Maeve Catherine

Perfectionism is a gift and a curse. It’s one of the primary reasons why editing multi-camera productions fun for me. The process of matching tiny details in shots to create a seamless transition for viewers to watch made editing videos a favorite hobby of mine.

As an editor it’s important to understand the types of shots cinematographer will capture. Each type of shot will be used in the editing process to make the story more interesting for viewers.

Tom Schroeppel, the author of The Bare Bones Camera Course for Film and Video, defines the basic shots everyone in the industry should know:

Wide Shot/ Establishing Shot: A shot that’s wide enough to establish your subject in the mind of your viewers. This shot should show all important aspects of the scene.

• Usually used as the Master Shot, when the camera is kept running throughout the scene.

Medium Shot: A shot that’s focused on a subject but includes additional aspects from the scene. Tightness of the shot falls between wide shot and close up framing.

Close Up: A shot that’s tightly framed on a subject.

*Don’t forget that no matter what type of shot is being captured, the composition elements, such as rule of thirds and balance, should always be present.

Cutaway: A shot of a different subject that changes the sequence’s length or order. As an editor this is a shot that covers up possible continuity issues.

In my previous blog I mentioned L-cuts and reverse L-cuts. Cutaway shots are usually paired with these type of audio edits because the cutaway shot may bring the viewer visual context that audio does not.

L-cut: Hearing audio from a previous scene while seeing the next footage.

Reverse L (also referred to as telegraph cut or a J-cut): Hearing audio from the next scene before seeing the footage.

• Schroeppel explains, ““By first cutting in new sound, then new picture, the transition is less noticeable than cutting straight to both new sound and new picture at the same time.”

When shooting a basic sequence these shots should involve a change in image size and camera angle because otherwise the shot will not be interesting. Cameras should be set up at different angles, at least 45 degrees apart, so there are smooth transitions. Without changing the camera angle but keeping the image size, a viewer will watch a jump cut occur in the sequence.

One of my favorite editing techniques is cutting on the action. Having tendencies to be perfect are seen best when editing between a wide shot to medium shot of object moving in a scene. Because the viewers eyes naturally follow movements on the screen they are distracted from other components on the screen. Schroeppel states, “The important thing to remember is that the last action of the first shot has to be repeated at the beginning of the second shot. So you [cinematographers] have to shoot the same movement twice. This is called overlapping action.”

Clean entrance and exit shots are when the movement occurs in frame but then continues outside of frame. For example a car driving on the highway into a small town. These shots are helpful for editors who are dealing with movement in a scene because it leaves room for viewer to understand the passage of time or movement despite the composition of the shots not matching right on the cut.

Knowing there are different techniques to cut on movement also means understanding the rules of screen direction and crossing the line. When a cameraperson or editor does not understand these two definitions could lead to a viewer getting lost in the story.

Screen Direction: The direction people and things face when viewed through the camera.

The Line: The imaginary line that is an axis of action.

However if an editor does understand these rules they could create an interesting scene, but this is very difficult and could lead to a viewer getting lost in the story. This is commonly done when a scene starts on a neutral shot on the line and there is is no screen direction defined yet. Schroeppel states“It’s based on a simple truth: you can cross the line if you stop on it. You can go from one screen direction to another if you put a neutral shot with no screen direction in the middle. As long as you have at least one neutral shot as a bridge, you can cross the line.” You as the editor are going to know things that the viewer doesn’t so use this fact to your advantage.

Inspiring Creativity

Below are examples of smooth continuity in the 2000’s show Gilmore Girls.

This driving scene from Season 2, Episode 19 is a great example of how clean entrance and exit shots can help editors bring together different locations. The scene opens with a master shot of Jess’s car driving down a Stars Hollow street while a j cut of the couple talking plays. The master shot is followed by angled medium and close up shots of both characters, paced by their conversation. After Rory decides they should keep driving the clean exit of the car turning the corner allowed for the location to change without anything matching. During the end of Rory and Lorelai’s phone call, Rory’s shot changes from a medium to a wide shot of her sitting in a hospital room. If the wise shot camera had not been differently angled than, and a shot of Lorelai was not added, Rory’s positioning between the shot would have caused a jump cut and ruined the well composed scene.

This scene from season 6 episode 6 has strong examples of match cut when Richard Gilmore invites Logan into the home so they can talk about his future with Rory. There is a match cut of Richard following Logan into the house and closing the door from the inside. Despite the quick back and forth medium shots as the two talk about being a dedicated worker, there are some cutaways from Richard to show Logan’s caught off guard reactions. These cutaways allow for the audience to stay interested in the one on one invasive conversation. Through a tilt camera movement the viewer’s attention is brought to Rory who is looking at Logan through the glass door which adds more interest to the sequence.

This scene from season 1, episode 21 opens by panning with a bike and stopping at Rory who is looking up at her ex boyfriend, Dean’s house. The first sight of Rory is done through a medium shot of Rory looking at the house and than changes to a establishing shot of Dean’s home. As Rory walks closer to the door there is an example of overlapping action before she knocks on the door. The shot changes once more to be a medium shot that tilts down, right before Dean’s sister opens the door. The two have a uncomfortable conversation which is seen through over the shoulder shots before Clara starts to cry, Dean calls out and Rory runs away. There is examples of both L-cuts and J-cuts throughout the scene which helps with the pacing of the scene.

Editing Seamlessly

Something about me that you, and people in my life, may not know is that I used to sew. Similar to the reason I stopped editing videos, there just is not enough time in the world to do everything you want to. However with school ending I thought it would be smart to think of hobbies to pick up again and sewing came to mind.

I challenged myself to produce and edit a how-to video of how to change the needle on a sewing machine. This is the first and only step I have taken to get back into this hobby but baby steps right?!

Take a look below: