In the early 1900's the method of film making was done with no editing at all, it would just be one reel of tape when the method of cutting came about the editor would have to physically cut up the film and glue it together. This was done by holding each frame up to the light to identify it and then cut and paste them appropriately.
The Moviola is a machine of editing technology created in 1924. it allowed to operator to have smoother editing and introduced Edge numbering which allowed audio and video synchrony. The machine was slow and was limited, With further developments flatbeds were invented, it consists of two motorised disks, one for picture and one for sound. The plates move simultaneously with one projecting the visual and one for audio. Steenbeck and KEM which stands for Keller-Electro-Mechanik are the two main brands.
This method of editing is called Linear editing, the process of selecting, modifying and arranging the images and sound in a sequence. This method was inexpensive and quicker for smaller editing jobs. The first digital editing consoles were consisting of two minors, the CMX-600. The right monitor on the left was used to display the edited video with the right showing the preview video. In 1991 the Avid 1 was released, atThis is when digital products began to replace the classic editing tools such as the moviola. The editing then became largely computerised and operated in a way the original content isn't modified during the editing.
Non linear editing is a form of offline editing which is where raw footage is editing without effecting the original taken and it is now the major form of editing. The offline editing is essentially the whole process where the clips are cut together in a way that expresses a story and narrative.
Film editing is carried out in modern editing software such as final cut and premiere pro allow editors to transfer onto a hard drive. Premiere Lori was the first computer based non-linear editing systems with its first release in 1991.
With assessing the strengths and weaknesses of my research methods I will be using the music video production unit. Within this unit I had to analyse music videos to understand and show that I grasp the concept and different genres and types of music videos. This was the first stage of the research that I undertook, getting knowledge on theorists; Andrew Goodwin and Carol Vernallis. When it came to the focus group this was an effect method for us to present ideas to a group of our peers and get feedback on our ideas. This was helpful because it allowed communication between our group where we could give them honest feedback and help solidify any ideas that we have.
The primary research that I did for my music video production was the survey. This was helpful because it meant that I could get an understanding of the requirements and what I could aim to do in order for the music video to reach its full potential. A strength of the survey was that it was all my own research which made it valid to my research and helped me answer what I want to answer. When it comes to secondary research I looked into Andrew Goodwin and Carol Vernallis. Goodwin's book "Dancing in the Distraction Factory" this helped me understand how different genres had different conventions and made looking into the conventions of genre much easier. To back this up I looked heavily into the indie genre and those with 'monster' conventions.
I analysed four music videos for the next stage, this helped me gain confidence in the conventions of music videos and also helped me understand and focus on what I wanted to gain from my music video. I analysed four songs based on the several different ideas I had for my music video to have plenty of selection when it came to my final choice and ideas.
Looking back the strengths of the research I have undertaken with Primary Research are that the aim of the research is better addressed. The data given by Primary research is more easily interpreted and it is more valid to whatever is being researched. The disadvantages are that its very time consuming and that the feedback can be often irrelevant aka with the survey.
The strengths of the secondary research that I undertook is that it is often much more extensive than primary due to it being based on a different idea from a different person just with intersecting ideas. It is also less time consuming and the data is readily available, the disadvantages are that it might not be specific and inaccuracy of data.
This is the video that me and AJ created to express our understanding and ability to recreate different editing techniques.
Shot Reverse Shot -
Shot reverse shot or also known as shot/countershot is a film technique where one character is shown looking at another character (the other character is more than likely off-screen), and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character. 180 Degree Rule - The 180 degree rule is a cinematography guideline that states that two characters in one scene should maintain the same left/right coordination to one another. When the camera passes over the invisible axis connecting the two subjects, it is called crossing the line and the shot becomes what is called a 'reverse angle'.
30 Degree Rule - The 30-degree rule is a basic film editing guideline that states the camera should move at least 30 degrees relative to the subject between successive shots of the same subject. Cut In - In film a cut in shot is the interruption of a continuously filmed action by inserting a view of something else. It is usually, although not always, followed by a cut back to the first shot, when the cutaway avoids a jump cut. The shot is only on screen for no longer than 2-3 seconds. Cross Cutting / Parallel Editing - Cross-cutting is an editing technique most often used in films to establish action occurring at the same time, and usually in the same place. In a cross-cut, the camera will cut away from one action to another action, which can suggest the two actions are happening simultaneously. However it is not always the case. Establishing Shot - An establishing shot is usually the first shot of a new scene, designed to show the audience where the scene is taking place. It is usually an extreme wide shot. Match On Action - Or also known as 'Cutting on Action' is an editing technique or continuity editing in which one shot cuts to another shot portraying the action of the subject in the first shot. This creates the impression of a sense of continuity. The action carrying through creates a "visual bridge" which draws the viewers attention away from slight cutting continuity issues. Temporal Overlap - When an action is repeated from a different point of view and often within slow motion. Kuleshov effect - A recognition that a shot’s meaning is not only dictated by what it contains, but by its relationship to other adjacent shots
Eisenstein Montage -
An approach to editing developed by filmmakers in the Soviet Union in the 20s. It emphasises dynamic, often discontinuous, relationships between shotsand the juxtaposition of images. It’s primary focus was to engage with the viewer in anintellectual manner.
