unit 11final

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Introduction to Cinema Unit 11

Sikkim Manipal University Page No.: 164

Unit 11 Post-production

Structure:

11.1 Introduction

Objectives

11.2 Film Editing

Early experiments

Kuleshov experiment

11.3 Film Editing Technology

11.4 The Grammar of Editing

Editing terminology

CutFade

Continuity

11.5 Visual/Special Effects

Traditional films

3D films

Animation films

11.6 Editing Stages

11.7 Editing Sound

11.8 Summary

11.9 Glossary

11.10 Terminal Questions

11.11 Answers

11.1 Introduction

In this unit we will discuss the aspect of making thefilm after you make the

film: i.e., editing.

You will recall the principles of editing from your reading of the subject

coded BJ0036 in the second semester. At that point we discussed news

stories and editing in terms of brevity, objectivity, balance of elements in

page-design, and the appropriateness of news values. In this unit, we willsee editing from yet another perspective, which will be in terms of putting

together a film in entirety. We will have a slice of the history of editing,

discuss editing technology, assess the grammar of editing, and inspect the

various stages in editing. We will specifically take a look at the method of


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editing visuals, editing sound, and make an assessment of the incorporation

of special effects in traditional, 3-D and animated cinema.To begin with, post production is the final stage of film-making. In this stage,

individual scenes (raw footage), which were shot are transformed into a

finished motion picture. Editors splice all of the usable footage together into

a coherent storyline, in accordance with the script. Composers add

background music to create dramatic or comical effects. Special effects

teams add computer-generated images and backgrounds to enhance the

set or provide an as-yet-unseen character.

If you thought creativity lies with the actor, think again! It is the editor who

wraps the shots in a presentable fashion. Editing is an exciting arena, and

you will nod a big YES in agreement at the end of this unit.

Objectives:

After studying this unit, you should be able to:

recall the history of editing

list the advances in film editing technology

describe the grammar of editing

state the various stages in editing films

discuss special effects in traditional, 3-D and animated cinema

discuss sound editing

summarize the essence of post-production.

11.2 Film Editing

Film editor Carol Littleton describes editing a film as being a lot like writing:

"You become a writer, but you're writing with images"

Editing is an art of storytelling, and is the most important step at the post-

production stage. Film editing, often referred to as the "invisible art, when

well-practised, can lure the viewer into the filmic experience to the extent

that s/he is not even aware of the editor's painstaking work.

On its most fundamental level, film editing is the technique, and practice of

assembling shots into a coherent whole. The person who performs this job

is called a film editor.

In the editing process, the editor does not usually attempt to create an exact

record of what happened as viewed through the eyes of one character.


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Porters next film, The Great Train Robbery, produced in the same year,

marked the beginning of modern films. The Great Train Robbery provedthat the screen image does not need to show a complete person from head

to toe. Porter with this film also demonstrated that splicing together two

shots creates in the viewer's mind a contextual relationship. These key

discoveries became the basis of editing, and made way for the possibility of

narrative films.

American director, D.W. Griffith was also one of the early proponents of the

power of editing mastering cross-cutting to show parallel action in different

locations. Cross-cutting is an editing technique most often used in films to

establish action occurring at the same time in two different locations. In a

cross-cut, the camera will cut away from one action to another action.Suspense is built through the expectations it creates that will be explained

with time. Cross-cutting also forms parallels; it illustrates a narrative action

that happens in several places at approximately the same time. In D.W.

Griffith's A Corner in Wheat(1909), the film cross-cuts between the activities

of rich businessmen and poor people waiting in line for bread. This portrays

a sharp dichotomy between the two actions, and encourages the viewer to

compare the two shots. Often, this contrast is used to impress a strong

emotional effect, and frequently at the climax of a film. The rhythm of, or

length of time between cross-cuts can also set the rhythm of a scene.

Increasing the rapidity between two different actions may add tension to ascene, much in the same manner of using short, declarative sentences in a

work of literature!

Fig. 11.2: D. W. Griffith


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11.2.2 Kuleshov experiment

While experiments in film editing were happening in America, a group of filmenthusiasts in Russia were also pursuing the same goals.

In the 1920s, Russian filmmaker Lev Kuleshov conducted a series of

experiments designed to demonstrate that when two separate shots are

projected in succession, the viewer assumes a connection between them. In

one experiment, Kuleshov spliced together a series of shots that had been

taken in different places and at different times. The shots were of a waiting

man, a walking woman, a gate, a staircase and a mansion. Kuleshov's

viewers who interpreted the sequence as a man and a woman meeting at

the gate in front of the mansion had, in essence, inferred a whole narrative

on the basis of seeing only portions of it. This effect allows filmmakers touse exteriors and interiors miles apart and imply that they are in the same

place, to have people filmed on different days appear to be talking to each

other, to have actors seemingly facing dangerous situations, or to imply that

what actors are thinking about is represented by a subsequent cutaway

image.

So to say, the Kuleshov effect is an editing technique that illustrates how the

human brain tries to find connections between objects when viewed

together. Other editing techniques rely on how the human eye works. For

example, there usually must be an appropriate change in distance for a shot

not to seem like a mistake or "jump" cut. The direction in which things move

across the screen is also an editorial concern. A car that exits the screen on

the right is expected in a subsequent shot to reappear on the left

otherwise the car could be perceived as a different car coming from the

opposite direction. Scenes featuring characters in opposition to each other

(a hero and villain, for example) usually feature one character continually

facing one direction with the other character continually facing the other

direction. This keeps the two "sides" clear.

Try this exercise: prepare a "shot list" (see example in the next page) listing

the shots from a sequence of a film you've watched. The list should outlinethe details of direction, position, distance, continuity, or relationship that is

communicated with each cut between shots. Explain why you feel the edit

does or does not work. If you desire, you can use arrows or symbols as


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shorthand to describe what is happening in each shot. Here is an example

of a shot list for the comic strip illustrated below.1. LS Exterior of house. Day.

2. LS Mom to boy. Boy facing right, Mom facing left. "You should call

your Grandma."

3. MS Overhead. Boy staring at phone facing right. Phone on right side

of screen.

4. CU Mom's face. Mom facing left. "You should call your Grandma."

5. ECU Boy picking up phone. Hand enters from left side of screen.

6. CU Boy on phone. Phone on left side of screen. Boy's right ear.

"Hello, Grandma."

7. CU Grandma on phone. Grandma facing left. "Why don't you callmore often?"

8. CU Boy staring at phone. Phone on left side of screen.

9. ECU Phone. Boy's hand on left side.

10. CU Boy hanging up phone. Phone on left side of screen. Boy looking

at phone.

Fig. 11.3: Shot list

The montage experiments carried out by Kuleshov formed the theoretical

basis of Soviet cinema, culminating in the famous films of the 1920s by

directors such as Sergei Eisenstein, Vsevolod Pudovkin and Dziga Vertov,

among others. These films included The Battleship Potemkin, October, and

Mother.

Self Assessment Questions

1. The film Life of an American Firemanwas directed by__________.

2. Kuleshovs experiment deals with the technique of ______.


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11.3 Film Editing Technology

The very first films in the late 1800s, made by the Lumiere Brothers andThomas Edison among others, were single-shot actualities: a train pulling

into a station, people leaving a factory, ladies walking down the street. The

camera was locked in place. It recorded, in its entirety, the "event" taking

place. It was the magic of capturing movement that captivated audiences.

Editing was originally called "cutting," as it actually was the cutting together

of two pieces of film. "Cutters" held the strips of film up to the light and cut

them with scissors, cementing the two pieces together at the desired point.

Yes, it was literally cut and paste using a splicer and threading the film on a

machine with a viewer such as a Moviola, or "flatbed" machine such as a

Steenbeck. Necessary corrections if needed were again made after viewingthe edited film reel.

Fig. 11.4: The original editing machine:

an upright Moviola

Fig. 11.5: Steenbeck film editing machine rollers


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When the film work-print had been cut to a satisfactory state, it was then

used to make an edit decision list (EDL), which provided exact data on theneeded film length. The original film negative was cut according to the data

to produce a new film negative. The audio part of the film like dialogues,

music, ambience etc., were also recorded, edited and printed to a sound

negative. These two prints were combined together to form the final

negative print of the film, which was known as the married print. It consisted

of an optical sound track along with the visuals. Due to the intermittent

motion of movie projectors, the sound couldnt be located adjacent to the

actual frames it was synced to, but instead was offset by some frames.

Clapper Board

A clapperboard was a device used to assist in the synchronizing of pictureand sound. (Many other names are commonly used for clapper board

including clapper, clapboardetc.) One person would hold the clapper board

before the camera with the scene information and clap the two hinged sticks

together. The sharp "clap" noise that the clapperboard made could be

identified easily on the audio track, and the shutting of the clap stick could

be seen on a separate visual track. The two tracks could be synchronized

by matching the noise and movement.

When a movie's sound and picture are out of synchronization, it s known as

lip flap.

Fig. 11.6: Clapper

The information about the particular scene and take marked in the

clapperboard became the reference point later to identify okay takes for

editing.

Today, most films are edited digitally and bypass the film positive work print

altogether. From the original film negative, a video copy is made using the

tele-cini process. Its then edited on systems such as Avid or Final Cut Pro.


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Once the editing is complete, the edit decision list (also known as cut list) is

generated from the edit machine, and is used to cut the actual film negative.This technique makes the editing process easy. It also gives one the liberty

to edit each scene in as many ways as possible, and to select the ideal one.


3. What is a married print?

4. When a movie's sound and picture are out of synchronization, it is

known as _____.

11.4 The Grammar of Editing

The grammar of visual language has much to do with the grammar of

editing. Some of the terminology that a film editor uses is listed below. Youare familiar with a few of the terms. Its time for recapitulation.

11.4.1 Editing terminology

Close-up (CU): A shot showing a detail only (e.g., face only or hands only).

Cross-cutting: Cutting back and forth between two or more events or

actions that are taking place at the same time but in different places. Cross-

cutting is used to build suspense or to show how different pieces of the

action are related.

Cut: An abrupt transition from one shot to another.

Cutaways: Often cutaways consist of shots showing the reaction of one

character to another. This is often used to compress time in what appears to

be a seamless manner.

Dissolve: An overlapping transition between scenes where one image

fades out as another fades in. Editors often use this to indicate a change in

time and/or location.

Establishing Shot: A shot, usually taken from a distance, which establishes

for the viewer where the action is to occur and the spatial relationship of the

characters and their setting.

Extreme Close-Up(ECU): A detail of a close-up (eyes or mouth only, etc.).

Fade In: A shot that starts in darkness and gradually lightens to full

exposure.

Fade Out: A shot that starts at full exposure and gradually fades to black.


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Freeze-Frame: At a chosen point in a scene, a particular frame is printed

repeatedly, given the effect of halting or "freezing" the action.Jump Cut: A cut where two spliced shots do not match in terms of time or

place. A jump cut gives the effect that the camera is literally jumping around.

Long Shot (LS): A shot taken at a considerable distance from the subject.

A long shot of a person is one in which the entire body is in frame.

Medium Shot (MS): A shot framing a subject at a medium range, usually a

shot from the waist up.

Reverse cutting: A technique alternating over-the-shoulder shots showing

different characters speaking. This is generally used in conversation scenes.

Sequence Shot: An entire scene or sequence that is one continuous

camera shot. There is no editing in this case.

In verbal communication, the same words can yield different meanings

based on the punctuation used in each sentence. The rules governing

punctuation and sentence structure are of course called grammar, and if you

didn't know them you couldn't figure out a pause from a paragraph.

Similar rules are equally important in visual communication. Where verbal

grammar covers exciting stuff like predicates and subjects, visual grammar

addresses three kinds of pictorial transitions: cuts, fades and effects; and

in all the three, the element of continuity.

11.4.2 Cut

Traditionally, a cut joins two shots in a continuing action. In a cut, the first

frame of a new shot directly follows the last frame of the previous one.

Grammatically, a cut is like the space between two words: a division

between units of meaning that signals no change at all.

In classic editing, a cut should be nearly invisible because the action on

screen moves across the division between shots in an uninterrupted flow.

This enhances the illusion that the viewer is watching a continuous process

instead of a bunch of discrete images. Matching action and changingcamera angle are two crucial editing techniques.

