Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 9.5
The first two clips are added to the Primary Storyline.
3.
Set the Event Browser's Filter pop-up menu to All Clips, and then select and play Scene 2 Slate 3 Take 6.
This Steadicam shot follows Joyce as she walks around the car to open the door for Katie. Joyce tries to
help Katie with her bag, but the offer is declined and the clip ends with them walking up to the front door of
the house. This clip covers all the action for the rest of the scene and can, therefore, be treated like a master
shot. A master is a shot that runs through the entire action of the scene, usually from a wide angle that in-
cludes all the characters in view. A director usually shoots a master first before covering the scene with
closer angles. This style of filmmaking harks back to the Hollywood films of the 1930s and 1940s. Shooting
a master gives the editor a continuous shot to base the rest of the coverage on and also ensures that the en-
tire scene is covered if there is no time to shoot everything during production.
If we look at the footage that we have to work with, you can see that there are only two angles that cover
most of this scene: Scene 2 Slate 3 Take 6 and Scene 2 Slate 5 Take 1. The rest of the footage is comprised
of short insert or point-of-view shots and should be more than enough for such a short scene. Let's use
Scene 2 Slate 3 Take 6 as a foundation and use sections of other clips and angles to build up the scene.
Select Scene 2 Slate 3 Take 6 in the Event Browser and press E to append the clip to the Timeline.
4.
If you play back the last two clips in the Timeline (Scene 2 Slate 2 Take 4 and Scene 2 Slate 3 Take 6),
you'll see that both clips show Joyce getting out of the car and slamming the door. We obviously need to
trim these clips so that Joyce's action isn't repeated. The best place to perform a cut between two clips is
during a character's action or movement because this helps to hide the edit and causes the shots to flow to-
gether seamlessly and helps speed up the pace of a scene. For example, editors usually cut near the begin-
ning of an action, just after someone starts to walk. What you need to bear in mind when cutting during mo-
tion is that most shoots are recorded with a single camera with the actors repeating their performance, some-
times days apart, for each camera angle. Obviously, it would be impossible for an actor to reproduce an
identical performance for each take; there will be variations in the speed and energy of the movement
between each clip. However, with a little careful manipulation, these differences usually can be hidden
within the cut and the viewer will be none the wiser.
If you re-watch the two clips, you'll see that there are two possibilities for cutting on action: We can cut as
the car door slams shut or as Joyce starts to walk around the vehicle. Let's cut on Joyce's walk. If you try to
match two clips during movement, you'll soon find that it's very difficult to precisely identify the same
point in both clips as it occurs during motion. The easiest way to approach cutting on action is to make an
edit at the end of an action and then roll the edit point back so that it occurs during the motion.
We can use the end of the door slam to achieve this here. First, find the point where the car door slams shut
during Scene 2 Slate 2 Take 4. Even though this clip has no sound, you can visually see that this occurs at
10 seconds 19 frames in the Timeline. Place the playhead at that position and make sure snapping is enabled
(the snapping icon should be highlighted in blue at the top right of the Timeline). Select Scene 2 Slate 2
Take 4's Out point and perform a Ripple edit by dragging it to the left by 12 frames until it snaps to the
playhead at 10 seconds 19 frames in the Timeline (see Figure 9.6). If you find the playhead jumping to the
clip's Out point when you try to select it, hold down the Option key as you perform this.
