David Lean

David Lean was an English film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. He is known for many films including one in particular, 'A Passage To India' (1984)...

The director began as a film editor and throughout his career he stressed the importance of how things cut together. When he broke into the industry, he worked his way up editing different films, some of which included 'Pygmalion' (1938) and 'One Of Our Aircraft Is Missing' (1942).

Many people believe that his skills in editing helped him become such a great editor. Before researching editors, it was never apparent to me that editors can take on the roles of directing, producing and screenwriting. Lean believed that editing allows you to create more 'interesting' shots/scenes. For example, he described one scene he was editing as "boring" if he were to leave the entire shot as a long shot. But instead he chooses and pieces together a variety of shots within the scene to make a more fun and interesting scene. The speed of the shots creates the illusion that the audience are watching just the one shot, but it's the speed and the fluency of the scene and shots pieced together, that makes it work. He also goes on to say that editing is like piecing together a huge jigsaw. I believe that one of the key aspects of being an editor, is the ability to portray the footage in any given light you wish to do so.

Lean's films were categorised by some into two groups: the "ordinary" and the "epic". His early work consisted of shooting the lives of ordinary people in a moment of time, rather than his later work that focused on dramatic landscapes, unusual heroes and extravagant mise-en-scene. Perhaps it is because of his wide knowledge and experience in a variety of film-making that makes him such a successful director, producer, screenwriter and most of all, editor.

What is H2.64?

H2.64 is a video compression format, and is one of the most commonly used formats for the recording, compression and distribution of HD (high definition) video. The format allows you to achieve high quality video in relatively low bitrates.

Converting Documentary Footage

APPLE PRO RESS 422

Pro Ress is a video compression format for use in post-production that supports up to 4k.

MPEG STREAMCLIP

Earlier this week, I spent some time converting all the HD footage that's on my hard-drive to be able to edit with, without losing all the quality in the footage itself. The footage is for a documentary we're shooting on another module and the process I'm currently undertaking I feel is highly relevant to this module. We have been taught that we should do with any HD footage we shoot, as doing so will allow it to work more efficiently during the edit, without losing any of the HD quality.

Before doing this, I discovered that the picture quality was highly pixelated and the whole process of editing was intensely sluggish.  

The pictures illustrate the process I undertook, and due to this being the first time I've ever converted HD footage before, I wasn't expecting it to be such a long process. However saying that, perhaps one of the reason for it taking such a long time was because all the footage was streaming through my USB 2.0 hard-drive.

When I had completed converting the footage, I was left with the original footage, and the converted footage. The software is now on my laptop, however for some reason the 'Apple pro ress 422' option is not there... the version on the Uni iMacs is the same version I'm currently running on my laptop, and there is next to no information on forums on how to solve this issue, so for now I'll have to stay in the editing suite whilst converting any HD footage.

The Social Network

'The Social Network' (2010), directed by David Fincher, is a critically acclaimed film about the founders of the social-networking site, Facebook. The film won many awards, including the following:

• AFI - Movie of the year
• Oscar - Best achievement in film editing
• Oscar - Best writing, adapted screenplay
• Oscar - Best achievement in written music
• Bafta - Editing
• Bafta - Director
• Bafta - Screenplay

and many more...

I remember watching this film around the time I was about to start, or already had started university. At the time, I found the film to be a marvel in pacing, editing, sound design, cinematography and screenplay. In other words the piece as a whole is brilliantly crafted together.

Angus Wall, one of the two editors involved with the making of 'The Social Network', explains how they had to make sure that Arron's script was brought to life on-screen, whether through a slight thing the actor does with their body, or an inflection in a series of words. Despite the mess of all the different takes, they had to make sure it was completely seamless onscreen.

Angus Wall

He explains how the movie is fast-paced, along with the performances onscreen. The opening scene itself took nearly 3 weeks to piece together.

