Take the following 3 sequences and rearrange their order to change the context.
Example 1: Jeff is looking for Mary. At this point we do not know what Mary looks like. Frame 1 Question: Where is Mary? Frame 2 Question: What did Jeff find? Frame 3 Answer: Jeff discovers Mary.
Because this is a straight forward Q & A sequence the audience could anticipate the outcome.
Example 2: Jeff is looking for Mary. Frame 1 Question: Where is Mary? Frame 2 Answer: Here is Mary with John. Questions: Who is with Mary? Will Jeff find Mary? Frame 3 Answer: Jeff discovers Mary with John.
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This pattern changes the context, gives an answer before the question and creates tension. In The next sequence we will give an answer first.
undermining them. The audience may feel completely stripped of any kind of moral assessment.
Example 3: Jeff is looking for Mary. Frame 1 Answer: “Mary is here.” Jeff enters the park. Frame 2 Questions: “Is this Jeff? Will he find them?” Frame 3 Answer: “This is Jeff. He found Mary with John”
In addition to alternating Q and A variations, the rhythm and timing of the patterns can be varied by withholding some or all of the plot information for a few to several scenes and you may choose to raise and answer several questions or answers within a sequence.
By establishing John and Mary in a compromising position, suspense is created for the rest of the scene. So, when Jeff enters the frame we know that a potentially embarrassing meeting is probable. Set up your scenes a by placing the viewers in a fortunate yet uncomfortable situation by providing them with information that the character urgently needs. You can even challenge the character by allowing him to discover other lovers in the park before surprising John and Mary. This setup is intended to make the audience doubtful of their ability to second-guess the storyline and more vulnerable to the revelation of the actual confrontation. The viewers also bring their own assumptions. You can play with such assumptions by sustaining or
Editing patterns and the narrative context do not necessarily lay the events of a story out in simple chronological order.
Postpone the answer Try to raise a question in a frame and postpone the answer until several frames later.
In this sequence several questions are raised: Who is the character entering the house? We receive a partial answer, learning that the person is a man. But then we raise the question of the significance of the gun on the floor.
In the next sequence the man picks up a letter from the table. The question: Who is entering the room? It can be answered if we showed the audience to whom the ring on his finger belongs. But then we raise new questions:
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Why does he take the letter? Why is there a gun on the floor?
There are often many questions and various answers that the viewer will get from the scenes as they come with their own knowledge, experience and imagination. Some sequences communicate more information (more prominent to the storyline) than others (remain in the background without answering questions or raising new ones) especially in a scene which amplifies the Q & A patterns to shape emotional fiction and to involve the audience in the moral dilemmas they present. They are connected by cause and effect. As you learn and understand the rotation strategies of the Q & A system you will become more creative in presenting the story. You may be discouraged and pressured by external influences to avoid unusual Q and A patterns (even in documentary and corporate productions) because it is mistakenly believed that the results will confuse the audience. For example: You need to establish that a business was closed down. A storytelling alternative to an establishing shot showing the front of the building with a banner across the front with the word “closed� printed across it, would be crumpled
eviction notices on the ground and CLOSING DOWN SALE boards in a garbage dumpster. Storytelling must involve the viewer continually. Narrative editing patterns will also become increasingly tricky if you fail to plan in the visualization phases. Covering the action: Cutting in the camera: When you can shoot precisely according to your polished storyboard, then the editor only has to clip the shots to fit neatly together on the timeline. It is called cutting in the camera. It may be a bit like painting to the numbers when creating art never mind the fact that many things will go wrong during the process of filmmaking. You may be unsure of how to visualize and shoot sequences and resort to triangular camera placement. This is called coverage and ensures that a logical sequence can be edited together (a selection of wide, medium and close-up shots is usually sufficient) by covering the action with multiple camera angles. This is a safe option as there is often just enough time for coverage and exciting visual approaches are ignored. If time permits you should allow yourself to film additional interesting angles or complicated staging.
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This is both a creative and practical approach because once you strike the set you lose quality opportunity to better the production. Besides, tape stock is relatively inexpensive. Cultivate your good judgment of what will work before filming starts and leave a margin for error and cover yourself.
action rather than before or after the man has become airborne (to hide the cut) and depend on the editor’s sense of movement. Be aware of this essential editing strategy (cutting on the action is found in all types of sequences) and stage the action so that it will overlap an anticipated edit point
Cutting in the movement Edit points are found within the action of your shots. It is also known as the “meat” of the shot. Editing a sequence should preserve the continuity of your action when various camera views are combined. While the establishing (wide) shot captures the entire length of the action you may need to cut to interesting angles. •
You can cut at the point where the man begins his jump.
