Video Editing Tutorial (page 2)
Talk, Talk, Talk
Conversations are also a stumbling point in creating visual smoothness. The easy way, of course, is to keep both speaking actors within the frame throughout the conversation. But if you're going for the talk-show, talking head technique, you once again need to pay attention to screen direction.
In Monsters Among Us, for example, a witness to the aliens' death and destruction races to the police station to report the crime. The witness begins pouring out his guts to an interrogating officer. The witness sits on the right-hand side of the screen, speaking and looking towards the left. When you cut to the officer, he must be on the left, addressing the right-hand side of the screen. If not, it will look like witness and copper are both speaking to some unknown third person.
When shooting an over-the-shoulder conversation, keep the listener's body slightly within each shot. This establishes a point of reference toward which the speaker can direct his dialogue. It's a popular technique because the method keeps both actors within the whole scene, even though you only really "see" one at a time. If you must shoot on days when both actors are absent, a stand-in can do the trick. Finding someone with hair that resembles the missing actor is the most important factor. You can easily alter their apparent height by having them stand on boxes, and weight doesn't matter because all you'll see is the back of the person's head. Again, pay attention to sight lines and screen direction. Any mix-up in these simple cuts jars the viewer and disrupts the flow and aesthetics of the scene.
Framing alternate shots within conversations is also a concern. In action scenes, it's not vital to keep shots similar. In fact, varying the framing makes the shot more interesting. With a normal conversation, however, it may be unsettling to jump shot size. If you show one character in a medium close-up, over-the- shoulder shot, the matched shot of the other character should reflect this framing. If you jump to a full- body shot, you'll lose the flow of the scene.
Shooting a very dramatic conversation allows you more leniency. A cut to an extreme close-up of one of the subjects may actually add to the aesthetics of the production. Maybe your hero, in the course of a discussion, has discovered that his wife is a monster. At the point she utters these words to him, you might want to frame her lips or eyes in an extreme close-up to emphasize the shocking nature of the news.
Cutting Your Audio
Editing aesthetics don't exclusively deal with the visual. Remember, sound is 50% of the show, and a bad audio cut can be just as disturbing as an awkward visual transition.
As the monsters run through a dense forest in search of human food, it's nice to hear some ambient forest sounds. The sound of their feet thrashing the branches and leaves also adds to the scene. If you suddenly drop one of these elements in an adjoining scene, you'll distract the viewer from the flow of the story.
Another sound problem occurs when matched shots are recorded at different times or locations. Maybe your hero is talking to the police chief outside of the hospital. You decide to shoot all of one character's lines first, then move all the gear and get the other actor's dialogue. Due to the time of day, traffic was light when the first character was talking. Three hours later, when you're getting the responding characters' speech, traffic has changed. More cars are driving by and stopping. Even an occasional truck steams through the area.
On location, you may not be aware of background sound differences because you're shooting the scenes separately. The sounds of only one character can be heard at one time. But cut two of these shots together and the difference in sound becomes painfully obvious.
Correcting this problem is tough. Leaving out the possibility of a re-shoot, your options are limited. Some sound equalizers may help. I've tried to solve this condition by dropping in some added traffic noise to the cleaner track, which worked fairly well. Whatever you decide to do, just remember: it's easier to add sound than remove it, and easier still to shoot it correctly in the first place.
Keep the Viewer Focused
Like I said earlier, editing aesthetics are tough to describe. They involve using a little bit of everything at your disposal to create a believable viewing experience for your audience. They help to keep the action flowing smoothly, keeping the viewer focused on the story content rather than on the production itself. In short, they help to create the illusion of reality in a motion picture, encouraging the viewer to suspend his or her disbelief for the duration of your work.
And don't worry. If your work has aesthetic appeal, you'll know it. If somebody tells you otherwise, you can always beat your breast and claim that nobody understands your personal vision. Or you can go back into the editing suite and try again.
