Maeve Catherine

Learning how a camera works sparked something within me but the art of video editing was the thing that kept my eyes sparkling. I wouldn’t call myself an expert at video editing but I do find so much joy in creating basic sequences and it is the reason I was a film minor during my undergraduate years.

Constructing the Story

In chapter 10 of his book,The Bare Bones Camera Course for Film and Video, Tom Schroeppel explains that you as the editor are controlling what the audience is seeing and each element should help tell the story in the script. The viewers are not going to care about what happened behind the scenes instead they care about what they can see in front of them. If the sequence you create does not make sense for the script, because you “needed” to include a shot that was hard to get, the viewer may get lost.

• Basic Sequence: Cutting back and forth between related shots in the same location.
  • The shots should be related but not completely the same. Do not forget about the impact different angles, composition, and framing can have on a viewer.
  • The rate at which the visuals and sounds change can have different impacts on the story you are creating. For example, a sequence with new information should be cut slower so the viewer can subconsciously understand the scene better.

To avoid loosing viewers, a sequence should have an established location the audience is immersed within. As a tween I could never follow fantasy books because I was unable to imagine and remember which world that the author was talking about. However I loved fantasy movies. A perfect example of a book world that I couldn’t imagine until I watched the film were the Harry Potter series. At the very beginning of the movies the first shot is a establishing shot of the school, home, woods etc that the characters were located. Schroeppel explains that as an editor you should be including differently framed shots back to back, “A series of closeups, with no visual reminders of screen geography, can disorient your viewers and suck them into a perceptual tunnel; they’ll spend more time trying to figure out where they are than paying attention to what you’re telling them.” The locations in Hogwarts were re-established frequently throughout the scenes so I was rarely disoriented.

A tip that Schroeppel gives to editors is to go through the material and log each shot with descriptions, “In your descriptions, use consistent key words, like identifying every scene as “Scene #_.” Use the same abbreviations, like “MS,” “LS,” etc. Try to use the same descriptive terms, like “good” to describe usable takes and “NG” for no good takes. If you have a script, use key words from the script in your log descriptions.” This method of organizing can help you find shots that are needed while you edit, especially when multiple takes were produced. However in the context of creating a basic sequence there is the possibility of it not being scripted. In my opinion this is the most fun project to edit. Unscripted projects are constructed best with a editing log and paper edit of the best shots.

• Paper Edit: A script constructed from cut-up sections of an editing log. This process may take a while because you are creating a story from the shots you have. You become the scriptwriter.

In the context of producing the montage I storyboarded last week, I already have a script to work with.

Inspiring Creativity

Below are strong examples of the common editing styles used in short productions.

As I stated, the Harry Potter world was confusing for me to read about but the range of shots within the films helped me understand the world. This scene from Harry Potter and the Order of Pheonix is a good example of how editing techniques can help tell a story. The first shot in this sequence is a close up of Harry Potter in a new environment and the second shot is a wide shot of the court in front of him. These two shots are than followed by the reverse, yet vertically angled, which helps the viewer understand the setting and power dynamic between the characters. The shots are long and slowly zooming in on Cornelious and Harry, as Harry’s fate at Hogwarts is being reviewed. The sound in this sequence plays a huge part in how engaged the audience remains. There are examples of both J and L cuts that keep the scenes moving without the visuals distracting the viewers. The differently composed shots are partnered with a slow string melody that grows louder with different proclamations and questions that Cornelious asks of Harry. When Harry mentions the dementors the music slows to silence before a woman on the court questions if he’s telling the truth and the music heightens. As the sequence continues the viewers are reminded, through two re-establishing shots of both sides of the court room, the odds are against Harry in this case because he only has one muggle witness and Dumbledore’s support.

The 1967 film The Graduate, directed by Mike Nichols, was one of the films I studied during my first year of undergrad. The film tells the story of a college graduate, Benjamin Braddock who is having a existential crisis about his future. The montage sequence starts after Ben closed the door after being with Mrs. Robison and questioning their relationship. The sequence begins with a soft version of the song “The Sound Of Silence” and a dissolve of the black screen. The first seven shots are a series of dissolves with intercuts of the empty family pools water but at the end of the 7th shot the audience is presented with a medium shot that pans with Ben as he swims out of the pool. The shot than changes as the camera zooms in and matches with the next shot of Ben walking through the bathroom in the Taft Hotel where Mrs. Robinson is. This quick cut keeps the sequence moving despite the location changing for the viewer, which is okay because the audience is made aware the location changed because of the “Taft” embroidered towel. There is a slight jump cut from the end of this shot to the next but the viewer is not completely disoriented because of the
“could have been an eye-line match”. The location changes two more times but the audience is still not disoriented because the pacing of the sequence is slow enough for the viewers to interpret details in the scenes.

This sequence from the 2019 version of Little Women has tons of examples of how editing sound can allow for more context to a story. This sequence features Laurie and Jo disagreeing about taking each other’s hand in marriage. Throughout the sequence there are L cuts and reverse L cuts between Laurie talking while shots of Jo physically reacting poorly to the proposal. Jo’s reactions are more important to the story of Jo wanting to makes her living as a single and free female writer. Viewers can hear the agony in Laurie’s voice that they can imagine his facial expressions that occur. As Jo explains her reasoning for declining Laurie’s offer the viewer gets to see his reaction while hearing the final words of her statements. In the final 40 seconds of the scene the background music conveys the somber feeling that Jo and Laurie feel as they go their separate ways.

Completing the Perfect Picture

As I planned in my last blog, I shot and edited a montage of my family home. This montage features a range of well composed shots and editing styles that I’ve explained. I used my Iphone 16 and tripod to film stable clips of my favorite rooms and elements around my home. During the editing process I used adobe premiere pro and recorded a voice over with the same microphone I used for my podcast episode.

As our family grew so did our house. There are so many memories attached to this home and as I grow older its been hard to think about the fact that the home will no longer be ours.

Take a step into my family home with me: