I’ve been sharing some tips I picked up in Editing 1 when I was in Film School.  Check out the previous posts here and here.

Today’s principle:

An editor always asks three questions:

1)  What is the scene about?  (The text and the subtext)

The text is basically what the scene is about on the surface and the subtext is what the scene is really about on an emotional level.

2)  Who is the scene about?

Asking WHO the scene is about informs who you cut to and when.  If the scene is about Character B, I’m probably going to want to stay more on B while A is talking – I want to see how Character A’s dialogue is affecting Character B.  “Who is the scene about?”

3)  How does it fit into the larger story?  (What is the context?)

The larger story is the most important thing to keep in mind while cutting.  How does this one chunk help to tell the overall story?  What scenes came before this and what comes after?  This is important to remember from a story stand point.  What plot points must you address in this scene that come into play later on?

It’s also important from a style stand point.  If the rest of the film is cut fast paced and you cut this scene slowly, you must have a reason for it.

I’ve got a few more posts on my Film Editing 1 class that I’ll be bringing you.  Stay tuned.