We’re in the middle of a series of posts I’ve been writing based on the notes I took during my Editing 1 class in Film School. I learned so much about editing in that class and I’m glad I can share it with all of you.
Editing involves intimacy and exploration.
Intimacy: knowing your footage.
Exploration: playing with different cuts; trying new things.
Before I begin cutting anything, I make it a habit to know my footage thoroughly. I hate working with editors who just jump right in. How do they know if the shots they are picking are the right ones if they don’t even know what shots there are to choose from?
Yes, I’m anal. But I have the peace of mind to know that I playing the game knowing which cards are in my hand. (I think this is what makes me a great assistant editor as well. Keeping the footage organized is fun for me.)
The second part of this principle is the hardest part for me. Once I get it in my head how a cut should go, I find it hard to try anything else.
Josh and I had this issue on Dangerous Calling. Once a scene was cut, I was married to it and wanted to move on. But Josh was always wondering how we could plus it or change it around completely. We make a good team. I keep us moving forward and he makes sure we explore all of our options.
These posts make me want to cut something. How about you?
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Oh wait. I think I just shared the entirety of this system. Well, you get it for free. Congratulations. But feel free to send money if this helps.
All kidding aside, the only way to become a writer is to put your butt in the seat every day and write. Josh and I fought this for years. We always waited till we were inspired and subsequently didn’t produce much.
But, since we started writing together for 4 hours EVERY DAY, we’ve seen our creativity and productivity increase exponentially. And because the only way to get good at anything is through practice, we’re actually seeing a VAST improvement in our writing.
Don’t get me wrong, it is still hard. But we’re proving to ourselves that we can do this for a living.
Right now, we’re working on an action-thriller that is close to being finished. We already know the next 2 or 3 projects we’re going to work on after this. All because we decided at the beginning of the year to quit playing around and get serious.
One side note – we don’t watch as much TV or play as much X-box anymore. But it’s all about priorities. Do you want to write professionally or goof off? The choice is yours.
So, what excuses are you using to get out of writing?
Warner Brothers is by far my favorite studio of the Hollywood golden age. MGM made some great films, but as I look down the list of my favorite films, 9 out of 10 are invariably Warner Brothers films.
Tonight TCM is premiering a documentary about the 4 brothers who started the studio. I can’t wait to see it. Following the doc, TCM is showing several of their early classics ending with their crowning achievement, Casablanca. That makes for an incredible night of movies. Enjoy.
Brothers Warner, The (2008) – Monday, March 8 at 8:00pm EST
Four brothers pioneer in film distribution then build one of Hollywood’s greatest studios.
Cast: Dennis Hopper, Sherry Lansing, Debbie Reynolds. Dir: Cass Warner BW-94 mins
The Academy Awards are this Sunday. Here are our picks. Not necessarily what we would have voted for, but what we think will win. We’ll check back next week and see how we did.
Performance by an actor in a leading role
- JOSH and JEREMIAH’S PICK: Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”
- George Clooney in “Up in the Air”
- Colin Firth in “A Single Man”
- Morgan Freeman in “Invictus”
- Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker”
Haven’t seen it, but I hear he’s great in it and it just feels like it’s about time for Jeff Bridges to win an Oscar. ~ Josh
Performance by an actor in a supporting role
- Matt Damon in “Invictus”
- Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger”
- Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station”
- Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones”
- JOSH and JEREMIAH’S PICK: Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”
No way in hell he doesn’t win. It’s the one given of the night. ~ Josh
Performance by an actress in a leading role
- JOSH’S PICK: Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side”
- Helen Mirren in “The Last Station”
- Carey Mulligan in “An Education”
- Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
- JEREMIAH’S PICK: Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia”
Even though I didn’t care for The Blind Side, Sandra Bullock did a great job in it, and I’d love to see her win. ~ Josh
I believe Meryl Streep is over-rated but the Academy loves her – and this time she did a voice. ~ Jeremiah
Performance by an actress in a supporting role
- Penélope Cruz in “Nine”
- Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air”
- JEREMIAH’s PICK: Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart”
- Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air”
- JOSH’S PICK: Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
Smart money is on Mo’Nique. Seems like she’s got all the buzz going into this. ~ Josh
I agree with Josh but figure it could be Maggie’s turn. ~ Jeremiah
Best animated feature film of the year
- “Coraline” – Henry Selick
- “Fantastic Mr. Fox” – Wes Anderson
- “The Princess and the Frog” – John Musker and Ron Clements
- “The Secret of Kells” – Tomm Moore
- JOSH and JEREMIAH’S PICK: “Up” – Pete Docter
Pixar NEEDS more Oscars. ~ Josh
