Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
20.
Play back the previous section. The timing of the dialogue works well, but the cut back to Katie as she
says “But he's not getting it” could do with some refining. We don't want to alter the timing of the audio, so
we'll use a Roll edit to move the picture back by a few frames, which should give us a smoother edit. Press
T to bring up the Trim tool and select the video edit points between Scene 11 Slate 21 Take 3 and Scene 11
Slate 23 Take 3 (the seventh and eight clips in the sequence). Press the comma key five times to roll the edit
point to the left by 5 frames. The picture edit should now begin at 33 seconds and 5 frames in the Timeline
(see Figure 10.36). Press A to switch back to the Select tool and press Shift+/ (forward slash) to play back
the edit.
Figure 10.36
Moving the picture back with a Roll edit.
21.
All that's left to do is add a shot of Joyce's response to Katie's theory. Select Scene 11 Slate 20 Take 1
(second favorite) in the Event Browser and play the clip. This medium shot of Joyce provides further evid-
ence that she knows who Katie is speaking about and is a good shot to end on because it raises a new ques-
tion to take us into the next scene. Position the playhead at 34 seconds and 14 frames in the Timeline, just
after Katie says, “He wants his room back. But he's not getting it,” and press D to overwrite Scene 11 Slate
20 Take 1 to the Primary Storyline. Choose View
⇒
Collapse All Clips to collapse any expanded audio
tracks, and press Shift+Z to fit the entire sequence in the Timeline. Press the Home key to go to the begin-
ning and play your completed sequence.
A cut to a new shot should always deliver new information to an audience, and in a dialogue scene this informa-
tion is expressed both verbally and through the facial expressions of the characters on-screen. The nuances of
the actors' performances often tell the editor when to cut; this is especially true when editing a dialogue scene.
An editor should cut when it feels right, based on her emotional sense of what the characters are experiencing in
the story. It's never simply a case of cutting to the character who's speaking next, because the character who's
listening is also imparting important information through facial expressions and reactions to what's being said.
After all, if a character were receiving bad news in a scene, wouldn't you rather see how that character responds
to the news rather than watch the person delivering it? Of course, this all depends on the context of the scene.
Just remember that what a character says with body language is just as important as what a character says with
words.
You've just worked through two example dialogue scenes and, hopefully, you've picked up a few techniques
that you can apply to your own work. You've seen that cutting picture and sound together when switching
between characters is best avoided. You've also learned that a scene flows more naturally when the pictures
either precede or follow the audio with the use of L-cuts and J-cuts. Experiment with your own edit of the previ-