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You can cut while he is in mid-air.
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You can cut after he lands again.
These 3 are all suitable edit points, but the continuity approach places the cut into the
between camera perspectives. Moving into the frame When your actor moves into or out of the camera frame, the editor will cut while the subject is still partially within the frame to make the cut smoother and to speed up the flow of action as seen below. Clear the Frame Instead of cutting while the subject is in the frame, allow the subject to exit the frame before cutting. There are several options for cutting to the incoming shot after clearing the frame, depending on how tong the clear frame is held in the outgoing shot. 1. Open without the subject in the frame. This opening can vary in length depending on the action in the shot before the main subject arrives.
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2. Open with the subject already in the frame but it can be somewhat abrupt.
3. Cut on the subject partially in frame.
Clearing the frame is easy for preserving continuity. It is such a flexible cut that it can be used to join shots on opposite sides of the line of action. You need to understand the editing techniques to improve your method of visualizing (so that editing is motivated visually) and to motivate camera setups for an entire sequence. This will also allow you to focus on the dramatic requirements of the scene.
Staging dialogue As you start to stage dialogue for the camera, you should aim to accomplish 2 objectives:
1. Illustrating human relationships through the performances of actors 2. Presenting these relationships to your audience via staging, videography and editing.
You’ll often find that your actor’s methods and the practical and dramatic placement of the camera are impractical and you need to find the solution for what works best in these various situations. Visual staging is essentially a spatial dilemma and you need to envisage the 3D space of the real world and project it realistically onto a 2D screen. Visualizing Staging To achieve your individual staging style relies on skills that can be learned and refined such as spatial memory and recognition. Understanding the way we stand, lie and sit during conversations and setting up the camera to record it is a firm foundation from which to improvise and take creative risks. This method has 5 is made up of five basic fields: 1. Staging static actors 2. Staging moving actors 3. Employing the depth of the frame 4. Staging the moving camera 5. Staging both camera movement and actor movement together 1. Staging static actors Slight modifications to staging patterns will alter scenes considerably for the 2 stationary actor’s set-up. You can then apply the same principles to 3 & 4 subject circumstances. There are fundamental staging 8
principles which represent the initial start of novel ideas rather than restrictions. Frontal: Actors tend to face the camera (audience) so most video staging arrangements are essentially frontal, although the body positions of actors are often adjusted to the camera’s needs. These scenes can be recorded in a single shot. But if one of the actors turns away from the camera more than one camera angle is required to cover the actors’ expressions, actions and dialogue.
individual by some characteristic movement. The Shot, Reverse Shot (TickTock) Pattern: Editing a scene in alternating shots and reverse shots (tick-tock pattern) offers a wide range of cutting options. • • •
The spectators see isolated reactions to dialogue Their point of view alters throughout the scene. The matched eye-line connecting characters establish spatial harmony.
You can employ one of two simple methods of staging: A) The actors face a single camera position and B) multiple camera viewpoints are edited together. The Master Shot: The master shot should include all the subjects in the action and runs for the entire duration of the scene. The master shot is a safe option and is part of a plan of coverage that includes other camera setups in the triangle system. Sequence Shots: When the camera tracks or jibs during the Master shot it actually cuts several camera angles into an edited sequence. The sequence shot normally has a single angle (frontal approach.) The two-shot The two-shot is often employed for sitcoms and musicals. Actors tend to be expressive with body language or a character’s distinctive motions may be needed to help the audience identify the
Sight Lines and Eye Contact: The closer the eye-line of your character is to the camera the more intimate your contact with the actor will be, so when the character looks directly into the lens it can be very confrontational. The most frequent use of direct eye contact is where the audience is made to see things through the eyes of the character. Dialogue scenes are staged with the eye-lines of the actors slightly off camera. You would normally maintain the same distance (and frame size) from the camera in
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alternating close-ups of two or more actors. The Staging System: Take the time to train yourself to spot more possibilities of setup and actor placement or you may end up with the same old allpurpose approach to staging scenes. Unless you have a solid understanding of staging the actors for the camera you will keep restaging a scene with the consequent loss of time and spontaneity of your cast. Allow your actors more liberty, and interesting options may present itself. Envision the characters and camera in space and compose the scene using the LETTER pattern system of staging. Letter Patterns: The staging system identifies 2 categories of actor placement: Pattern and position. Pattern: There are three basic employments in a frame. ‘V,’ ‘I’ and ‘L’ staging patterns. The ‘V’ and ‘L’ patterns entail three or more players to complete the letter shape.
