Saturday, November 20, 2010

My Tips for Better Film Editing

Whether I have note edited films (Rolls) ever, still i try to find the solutions and suggestions to resolve the conditions & situations in Film editing. Here are an even dozen tips that I feel will make any budding film editor better at this craft. I’m sure not everyone will agree with all of these points, because most of these tips are in grammatically barred. Nevertheless, I hope they offer some takeaway value for you.



1. Cut tight –
The best editing approach is to cut tight scenes without becoming too “cutty”. This means taking out unnecessary pauses between actors’ delivery of dialogue lines. Sometimes it mean tightening the gaps within dialogue sentences through the use of carefully placed cutaways. It may also mean losing redundant lines of dialogue, after the director has reviewed your cut.



In general, my approach is to start with a cut that is precise from the beginning as opposed to cutting the first pass sloppy and then whittling down from there. Most basic films don’t support audience attentions for lengths over 90 minutes. If your first cut comes in at about 100 minutes, then you can typically get to 90 through further tightening of the cut. On the other hand, if it clocks in at two hours or longer, then major surgery is going to be needed.



2. Temp music – Many editors like working with temporary music as a placeholder. I advise against this for two reasons. First – people tend to fall in love with the temp score and then it’s hard to get real music that feels as good. Second – temp music becomes a crutch. You tend to be more forgiving of a weak scene when there’s interesting music than when the scene is naked. I prefer to cut a strong scene and make it work through editorial solutions. If a scene can stand on its own, then the addition of sound effects and a score will make it that much better. The exception is a visual montage set to music. Here, I tend to do better when I’m cutting to music rather than the other way around.



3. No Dragnet edits – The original Dragnet television series used a certain approach to cutting dialogue scenes. Audio and video edits tended to be made as straight cuts between the actors without any overlaps as they delivered their lines. It followed this formula: cut to actor A – deliver the line; cut to actor B – deliver the line; cut back to actor A and so on. Walter Murch refers to this as the Dragnet-style of editing. Our brains seem to react better to edits where the change in picture and sound is not always together. These are called split edits, L-cuts or J-cuts.



I suppose this more closely mimics real life, where we first hear someone start to talk and then turn our head to see them. Or one person is talking and we look over to our friend to see their reaction before they respond. Editing in a style where images often precede or follow the dialogue edit feel more natural to our minds and make the scene flow more smoothly.



4. Matching action – Matching actors’ hand positions, use of props, eyeline and stage position from one cut to another fall into the technical category of how to make a proper edit. Walter Murch offers a rule of six criteria that form reasons to make a cut at a given instance. The greatest weight is given to whether that cut drives the emotion of the scene or moves the story along. Technical matching is the least important concern. I’m not saying you should throw it out the window, because a mismatch that is too extreme can be very jarring to the audience. On the other hand, as an editor friend often tells me, “Matching is for sissies.” The audience will often ignore many minor continuity differences from one shot to the next if they stay totally engrossed in the story. Your job as the editor is to cut in such as way that they do.



5. Moving camera shots – Moving the camera around is a staple of action sequences. This might be a camera on a dolly, crane, Steadicam or just handheld. In an action scene, this is designed to create a level of tension. When I cut these shots together, I prefer to cut on movement, so that the camera is in constant motion from one shot to the next. Many directors and DP will disagree, preferring instead to start and stop each camera move before making the cut. Both approaches work under the right situations, but my tendency is to cut tighter and not let the audience’s eye rest on the set or a shot or a scene for too long, unless there is a reason to do so.



6. Don’t cut back to the exact same angle – If you have a choice of several camera angles, don’t automatically cut back to the same camera angle or take that you just used in the previous shot. This is, of course, unavoidable in a dialogue scene with only two angles and one take of each; but, if the director shot different takes with different framing, try to use a little of all of them. Don’t get stuck in a cutting rut, like master/single/reverse, master/single/reverse, etc. Mix it up.



7. B-roll shots in threes – When the scene calls for cutaway inserts, it feels right to use three on a row. Not a single shot, not two, but three. These should be at least 1.5-2 seconds long (or longer). An example might be when a character enters the room and looks around. The POV inserts work nicely in triplets and give the audience a good idea of the landscape that the character encounters. It mimics our real-world experience of moving our head around and seeing different aspects of the same surroundings.