In matching action, you set the edit points so that the incoming shot picks up

precisely where the outgoing shot leaves off. Cutting in the middle of an


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ongoing movement delivers the most convincing illusion. With precision

matching, the two shots seem like different views of the same continuousaction.

Matching action does only half the job of concealing the cut. To perfect the

illusion, one must also shift the camera position. By moving the point of

view, you change the subject's background and deprive the viewer of

reference points for matching action.

Variations in cut

An L-cut is when video and audio are edited asynchronously. For

example, the sound of approaching cars in an interior shot alerts the

viewer that the next scene will most likely involve traffic or take place

outside.

A jump cut is a cut within the setting and time frame of a scene, where

continuity is visibly broken. Though a mistake in many cases, it can also

be used for dramatic effect.

A cut away is when a visual not part to a scene is overlaid, visually

interrupting the narrative but perhaps displaying some important action

taking place simultaneously, or an action referenced in dialogue.

11.4.3 Fade

A fade is a transition that includes a gradual, progressive transformation

from a full image to black (or occasionally another color).

Fades come in three classic flavors:

Fade in from black to picture. Grammatically, a fade in signals the start

of a program or a major section within it.

Fade out from picture to black. A fade to black says, "the end" of the

program or a major section.

Cross fade (commonly called a dissolve). In a cross fade the outgoing

shot is fading out at precisely the same time (frame-for-frame) that the

incoming shot is fading in, resulting in a smooth blend between the two.

In movie grammar, this indicates a change in time or place, or both, butnot a major new program section.

In classic movies, a fade was like an act break in a play. The curtain rose or

descended to signal the beginning and end of a major part of the drama. A


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dissolve was like a brief blackout between scenes: the time and place might

change but the action continued.Old Indian cinema was rigorous in its use of fades and dissolves, as if film

makers didn't trust audiences to follow the story without explicit cues.

Nowadays, however, the dissolve is used more sparingly or not at all.

Movies still fade in at their opening and fade out at the close so commonly

that starting or ending with a straight cut is a special-purpose effect.

11.4.4 Continuity

Continuity is a film term, which suggests that a series of shots should be

physically continuous, as if the camera simply changed angles in the course

of a single event. Live coverage of a sporting event would be an example of

footage that is very continuous.

While editing away unwanted shots and shortening the scenes, the

continuity in visuals is to be ensured. Continuity in action and continuity of

properties in the scene are ensured during the shoot itself. But we cannot

show the action in real time, which will make the film very, very lengthy.

Various editing techniques are used to give the feel of real time. For

example, if we are showing a long car-drive, a shot of the watch of driver is

inserted a few times to show the lapse of time. Shots of some other images,

which have no direct connection with the journey but which are a part of the

scene like a tree on the road side, other vehicles on the road, or a shot ofpeople waiting for the car to arrive, are all used to skip the real time.

Continuity in emotion is considered more important in a film. In fact, very

often something that is physically discontinuous will be completely

unnoticeable if the emotional rhythm of the scene "feels" right. In Unit 10, we

had seen that maintaining the continuity in emotion is an important task of

the actors. Editing also has an important role to play in maintaining the

emotional continuity. If you were to slow down scenes from many of your

favorite movies, you could easily find many minuscule physical differences

from one cut to the next, which are completely hidden by the course of the

emotional events.

Alternatives to continuity editing

French New Wave films and the non-narrative films of the 1960s used a

carefree editing style and did not conform to the traditional editing etiquette


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of Hollywood films. The French New Wave filmmakers such as Jean Luc

Goddard and Franois Truffaut pushed the limits of editing technique. Theirfilms had lack of continuity and its demystifying nature reminded the

audience that they were watching a film. Use of jump cuts and the insertion

of material not often related to any narrative were done purposely to create

a different impact on the viewers.

In writing, periods go at the end of sentences, commas break sentences,

and apostrophes knit contractions together. In the same way, visual

grammar dictates the appropriate use of cuts, fades, and special effects.

Poor visual grammar renders the film unreadable. Good grammar creates a

visual masterpiece. Let us now examine the role of special effects (which

makes for much of modern visual grammar) in cinema, in the followingsection.


