Editing advice: continue scene after freeze-frame or not?

[Zvi]

Please look at this 30 second clip with two types of editing strategies:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Dl6x4pgVe1Y

When making a video clip freeze a frame, to "capture a moment"… is there a wrong or right as to what to do immediately after the frozen frame… to "unfreeze" the frame and continue the clip, or to have the clip jump to the next scene?

You can see both ways in the clip above.

Thank you.

[Anonymous]

I like the second choice where the freeze frame is "released" to show a little more of the video before moving on. This kinda seems like a personal choice as both methods seem to be ok.

[Anonymous]

I agree with Mikie. What I can’t make out is what the text is. I assume it is the subject’s name. I would recommend trying to hold off on the text placement until you freeze it. Then place your text for the length of the freeze and fade the text when you continue the clip. Thats just how I see it, I’m sure there are ways to pull off either of the 2 choices.

Good Luck!

Cole

[TomScratch]

Hi,

To see if something works, you need to just do it and see how it feels when the whole scene is put together.

Freeze frames were real popular in U.S. commercials in the mid 90s. You could not watch a series of commercials (e.g., four 30 second commercials during a commercial break without seeing one or two freeze frames (or more) ending a commercial, then fade to black. Freeze frames are great for capturing a peak action moment, dramatic facial expression, stuff like that. Personally, I like freeze frames as a sort of equivalent of visual exclamation points and think they are underused these days.

In my opinion, which believe me applies only to me and does not represent any fundamental principle of editing blah blah blah, in your scene one, this image is not strong enough so that I would give it a freeze frame (unless this is the best shot of my shipmate and I want to stretch out this particular look (bland handsomeness) for the benefit of his fans); in your second scene, the freeze frame would have been stronger if I had captured the peak action in close-up before zooming out; also, the way it rejoins the action is like the kind of jump cut that used to be a no-no but today is routine and O.K. A way to beat this rap is with a slightly different camera position when the action continues.

That being said, for personal cinema, one thing to remember: There Are No Rules; You Make The Rules.

Re jump cuts (speaking of jumping around!), there was Before "Breathless" (English translation of title) by French director Godard in the 60s, and After "Breathless." At the time it came out, this film was hard to watch and seemed sloppy/unprofessional due to its binge of jump cuts. Saw it again about 3 years ago, didnt even notice the jump cuts (they are now so common) and the film just dragged. Still, if interested at all in film history, Breathless is a major milestone (not the U.S. remake with Gere!!!). Good article in Wikipedia on the field of jump cuts in film editing.

Shoot and edit lots of scenes; only way to get good/great at it.

REGARDS … TOM 8)

[Zvi]

Kemper: The words were in Hebrew and that’s why you couldn’t make it out 🙂 It’s the guys name and that’s why it freezes, to emphasize his name.

If I’m writing about Hebrew and stuff, you guys have GOT to see this: (No offence… I was born and grew up in New York until age 13, so I am American too!! 🙂

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