8. Cut for the eyes – Actors that do well on TV and in films (as compared with the stage) are all very expressive with their face, but most importantly, their eyes. When I’m cutting an intense dialogue scene, I’m looking at how the actors’ eyes play in the scene. Do they convey the proper emotion? What is the reaction of the other actors in the scene? What the actors are or aren’t doing facially determines my cutting. It drives my decision to stick with the principal actor delivering the dialogue or whether I briefly cut away to see reactions from the others.



9. Pull the air out of actors’ performances –
Going back to Item 1 – I like to cut tight. Recognize that many actors will overact. They will milk a scene for more than is appropriate. They will accentuate pauses, add more stumbles and stammers (where scripted) and give lengthy glances. Sometimes this works, but your job as the editor is to dial these back as you cut. Take these pauses out by cutting away and then back. Cut out redundant actions and line deliveries. Make it real, so it doesn’t feel like ACTING.



10. Shaping story – It is said that there are three films: the one that’s scripted, the one that’s been filmed and the one that’s edited. When you cut a feature, pay close attention to the story chronology and don’t be afraid to veer from what was written or filmed if it makes sense to do so. Many editors use note cards on a storyboard wall to create a quick visual representation of the storyline. This helps you make sure that you reveal things to the audience in the most logical order and that nothing is inadvertently edited out of place.



11. Digital aids – Modern NLEs and finishing techniques like digital intermediates offer a lot of tools that aid the filmmaker. For example, digital images are very tolerant of blow-ups. You can add camera zooms or blow-up a shot (creating a wide and a close-up from a single shot) with these tools. This is especially true if you shot on 35mm film or with the RED One camera, because the large image area of the film negative or camera sensor allows more overshoot space than HD cameras. Don’t be afraid to zoom in as long as the image quality holds up.



Many editors talk about using split screens for invisible edits. This is often done when the timing of the performance of two actors (such as in an over-the-shoulder shot or a two-shot) doesn’t quite match on the preferred take. Sometimes the original performance was right, but the pace of the scene has been picked up during the edit and now the timing of the two actors feels slow or late. If the camera is locked off and the overlap of their physical positions in the shot isn’t too complex, it’s a simple matter to create a new OTS shot. This would be a visual effects composite of these two actors with a slight offset in the timing of their performances.



12. Make your choices, but be prepared for others – Your job as the editor is to shape the story and the pacing of the film. First and foremost this means you are there to help the director realize his or her creative vision. But you were also hired for your own best instincts. Most editors finish a first cut without the director sitting over their shoulder. During that time is your initial chance at putting your own stamp on the film. When the first cut is completed, the director and editor work together to refine that cut into the director’s cut.



The choices you make in cutting tightly or altering an actor’s performance all factor into the look and feel of the film. For instance, you can heighten the tension between characters in a scene by cutting their dialogue in a way that one actor overlaps – or steps on – the other actor’s lines. This conveys a level of impatience that might not have been there in the way it was actually filmed. When you make such a choice, it alters the emotion of the scene and should be done only if that serves the story. Of course, you’ll only want to make this sort of edit if you have a logical reason for it, the director agrees with it and you have an alternate solution if the director disagrees.



I like to review the takes and make my own decisions about the best performances. On set, the director might have marked the third and fourth takes (out of four) as “circle takes”. I might actually like the front end of number one as the best way to start the scene, but then end on take four for the back half. I will frequently cut scenes that use a little of each take as I cut back and forth between actors’ dialogue lines. This will create the best composite performance of all the actors in a scene. When you do this, though, you should be prepared to defend what you liked about the choices you’ve made – and be prepared to change the scene back to something else.



Most directors aren’t going to review each and every take in the edit suite. They will react to your cut based on whether or not it works for them and whether or not they like the performances on screen. They will suggest changes and review one or two other takes to see if they really liked a different performance by the actor. The closer a scene is to one that feels polished and conveys the most believable job of acting, the more accepting a director will be of your cut.

Hope these will be very useful for thinking on editing techniques.

Friday, November 12, 2010

Important keyboard shortcuts for windows.

Keyboard shortcuts are faster and less painful when typing compared to the use of mouse. However most of PC Users know some simply keyboart shortcut like TO OPEN-CTRL+O , SAVE-CTFL+S ect. but i hereby am giving you some different keyboard shortcuts that you should know to work with windows....


