The Video! - Editing our shots

When editing our shots we took many things into account; including which shots to edit, and when. As some shots look more realistic without editing, whereas others require editing to fit the sync of the music. Our group stuck to certain rules when editing the shots we initially took:

• Motion - Does the cut reflect what we believed the audience should be feeling at the moment
• Story - Does the cut advance the story
• Rhythm - Does the cut occur at the right moment rhythmically and does the editing within the shot feel right
• Eye-trace - This was a convention we researched previous to filming, it essentially questions whether the cut of a shot or the editing within a shot pays respect to the location and movement of the audience's attention and focus of interest within the frame
• Two-dimensional place of the screen - Does the cut between shots respect the 180 degree rule
• Three-dimensional space of action - basically does the cut look right or out of place in relation to the physical/spatial relationships of the mise-en-scene

There are many editing types that we took into account whilst improving our shots further. These include basic and complicated editing specifics. Some of the basic conventions include the cut, the dissolve, the 'L' cut and the 'J' cut.

• The cut - occurs when two scenes are slammed up against each other with nothing in between them. These are the kind of cuts favoured by music video editors (hence caught our groups eye!). Sound and image transfer instantaneously from one picture to another. This is the most common type of edit. It works really well for telling a simple story or where the action moves from one place to another quickly (as it does in our storyline, from Canford Heath to Moors Valley). The most famous example of this is in David Leans's "Lawrence of Arabia" where the lit match is blown out and instantly cuts to the rising sun. (Example below)

For the edit, skip to 1:18!

• The Dissolve - This is where one scene overlaps another at the beginning or end. This type of edit is favoured by the guys who put the beginning of movie trailers together: The scenes where character are discussing things and screen slowly fills with black. A title appears very slowly and is replaced by another scene. This is a dissolve. Very effective for pacing and for extending scenes out. We used this in both the beginning and end of our video.
• The 'L' cut - This is a transition between two scenes where the sound and the visuals transfer at different times. In an 'L' cut the sound for the original clip is retained after the visuals have been transferred to the second clip. Usually this occurs during a conversation where one person may be talking and the picture switches to someone else listening to them. The first persons stops talking and the second person continues. It's called an 'L' cut because when editing, the sound and picture are cut in two separate points which creates an 'L' shape on the timeline!
• The 'J' cut - is the opposite of an 'L' cut, where the picture shifts before the sound. Good examples of this can be found in Western Movies where the sound of a train can be heard arriving then the picture cuts to the train pulling in to a station. (This editing convention is hard to employ in to a music video and is usually un-successful).