To start of this evaluation I would just like to state that 2/3 of the way through filming I decided to leave the group because I didn't like the way we were managing ourselves and I felt like my input was not being taken seriously and I got frustrated with the members of my group so I made the decision to leave the group happy with the work that I had helped with.
We chose the song I Only Wear Black by The Wombats because it was a song we all liked and after picking several songs we all liked we created ideas for each one and then we decided that our idea for the Wombats song was the best idea we had to go with the music and we felt like we could do the most with this song. I was away on holiday the first week of the unit but while I was away Connie and Leah held a focus group and helped get ideas and feedback on our idea and the song and asked for advice on the way we could do this to the best of our ability. After a focus group we were solid on our idea and it helped us become creative with what we are capable of.
With regards to the production of the music video we decided to do a narrative of following the monster around in his day to day life, the problems that came with this are that a lot of the shots in the sun are over-exposed which added some issues but to counter-act this we used heavy editing to balance out the saturation and the exposure. With filming within Connie's house we had the issues of space and the camera and tri-pod setting was very space consuming, to counteract this we did a lot of walking shots and hand-held shots and then just have to stabilise them in the editing phase of the music video.
The main problem my group faced was time-management and the conflict of schedules as we all had part-time jobs and other commitments etc. The first time we filmed Connie's boyfriend came over due to something that was already pre-planned which cut our filming short for example or like the time I had plans later in the day and filming ran later than intended and when we had planned to film other times we would do film about 15 minutes of footage because we would get distracted with other things. This ended up being very frustrating for everyone in the group because we felt like we were just wasting precious time when we could have been filming. Another issue we had was that the mask was very claustrophobic and hard to see in due to it being paper-mache. This made it hard to film for long periods of time because I would begin to feel light-headed, it also made seeing where I was going hard so this impacted on how natural the filming looked because sometimes my walking would be awkward and timid. To try and counteract this we would do the shot several times with and without the mask so I could try and gain some spacial awareness.
Another issue was that we broke continuity half way through the video because we filmed on a hot day where it reached 24 degrees and I did not feel comfortable or want to risk getting ill from the heat with wearing a mask I couldn't breathe in, fur and a jumper so we decided as a group to let me wear a t shirt with a similar design to the jumper on the front of it. This messed up our continuity but meant that I wouldn't be get ill or being uncomfortable.
This is the final video for what my group created up until 2:05 is where I took part and everything after that was filmed without me. Also at 0;47 the clip filmed isn't me either. I am proud of what I helped create with my group and it is a shame that things ended the way that they did but as far as i am concerned the 2 minutes of the video that I did help with are very good and we did do a good job as a group.
In regards to health and safety the main concern was the mask and how little vision and breathing space it gave me to wear. It was very claustrophobic and that paired with the furry arms and the jumper meant that I overheated a lot and I couldn't see where I was going so I kept tripping over and walking into things, we tried to counteract this by me re-doing the scenes a couple of times with the mask off and then doing it with the mask on after I got to grips with it. Another issue we had was that one of the days when we were filming it was really warm and got to about 21 degrees, so the combination of the mask and the furry arms and the jumper meant that I would overheat quickly and it would have been unsafe for me to film and possibly make me ill to film. So we compromised and decided that instead I wear a t-shirt with a similar design to the jumper on it.
Apart from the monster mask we didn't really have any other health and safety issues apart from that. We had two cameras and both of them did not have any wires or anything like that. So in other regards we didn't really have any other worries apart from making sure our bags were out of the way of the public when filming.
With editing the music video we decided that the best way to go about it was to label the clips and sort them into bins first. This makes the editing process easier and help with the putting together of the music video and just creates efficiency.
We then went through clips and decided what was the best way to go out about deciding what clips were useful and what weren't, to do this Me and Connie went through each clip and deleted what wasn't useful and what was. I sorted the clips out into folders that I figured were useful and then we imported them into premiere pro where Connie edited them.
With Connie taking the lead in the editing she had a lot of the creative freedom to create the best image and idea that we all wanted with the music video. She said a couple of times that she wished that the song was longer because it would have given her the opportunity to create an even better video because there was a lot to fit in with the short amount of time the music video allows.