Honestly I’d probably give it to Coraline or Princess and the Frog. Up was great but not my favorite Pixar joint. But it will win. ~ Jeremiah
Achievement in art direction
- Avatar
- JOSH and JEREMIAH’S PICK: The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
- Nine
- Sherlock Holmes
- The Young Victoria
Not a huge Terry Gilliam fan, but you can’t beat his art direction. ~ Josh
Achievement in cinematography
- JOSH and JEREMIAH’S PICK: Avatar
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- The Hurt Locker
- Inglourious Basterds
- The White Ribbon
Duh. Cameron reinvented cinematography. That’s quite an achievement. ~ Josh
Achievement in visual effects
- JOSH and JEREMIAH’S PICK: Avatar
- District 9
- Star Trek
Again duh. Cameron reinvented visual effects. ~ Josh
Adapted screenplay
- District 9
- An Education
- In the Loop
- Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
- JOSH and JEREMIAH’S PICK: Up in the Air
Just have a feeling the Academy wants to give Jason Reitman an Oscar and I don’t think he’s getting best director. ~ Josh
Original screenplay
- The Hurt Locker
- JEREMIAH’S PICK: Inglourious Basterds
- The Messenger
- A Serious Man
- JOSH’S PICK: Up
It should get this award for the first ten minutes alone. Could see this going to Inglourious Basterds though. ~ Josh
The first ten minutes of up were great but the talking dogs got on my nerves. Inglourious Basterds should win for dialogue alone. ~ Jeremiah
Achievement in directing
- Avatar – James Cameron
- JOSH’S PICK: The Hurt Locker – Kathryn Bigelow
- JEREMIAH’S PICK: Inglourious Basterds – Quentin Tarantino
- Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire – Lee Daniels
- Up in the Air – Jason Reitman
You could make a really strong argument that this should go to James Cameron, but the Academy doesn’t get the chance to honor women directors all that often. I’d be surprised if they didn’t take this opportunity. It’s a shame that people will think it’s because she’s a woman. Bigelow’s work is worthy of the Oscar no matter her gender. ~ Josh
I agree with Josh on this one but I hate the fact that everyone is downplaying Basterds. It really is a big achievement that I think people will look back on as a great film. ~ Jeremiah
Best motion picture of the year
- Avatar
- The Blind Side
- District 9
- An Education
- JOSH’s PICK: The Hurt Locker
- JEREMIAH’S PICK: Inglourious Basterds
- Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
- A Serious Man
- Up
- Up in the Air
I do think The Hurt Locker is the best film of the year, but it’s very likely that it’ll lose out to Avatar. I don’t see any of the rest really having a chance. ~ Josh
Betting on the under dog. ~ Jeremiah
I had a great idea for a blog post yesterday. A blog post that would be celebrated in blogging lore for years to come. Articles would be written about how influential and groundbreaking this blog post was.
Unfortunately, all the fortune and glory this blog post would bring me have alluded me because I failed to write the idea down.
WRITE YOUR IDEAS DOWN.
That is all.
In January of 2002, I took Editing 1 from one of my favorite professors, Mark Gerstein. I was enrolled at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. During that semester, I learned the basics of what I would go on to use for the rest of my life. It was one of the best and most practical classes I ever took in film school.
Recently I dug up my notes from that class and I’ve decided to share those with all of you. This is the first in a series of short posts on Film Editing.
Here’s what I wrote down on the first day of class.
Editing = Storytelling. There must be a beginning, middle, and end.
It sounds pretty basic and it is. It’s the foundation. As editors, we are storytellers. I’m sure you’ve heard that a film is written 3 times. Once by the writer, once by the director (on set), and the final time by the editor. One must not approach editing lightly. We have the power to make or break the story. (Insert maniacal laugh here.)
Regardless of whether your project is a feature film or just your vacation videos, it is so important to think of it in terms of story with a defined beginning, middle, and end. It helps you to organize what you are cutting together and it’ll make it so much more engaging.
For example - Say I’m cutting footage of our recent trip to Disney world. I might just jump right in and start cutting. But, if I were to remember that I’m crafting a story, I first look for the main elements.
The beginning: I’d cut together some shots of us packing the car, inside the car, pulling up to the hotel, inside the hotel room, etc…
The middle: I’d cut together footage of our favorite rides, us hanging out in the parks, dinners at the restaurants, etc…
The end: I’d cut together shots of us standing as a family watching the fireworks and then a big THE END would fade in across the sky.
It is that simple. Craft your story.
Do you have any practical tips on film editing?
I’m going through the AFI Top 100 and number 96 is Do the Right Thing! written and directed by Spike Lee. TCM gives this synopsis:
On a sweltering hot day in a Brooklyn neighborhood, everyone has their own issues to deal with and tensions between Blacks and Italians rise. Issues of pride and prejudice, justice and inequity come to the surface as hate and bigotry smoulder–finally building into a crescendo as it explodes into violence.
For someone who loves Hollywood escapist films, watching a social problem film that has no resolution is hard. I like things to be tied up in nice shiny bows at the end of a film and that certainly doesn’t happen with Do the Right Thing!