The only arrangement for two characters is the ‘I’ pattern.
Position: Position suggests the direction the actors are facing within the camera frame, so there can be many positions. The ‘I’ pattern is used in the ‘A’ and ‘L’ patterns whenever you film a sequence of ‘tick-tock’ shots. You need to learn to stage pattern and position simultaneously, but at first the ‘letters’ should be employed as individual models. What follows is a variety of staging for two actors in the ‘I’ position.
Facing each other: This is a classical ‘Two-shot’ or profile shot as discussed previously and can form the basis of the camera triangle setup should you feel the need to cut to tighter angles of their facial features.
The Profile shot can convey a lot of narration and you may feel that it is sufficient and complementary to the rhythm and style of your story. It can also be used when the background renders itself to vistas.
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Over The Shoulder (OTS) shots are employed when the eye-line between the characters needs to be established.
Again this will normally be used for the close ups in the triangle camera positions and is a prime example of the ‘Tick-Tock’ editing approach.
The frontal position gives a clear view of the actor’s facial expressions and the total scene can be filmed from a single position.
By zooming closer, you can cover the characters with tighter frames. The negative aspect of this type of coverage could be that the frame cut seems a bit harsh and you might find that it feels like a ‘jump cut.’
Do not be apprehensive in trying different perspectives on the same action.
Placing the camera in different positions will render interesting compositions of the scene and can enhance the narrative.
As you become more comfortable with the ‘I’ staging pattern, you will visualize its endless possibilities even before you set up the actors and camera positions.
But beware: You can cross the camera line without noticing. (Did you spot this in the final frame of the sequence?) Although there are no hard and fast rules for the modern filmmaker, it can still be irritating if this is not part of your normal unique style of storytelling and will stand out as a mistake rather than an approach.
Stay within the parameters of the line of action until you feel comfortable enough to employ this approach and then use it often in the film. You can see that the actor face the same direction in the final frame.
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This may prove to distract from the narrative and complicate the eye-line you work so hard to establish and to capture the actors’ intimate relationship.
As you can see from the three examples on this page, even simple ‘I’ position staging becomes visually interesting and even powerful tools for narrative filmmaking.
You can record the dialogue from two positions by altering the tightness of the frame to give you an easy edit within the action.
Be sure to practice visualizing these approaches and plan them by drawing line sketches, layout plans or storyboarding them to involve everyone in the creative team.
Use the wide frames when you want to show body language and gestures and the tighter frames when you need to see facial expressions.
This interesting set-up allows you jump the line of action quite comfortably.
The reason is that you establish the special relationship between your character quite often and the audience can feel comfortable enough to understand where the actors are positioned in reference to each other even though there is not a conventional eye-line established.
Employ the graphic images until you have trained your mind to visualize interesting set-ups. When you find that it becomes a natural part of you approach you will find that it will fuel the creativity of your creative partners, liberate your actors to contribute more, save on cost and time and make you feel more comfortable and relaxed. Not to mention what it will do for you self esteem.
Alternating the camera’s height will give you additional perspectives on the action.
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By applying the two shot you can set up more interesting compositions.
Even though some frames do not legally conform to the ‘two shot’ criteria, the fact that you constantly ‘feel’ the second character in the frame, when you focus tighter on the other’s expressions, puts the viewer at ease.
Over The Shoulder (OTS) doesn’t mean that they have to face each other.
The OTS editing approach can be employed to create mood and special tension.
It just goes to show that the characters can be both seated and lying when in dialogue. These positions are all natural positions for the human body to be in when in conversation.
By observing others you will soon become skilled at establishing innovative poses in you films to create the tone, mood and atmosphere you desire.
Establish the spacial context and eye-line in seated and lying poses.
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Introduction to video editing.
Video Editing is not just the next logical step towards the completion of your film, nor is it the general process of sticking the various shots of your video or film together. Consider editing as an extension and continuation of the directing process. When you look at your rushes, you should understand how you can alter the story by rearranging your shots on the timeline. In other words, you can find yourself at the helm of a great narrative and aesthetic power you never knew was there.
Starting the edit process In order to perform digital video editing, you need a computer (work station) with video and audio editing software. Your editor (MAC or PC) needs to be very powerful, equipped with fast processors and adequate RAM and hard drive space. i-line Films employ Quad (4) processor MACs loaded with editing software called ‘Final cut pro,’ which is quite user friendly yet extremely professional and an industry standard.