S.NO. FUNCTION KEYS

1 Opens My Computer Windows Key E

2 Selects The Start Button Ctrl Esc

3 Makes A Copy Of Any File Press& Hold Ctrl Key
And Drag File
4 Closes Current Multiple Document
Interface (MDI) Window CTRL F4

5 Closes Any Program Or Shut Down The Window Alt F4

6 Sees The Properties Of Any Files, Folder Or Drive Alt Enter

7 Quickly Switches Between Open Programs Alt Tab Or Alt ESC

8 Minimizes All Open Programs Jointly Windows Key M

9 Maximizes All Open Programs Jointly Windows Key Shift M

10 Minimizes Or Maximizes All Open Programs Jointly Windows Key D

11 Selects Multiple Files Shift Arrow

12 Opens Computer Search Page Ctrl Windows Key F

13 Opens Printout Dialog Box Ctrl P

14 Selects Or Deselects A Check-Box Or
Radio Button In A Dialog Box Space Bar

15 System Information Or Opens
SYSTEM PROPERTIES Dialog Box Windows Pause/Break

16 File Menu Options In Current Program Alt F

17 Edit Options In Current Program Alt E

18 Highlights From Current Position To
Beginning Of The Line Shift Home

19 Highlights From Current Position
To End Of The Line Shift Home

20 Universal Help In Almost Every Windows Program F1

21 Goes To Beginning Of Document Ctrl Home

22 Locks The Computer Windows Keys L,

23 Activates Menu Bar Options F10

24 Opens A Shortcut Menu For Any Selected Item
(Same As Right-Click Of Mouse) Shift F10

25 Refreshes Any Page, My Computer,
Internet Explorer Or Desktop F5

26 Displays The Main Window's System Menu Alt Space

27 Finds Or Searches Files F3

28 Opens to Rename Object F2

29 Displays The Shortcut Menu For The Selected Item Shift F10

31 Opens Run Dialog Windows Key R

32 Cycles Through Taskbar Buttons Windows Key Tab

33 Explores The Object If It Has An Explore Command Shift Double-Click

34 Goes To Parent Folder If Focus Is On View Window Backspace


i Hope, these 34 shortcuts will help you to work with your computer shorter than mouse's movement and lot of clicks.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

My Final Cut Pro4 review....

Although, Final Cut Pro 4 is about outdated and new versions are running in market of digital video editing, as i have been used Apple's Final Cut Pro 4, an idea came to mind to review the 4th version of FCP. I am sure you hereby will be able to compare at least amongst this version of FCP and other updated versions.

Okkkk..Final Cut Pro 4 delivers creative, professional and extensible tools for video and film editors working in virtually any format, and at any resolution. And it does that without the drawbacks of proprietary systems that can cost tens of thousands of dollars more.

Final Cut Pro 4 has sophisticated editing, compositing, effects and audio tools that allow professional editors to meet demanding post production deadlines while maintaining their creativity.

It is a powerful solution for creating high-quality programming in a broad range of formats, frame rates and resolutions.

Scalable Capture

Final Cut Pro 4’s open, standards-based architecture and flexibility allow it to fit into virtually any production pipeline.

Final Cut Pro 4 is open to various types of media input from just about any source — SD, HD, offline, DV and film. And since Final Cut Pro 4 includes Cinema Tools, it now supports several film formats, keycode, key numbers, ink numbers, plus a variety of output lists, including change lists, and features advanced pulldown tools that handle 2:3, 2:3:3:2, and 2:4:4:2 telecine operations.

Broadcast Quality Codec

Final Cut Pro 4 ships with a wide range of codecs, including 8- and 10-bit uncompressed YUV (4:2:2) SD and HD codecs, native support for Panasonic DVCPRO50, 50Mb/s 4:2:2 video over FireWire, and a newly optimized, high-quality MPEG-2 codec for encoding and distribution.

Powerful new formats in Final Cut Pro 4 let you capture, play back and output different formats of digital video in a variety of compressed or uncompressed formats.

Real-Time Effects

Final Cut Pro 4’s RT Extreme engine produces a virtually unlimited number of video streams and spectacular effects.

Final Cut Pro 4 harnesses the awesome supercomputing power of the PowerPC G4 with Velocity Engine, turning your Mac into a video editing powerhouse that pumps out render-free playback of effects in real time. And new real-time modes allow you to choose full-resolution output for finishing, or real-time preview for maximum simultaneous streams.