After viewing this film, I was left with this feeling of helplessness. There are so many people at fault in this film. I wasn’t sure who did or was doing the right thing. And upon further investigation and research, I found out that’s exactly Spike Lee’s point.
There are two conflicting quotes shown at the end of the film: one by Dr. Martin Luther King speaking against violence and one by Malcom X talking about the use of violence for self-defense. The entire film is one big contradiction essentially designed to make you think.
Movies like Crash and Do The Right Thing! just make me feel defeated and I ask, “if things are this bad, how can I change anything?” I have to wonder how effective movies like this really are.
My take away is this: movies like Crash and Do the Right Thing! are necessary to raise awareness about issues in humanity. But I personally would rather show someone ACTUALLY doing the right thing as a model for other people to follow rather than asking a question and not giving an answer. But that’s just me.
Regardless of whether I enjoyed the film, it sure made me think and that is why Do the Right Thing! is on the list. Spike Lee is an extremely talented filmmaker who has spent his entire career making movies with a message that he is passionate about. That’s incredible.
The only Spike Lee “joints” I’ve seen are Malcolm X, Inside Man and Do the Right Thing! Which of his films have you seen?
This week’s pick is a film that I’ve sadly never seen. My wife has been holding this over me our entire marriage. It’s the one film she’s seen, but I haven’t. It’s time to make that right.
All I know about Cool Hand Luke is that it stars Paul Newman, he’s on a chain gang, and somebody says “What we have here is a failure to communicate” in a southern accent. Someone recently told me it was their favorite film. I’m looking forward to seeing it for the first time.
Cool Hand Luke (1967) – Wednesday, March 3 at 8:00pm EST
A free-spirited convict refuses to conform to chain-gang life.
Cast: Paul Newman, George Kennedy, J. D. Cannon, Lou Antonio Dir: Stuart Rosenberg C-126 mins, TV-14
What movies have you been meaning to watch for a long time?
I’m a very orderly person. I like things a certain way. My wife is the same way. We’re the type of people who know where every cent is spent and have systems in place for everything. Not really your typical drive across the country in pursuit of a crazy dream kind of people. Needless to say, this move to California has taken our orderly life and thrown it in the washer on spin cycle.
We’ve still got to get California car insurance. I need to setup bill pay for all our new bills. Still need to update our address in a dozen different places. The list goes on and on. I’m tempted to stop everything for a month and get our life back in order.
However, I was reading in Proverbs and came across Proverbs 14:4.
Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean, but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.
My translation of that: If you want to have success in life, you’re going to have to put up with a little mess. Stop worrying about getting everything in order and just do the hard work.
So many times the attempts to organize and bring order to our lives are just veiled procrastination. If you’re a writer, write. Stop organizing your desk or researching the best screenwriting software. Stop waiting until your schedule is less cluttered. It’s not going to be. If you’re a director, direct. You have to leave preproduction at some point. Yeah, it’s gonna be messy, but you’ll find that the rewards are worth a little mess.
What do you think? Agree or disagree?
As some of you may know, Josh and I are Disney Theme Park fanatics. Normally, I wouldn’t write a blog post about my experience in a Disney Park on our blog about filmmaking but this is different. A few days ago, I had a chance to go as a member of the “PRESS” to the grand re-opening of Captain EO at Disneyland.
For those of you who don’t know, Captain EO is a short 3D film that used to be shown in the Disney Parks back in the 1980s and early 90s. It featured the musical talent of a still recognizable Michael Jackson. It was produced and written by George Lucas. And it was directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Add to that mix the geniuses at Disney Imagineering and you get Captain EO.
Tuesday morning of this week, I arrived at Disneyland around 8:30. There was a line of people waiting outside to be the first to see Captain EO. Some had camped out all night. These were the die-hard fans of Michael Jackson. One lady had dressed her kids up as Michael and was parading them around for the press. It was a little disturbing.
I was there on behalf of Inside the Magic, a Disney podcast produced by our friend, Ricky Brigante. If you have any interest in Disney Theme parks, you should check it out. It’s one of the only podcasts I listen to. Ricky lives in Orlando so he asked me to cover the event – sort of the west coast liason to the podcast.
I was able to interview a few of the dancers and some Imagineers. One of the highlights was being able to interview Debbie Lee Carrington who played one of the costumed characters in Captain EO. She also played an ewok in Return of the Jedi and the Ewok Adventures. You can see my interview with her and the Imagineers over at Ricky’s blog.
Captain EO is a wonderful look back into the very heart of the 1980s. The spirit and naivete of that wonderful decade jump right off the screen with all of the other 3D effects. I felt like a kid again. This film is classically cheesy and weird but full of warmth and wonder. It is a must-see for any Michael Jackson fan, George Lucas fan, and even any Coppola fan. (It is a VERY odd choice for Coppola considering the majority of his other work.)
You can watch Captain EO on Youtube.com but I would highly recommend getting to Disneyland to view it before the limited engagement ends.