Kirk Baxter, the second editor involved with the making of 'The Social Network' explains how he was attracted to the fast pace of the film. initially, they created an edit that featured shots nearly entirely of the fast-paced dialogue, and upon watching it back, they discovered it was incredibly over-whelming. There were moments they needed to slow down, creating pauses and gaps.

He goes on to explain how the editing room was a very private place, and that if any problems occurred, all of them would funnel through David (the director) before reaching the editors themselves. I imagine this creates a stable, functional and efficient working atmosphere that can only benefit the editors' work.

The Social Network - Headquarters Scene

 The scene begins with a POV (point of view)

Then cuts back to the person's POV the audience has been looking through. This cuts familiarises the audience with the subject.

The same shot continues to track backwards with the character's movement. By keeping the camera/shot fixed on him, we see his emotion and empathise with him. The lowdown angle looking up at him makes him look more fierce, thus making the audience feel smaller in comparison.

Cut to a wider shot, to establish the setting and the actions he is making.




A shot, reverse shot sequence begins, initially with Mark's reaction to what Eduardo has done to his laptop.




Cut back to Eduardo, once again a low-down position to show his presence, emotion and body language.




Shortly after, we cut back to the boardroom, reminding the audience that what we've witnessed was a 'flashback'. Shot reverse shot of dialogue along with the character's reactions follow.

A soundtrack slowly fades in during the boardroom scene, creating a tense atmosphere filled with suspense. The soundtrack evolves into a mellow backtrack when the pair continue to argue. Emotion is conveyed throughout the scene, and with the combination of med-close-ups, the soundtrack, body language and facial expressions, the scene put together with great effect.

Zero Dark Thirty

'Zero Dark Thirty' (2003), the critically acclaimed 2013 film about the pursuit and elimination of Osama Bin Laden, in my opinion is a brilliantly crafted film that dramatises the hunt for Bin Laden, in such detail that the audience becomes at one with the leading female protagonist. We emphasise with her and follow her through the aggravating process of finding this one man she has worked so long for to find.

The film, both visually and orally editing wise is wonderful. 'Zero Dark Thirty' has very recently won a (joint) award at the oscars for the best sound editing along with 'Skyfall'.

One of the last major scenes in the film that runs for a length of about half an hour, is the final assault on Bin Laden's holding place. This tense scene puts the audience in the U.S operatives position as they push forward through the house.

The editing and cinematography in this scene takes an obvious yet subtle, natural change in technique that parallels/compliments what's happening on-screen.

• POV (point of view) shots are used throughout the scene, putting the audience in the world of the film, helping us feel the tense atmosphere.

• The editing cuts from POV's to handheld, 'shaky cam' shots, another technique that makes the audience feel involved with the film.

• Soundtracks/non-diegetic sounds are non-existent throughout the entirety of the scene. Atmos/diegetic are key in this scene as they drive forward and portray the intensity of the situation.

• The editing cuts too a from different character's perspectives, presumably to show everyone involved, and to emphasise that the operatives are a close-knit, professional unit.

A Different Approach

Thinking on different terms about the film 'Zero Dark Thirty', and this scene specifically, you could say that despite all the special effects, the Hollywood style shots, weaponry etc. this is fact nothing close whatsoever to what happened in the actual events that took place when eliminating Bin Laden; no one noes what happened that day, what we're watching is all fake, an act, a facade. Despite the films approach on subject, it could still heavily be seen as an obnoxious, provocative propaganda tool for America that says "We eliminated the number 1 wanted person/terrorist in the world, and this is how we did it. Take a good look at our weaponry, the professionalism, our sheer power and technology." It's no wonder other countries, family members, religious groups have condemned the film.

Stripping back everything to the foundations, this film displays and perhaps glorifies the capture of killing of a person, a human being.

In conclusion, 'Zero Dark Thirty' is a film that is technically brilliant, but has created much controversy surrounding its deeper meanings and ideology meanings.

Night Journey - Further Editing

The editing process for our project Night Journey, at first was some-what overwhelming, however once we had gotten underway and created a structure we felt would work, we felt confident in producing a strong enough piece.