Final Cut Pro 4’s enhanced multi-stream real-time effects now include output to a NTSC broadcast monitor for more accurate, real-time previews. The RT Extreme engine leverages the power of Mac OS X and the PowerPC G4 processor to produce a virtually unlimited number of video streams and spectacular effects.

Final Cut Pro 4 gives you innovative features like real-time effects playback, a high-capacity offline format for seamless offline-to-online workflow, and powerful finishing capabilities such as advanced color correctors.

Editing And Trimming Tools

Final Cut Pro 4’s visual controls — like buttons and shortcut menu commands — give you total control of the editing process.

Final Cut Pro 4 gives you a unique editing environment that includes the tools professional editors require to cut video with speed and precision.

Color Correction Tools

Final Cut Pro 4 features real-time color correction for SD finishing. Advanced primary and secondary color correction tools have been enhanced to include color-matching, finer control over selection areas, and a new Frame Viewer for comparing multiple frames.

Differences between cameras, angles and lighting situations can cause visible color differences from scene to scene. Fortunately, they no longer require thousands of dollars to fix. With Final Cut Pro 4, you can balance all the shots in a scene to match, correct errors in color balance and make sure that key elements in your movie look the way they should.

Freedom to Move

Final Cut Pro 3 features OfflineRT - a built-in format that is the first native offline format available for DV. OfflineRT is perfect for editing on the run, providing over 40 minutes of video per gigabyte of hard disk space. This means you can carry around massive amounts of timecode-accurate video that you can reconnect to the original source material whenever you’re ready, without having to resort to special external storage solutions. Just capture and transcode DV footage to OfflineRT via a simple FireWire connection.

Audio Editing

A new on-screen audio mixer, along with an audio router and multi-channel output, raise the bar for nonlinear editor-based audio editing.

Final Cut Pro 4 includes an entirely new audio subsystem built on Mac OS X’s high-performance, ultra low latency Core Audio engine. From a new on-screen mixing console to 24-channel audio output and routing capabilities, Final Cut Pro 4 delivers power that has previously been available only in dedicated digital audio-only workstations.

Final Cut Pro 4’s new on-screen mixer supports a staggering 99 tracks. Each track contains a fader, level meter, mute, solo and pan controls. A separate master section in the mixer allows for adjustment of the overall level of the mix. Each output channel in the master section includes peak hold level indicators to provide enhanced precision when viewing your overall mix levels. You can define up to four separate views, allowing you to make quick work of large multi-track mixing jobs.

When exporting audio for use in other editing environments, Final Cut Pro 4 supports 24-bit OMF. In addition, 24-bit AIFF and WAVE files can be imported into Final Cut Pro 4 without loss. All sample rate conversions happen in real-time using an advanced, extremely high-quality conversion algorithm.

Text, Effect and object

LiveType introduces a new way to handle effects, with powerful timing features that allow you to control every aspect of your animation, giving you greater character control than any other titling application out there.

From an animation standpoint, LiveType’s keyframes are easier to work with than in other applications, since each keyframe contains all the parameters for an element. And applying effects to individual elements is easier than ever before. You can turn effects on and off for individual characters, and sequence or randomize the timing of the effects you apply. The combinations — and creative possibilities — are virtually limitless.

Since LiveType imports all QuickTime-supported file formats, you can bring in your own graphics for animation. Custom artwork, logos, even photographs will get a new life when you attach LiveType effects to them.

Cinema Tools

A database that tracks the relationship between your original film and sound with its digitized counterpart in Final Cut Pro 4, Cinema Tools provides the vital link between your original film negative and your digital video edits — and it now comes with the powerful new features you demanded.

Professional Output

With Final Cut Pro 4, you can output your movie for the web or DVD, or to broadcast formats such as DV, SD or HD.

Built on a resolution-independent architecture that lets it scale from SD to HD, Final Cut Pro 4 supports 23.976, true 24fps, 25, 29.97 and 30fps output, and even supports output to an NTSC external video monitor for greater previewing control.

Final Cut Pro 4’s new broadcast quality codecs support studio-quality broadcast finishing and distribution. The application now includes 8- and 10-bit uncompressed (4:2:2) SD and HD codecs, a DVCPRO50 (4:2:2) codec, and a newly optimized, high-quality MPEG2 codec.

System Requirements


*
Macintosh OSX 10.2.5 or later
*
G4 Processor 500MHz
*
384MB RAM
*
14GB of disk space
*
DVD ROM