The first time you launch Final Cut Pro (FCP), a ‘Choose Setup’ window will appear, where you select the type of footage you will be editing, DV, HDV or HD. This is depended on the format you filmed in. If your footage is not already on your computer's hard drive or another hard drive, (still on tape) you will have to begin by capturing the footage to your computer. This is called ‘digitizing’. Connect a playback device (deck) to the computer and ‘Log And Capture’ your rushes onto the hard drive. Once you have completed the digitizing of your footage and all your rushes, graphic images and audio clips are in the browser, you can start your editing. Be sure to mark your materials appropriately and accurately. This discipline will save you plenty of stress and time. Video editing is a creative person's playground and combines the following basic methods to complement and enhance your footage: • • •
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Cutting: Applying tempo and the Q & A pattern to alter storyline variations. Layering: Stacking video layers on top of one another for visual effect. Keying: Taking away part of the top layer’s components (such as a particular colour) to see the layer underneath. Filters: Plug in filters to complement the material such as soft- and gradient filters. 14
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Transitions: Various wipes, pushes, fades and cuts to employ in-between scenes. Titles: To add words onto the screen Graphics and animation: Still or animated graphics to illustrate or enhance the production aesthetics. Audio: Music, narration, sounds and effects to complement and enhance the visual material.
Understanding these applications and their functions will afford you the opportunity to express your paramount creativity. They are so diverse and powerful that it may need separate instruction manuals or even training courses to master them. Here follows a brief summary on each to explain their specific applications: 1. Cut: To change the rhythm of your production by altering the length of your footage (from one frame to several seconds). Select in- and out points to cut the ‘money shot’ or ‘meat’ from every clip. Rearrange the clips according to different Q & A patterns to alter the narrative. 2. Layer: Stack various video layers on top of one another for visual effect. Adjust the values of each separate layer and blend to create mood and vibe.
3. Key: Taking away part of the top layer’s components to see the layer underneath. Various options from colour key to chroma key exist to ‘cut’ out layer elements or make it more transparent. 4. Filters: Plug-ins to complement the material such as soft- and gradient filters, colour correction, blur, diffuse, and emboss. Decide if you want to apply the filter to a single sequence in the timeline, which will apply the effect to a single clip, or if you want to apply the filter in the browser, which will alter the shot’s master clip. Click on the "Effects" tab at the upper right corner of the screen. Scroll down and select the filter you'd like to see on your single clip. Drag the filter to your single clip, your clip will highlight and then release the mouse button to drop it. This applies the effect to the single clip. When using HD footage, you might have to ‘render’ the clip after applying the filter before you can view it. 5. Transitions: Various wipes, pushes, fades and cuts to employ in-between scenes. The transition is a visual effect that is used to transform discreetly from one scene to another. A slow FADE would suggest that time has passed by in between scenes. But transitions can be applied as a hard change over too. For example in "Star Wars," every time the focus shifted from one character to the other, they used a wipe transition, 15
so that the screen would wipe from left to right. The ability to add transitions vastly advances the look of a production and adds a unique tempo to the flow of the sequences. A few examples are: Zoom, cross fade, page peel, spin out & oval iris. As you add transitions, you will begin to notice how effective the conservative use of these effects can be to enhance an already wellproduced sequence.
animated title clips with adjustable values for production title cards that looks professional. Titles can also be created in other programmes such as Photoshop and imported into FCP’s timeline. 7. Graphics and animation: Still images can be imported from Photoshop and animated clips can be imported from third party software.
A skilled editor will know when to make a simple cut and when to apply transitions.
The FCP package includes ‘Motion’ to make layer animations straightforward to enhance your production’s aesthetics.
Add a transition, by simply choosing the drop-down menu in the Effects tab and dragging and dropping the transition to its destination on the timeline. The area will highlight.
8. Audio: Music, narration, sounds and effects to complement and enhance the visual material.
6. Titles: To add words onto the screen No matter how simple or complex a sequence is, adding text, titles and graphics makes it seem complete. Add text on top of existing sequence clips to identify a person, place, or object.
At this point, your project is done visually. You may employ “Soundtrack Pro” to apply sounds and perform basic audio edits or you may need to apply some of the audio supplied in the FCP package. For a polished audio track, involve the audio gurus from a competent sound studio.
In FCP, titles can be generated within the application under the ‘Effects’ bin where we find specialty text effects, such as placing a border around text, change the font, colour and size values or scroll the words across the screen. Then there are additional programs associated with FCP. The titling package called ‘Title’ allows you to create stand-alone 16