This morning, we presented our piece and got positive feedback. The changes that we were advised to take involved things from:

• Taking out images that don't fit, or shots that are generally bad shots.
• Adjusting some of the sound levels such as the soundtrack used.
• Finding a different POV shot to replace the one in which the 3 people see the chain has been pulled.

One of the techniques I used involved layering, and
adjusting the opacity to create a 'dreamy' sequence/shot.

 Positive feedback:

• Good sense of pace.
• The timing of the editing, ranging from the v visuals, to the timing of the voice over.
• Strong opening/ending
• Bold soundtrack/effects
• Strong emotional connection to the main character

Over the next couple of weeks, myself and Fraser will alter the piece to help us achieve a stronger, well rounded piece.  

Editing Session 3

Apocalypse Now

During our third editing session, we covered 'Apocalypse Now' and the related documentary 'A Million Feet Of Film'.

'Apocalypse Now', is renowned for its achievement through the budget, artistic ambition, technical innovation and more. The amount of film that was printed rose to 1,250,000 feet, which accounts to 230 hours worth of footage. Given the film's length, this accounts to a massive 95 minutes worth of film for every minute shown on-screen.

The documentary we watched on 'Apocalypse Now', 'A Million Feet Of Film', featured all the common editing techniques that are highly effective.

Whenever the narrator/voice over/person being interviewed says something of interest of importance, the film cuts back to him talking on-screen, subconsciously telling the audience that we should be listening to what he/she has to say, and not focusing too much on the other imagery. The concept of discussing something and then showing it visually on-screen to the audience also occurs.

From the use of soundtrack/sound effects, the timing of the voice over and imagery all contribute to create a piece that maintains the audience's constant attention.

Hannah And Her Sisters

The film begins with the titles 'God she's beautiful...', the soundtrack jazzy, uplifting soundtrack continues to play and then we cut straight to a shot of the woman the titles appear to be talking about. Michael Cane (a recognisable voice amongst millions), then begins the voiceover/thought track that repeats the line 'God she's beautiful'... the camera remains stationary, but pans around the room as the unknown woman socialises with guests. The soundtrack that begins whilst the titles are rolling which then continues as the visuals unfold helps establish a pace for the audience.

Within a short amount of time, many characters are established and a large amount of information is channeled to the audience. The audience know the character's lifestyles, their jobs, their history, who's doing what, who is attracted to who, what personal problems they're having, as well as some of their many characteristics.

Michael Cane, performing the voice-over, at points appears to be having an argument with himself, it's as if he has an alter-ego, as like Gollum in 'The Lord Of The Rings'. However in this case, it comes across to the audience as humour and comedy.

Throughout the first minute of the film, the camera remains on
Leigh, as Michael continues to 'fantasise' over her. This use of
editing, allows the audience to build an emotional connection
with her.

"Stop it you idiot, she's your wife's sister. But, I can't help it, I'm consumed by her."

Michael then appears on-screen when he talks about himself almost swooning over her as she brushed past her in the corridor. By cutting to the pair, we further gain a connection/bond with the two characters.

Subtly, the non-diegetic soundtrack fades out and a diegetic "soundtrack" begins, as a man begins to play the piano. The sound continues and stands as an "atmos" that helps drive the narrative forward.

The introduction as a whole, with the sound, the actors on-screen, the hecticness of the scene, the voice-over etc all help make the audience feel as if they're there, as well as creating that vital attachment to the characters.

Keyboard Customisation

During out first session, we were introduced to the keyboard customisation tool. This allowed you to assign any FCP (Final Cut Pro) command to any key on the keyboard, thus creating a more personalised, and efficient way of working for that individual. For now however, I have kept the layout as it is as that is what I'm used to after working with FCP in the first year of Uni.

Perhaps in the final year I will customise my own keyboard to suit my style of working, but I'm not sure yet  as I am familiar with the current shortcuts on the standard layout.