Edit Suite: Plan for Better Editing

The first time someone edits a video, they often wonder how anyone can find the process fun. The equipment seems so confusing, everything moves in slow motion, and creating a simple show can take hours if not days.

If you've ever cursed the time it takes to edit a video, maybe you need to change your approach to editing. By planning and making some decisions before you sit in front of the equipment, you can make your edit sessions less tedious and more productive. Heck, you might even make them fun.

The next couple of pages offer some suggestions about where and how to streamline the complete videomaking process so that your edit sessions go more smoothly.

Those of you new to editing may think that in a long editing session, most of the time is spent dealing with equipment. Edit controllers and special effects generators make editing easier and more creative, but operating them eats up lots of time. Add the need to wait for VCRs as they shuttle tapes back and forth to make each edit, and you'll see why it's easy to blame equipment for wasting editing time.

Surprisingly, operating the gear is often where we spend the least amount of time in an edit session. Most of what we do when we edit is make decisions. We decide how to assemble different shots in our video to best tell the story to the audience.

To find the best sequence of shots, we need to explore different ways to put them together. We need to see how moving a few shots around can make the story funnier, or easier to understand. Entertaining those options--and hence making those decisions--is inevitably where a major part of editing time goes. Once we make the decision, telling the equipment to execute the edit goes pretty quickly.

Unfortunately, there isn't an easy way to escape making decisions when you're editing videos. Decisions are the core of editing, and you always have to make them. You can, however, minimize the number of decisions you need to make as you sit in front of your VCRs or your editing controller.

Start by addressing as many of the creative or aesthetic possibilities for your video as possible before you start shooting your video, let alone editing. This little trick can dramatically reduce how much time you spend in the edit session.

Write an outline or a script of the story you want to tell. It doesn't need to be a masterpiece worthy of a Pulitzer prize. It should just tell the story on one or two pieces of paper. The point of creating a script or outline is organization, to put the details of the story into the proper order. Take some time to do exactly that. Use a pencil and paper to make your first editing decisions.

Once that's done, go through the script one sentence at a time. Think of an image you can shoot with your camcorder that will complement each sentence. If it's a line of dialogue, think about how you can shoot who's talking, or who's listening. If it's a line of narration, consider what image might enhance what's being said.

Also, think about special audio and visual effects you can add. Imagine what kind of music would make the show's opening shot more dramatic. Perhaps a sound effect can make a scene seem more real or compelling.

If you're working on a video of your vacation, or a similar project where you can't predict the kinds of images you'll get when you're shooting, planning this far ahead may not be as easy. You can, however, write a general outline of what images you'd like to see in the finished video. Then do your best to capture those images during your vacation.

When you've thought carefully about each part of the script, transfer your notes onto a shot sheet: a list of video images you know you'll want to have in the video. Take this sheet with you on the shoot. Check off each image as you shoot it. If you find yourself stumped for what to shoot next, the shot sheet will tell you.

The bottom line when planning ahead is to clarify as much of what you want to see in the video before you shoot a single frame. By making decisions early in the process, you can make the final editing go that much faster.

Another easy way to save editing time is to make edits on the shoot with your camera, not just at home with your editing equipment. All camcorders come with one of the best edit controllers around: a start/stop button. By using it to edit as you shoot, you can save even more time in the editing session.

Start by memorizing this rule: wasted tape on the shoot becomes wasted time in the edit. Roll tape when the action starts, and stop when the action stops. Don't let tape run free between takes, or when nothing's happening. Letting it roll wastes not only tape, but also precious battery power.

Shoot only the shots you think you'll need. That doesn't mean ignoring opportunities you didn't expect, or sticking rigidly to the shot sheet outlined above. It simply means stopping for a moment to consider if a shot belongs in your video before you press start.

If the situation you're taping is totally spontaneous, and you can't possibly predict when something worth taping may happen, then you're better off letting the tape roll. It's preferrable to come home with a few great video moments sandwiched between two hours of dull video than with no great moments at all.

But if you know what to expect, and you can choose when and where to roll tape, do it. You'll surprise yourself with how much editing time you can save.

If you're not going to edit in-camera, don't try to cram all of your shots onto one cassette. Although this reduces how much tape you use, it can actually increase how much time it takes to edit all that material together.

That's because videotape is linear. In other words, you can only get from point A on a tape to point C by first passing through point B. By grouping all of the shots onto one tape, you force yourself to waste time waiting for that tape to shuttle back and forth. The longer the tape, the greater the time wasted.

In the editing session, if you want to start the show with a shot at the head of the tape, and then cut to a shot at the end of the same reel, you'll have to wait for the VCR to shuttle the tape from beginning to end before you can make the edit.

Reduce wasted shuttle time by recording video from different scenes, camera angles or shoot locations on separate tapes. If your project is a vacation video, use a different tape to record each destination, tour or major landmark. When you're at home editing, instead of shuttling back and forth from one scene or location to the next, just pop one tape out and another in.

The same rules apply if you're shooting a staged or scripted story. By recording different locations and camera angles on separate tapes, you only need to switch tapes to show a different angle of the same scene, or to move to a new scene.

Done properly, the in-camera technique can eliminate big chunks of time you normally waste waiting for tapes to rewind or fast-forward.

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