5. An ______ cut is when video and audio are edited asynchronously.

6. What is fade in cinema language?

7. Franois Truffaut did not follow the technique of continuity editing.

(True/False)

11.5 Visual/Special Effects

Special effects are transitions with attitude. The wipes, flips, page-turns,etc., come in literally hundreds of styles, and every one of them yells "look at

me!" While cuts and fades are designed to be invisible; effects, by contrast,

are intended to be noticed. These are used by the director to tell the viewers

that what follows is different and distinct from the earlier scene in some

aspect or other.

Visual effects are technical gimmicks used to create visual impacts that are

impossible through normal shooting equipment. We have dwelt on this topic

in the previous unit; let us recall the learning.

There are a wide range of visual effects from compositing to computer

generated images.

Compositing is the combining of visual elements from separate sources

into single images, often to create the illusion that all those elements are

parts of the same scene. For example, a TV weather person is recorded in


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front of a plain blue or green screen, while compositing software replaces

only the background.Multiple exposure

An in-camera multiple exposure is made by recording on only one part of

each film frame, rewinding the film to exactly the same start point, exposing

a second part, and repeating the process as needed. The resulting negative

is a composite of all the individual exposures. This is the earliest technique

used to film actors in double roles.

Computer generated effects

Technology has advanced so much that almost any visual can be created

artificially. And it will look as good as the original. Thus, live characters

created in the graphics studio play important roles in modern films. James

Cameroons film Avatar is a classic example to see how far we have

advanced in this technology.

11.5.1 Traditional films

It was no coincidence that several early filmmakers performed as magicians.

Thejump cut, a deliberate mismatching of two scenes, evolved into the first

"special effect" of movies and was probably discovered by accident. Within

the same scene, an actor could be made to "disappear" by stopping the

camera, removing the actor, and resuming the scene without moving the

camera. George Mlis, a Parisian magician, produced dozens of elaborate"trick" films using this effect as one of his primary marvels.

Stage-bound presentations, which had actors performing in the proscenium-

like frame of the film without moving the camera, soon gave way to

bold close-ups, medium shots, and tracking shotsunder the direction of film

pioneers Alice Guy Blache of France, et al. The storytelling concepts used in

magic-lantern slide shows (and later comic books) were used to create a

language of film. Cutting from a long shot of an actor standing by a tree, to a

similar shot of just his face near the tree, created a sense of continuous

action, even though the shots may have been filmed on different days.

Cutting evolved into "editing"; the manipulation of time and space. (Theability to manipulate time and space allows the filmmaker to change our

emotional and intellectual responses to what we see on the screen.)


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Films with sequences that have no edits at all include the opening sequence

of Orson Welles' Touch of Evil, the shot on top of the train or the shotwalking through the camp in Bound for Glory, and the shot from the dressing

room to the ring in Raging Bull. Good examples of rapid cutting can be

found in the film-within-a-film sequence of Buster Keaton's Sherlock Jr., the

Odessa Steps sequence in The Battleship Potemkin, the ambush scene

in Bonnie and Clyde, the shower scene in Psychoand the phone booth

attack scene in The Birds.

11.5.2 3D films

3D films like Avatar trick your brain, bringing images projected onto a flat

cinema screen to life in full three dimensional glory.

If you look at an object near you and close your left and right eyes in turn,

youll see that each has a slightly different view of the world. Your left eye

sees a bit more of the left side of the object, and your right eye sees a bit

more of its right side. Your brain fuses the two images together allowing you

to see in three dimensions. This is known as stereoscopic vision. To create

a similar effect, 3D films are captured using two lenses placed side by side,

just like your eyes.

For 3D projection, polarised light is used. A polarised light wave vibrates on

only one plane. The light produced by the sun is un-polarised, meaning it is

made up of light waves vibrating on many different planes. It can howeverbe transformed into polarised light using a polarising filter. The two reels of

film shot are projected through different polarised filters. So images destined

for viewers' left eyes are polarised on a horizontal plane, whereas images

destined for their right eyes are polarised on a vertical plane. The cinema

goers glasses use the same polarising filters to separate the two images

again; each eye sees a slightly different perspective, fooling the brain into

'seeing' the three-dimensional picture.

11.5.3 Animation films

Animation is the appearance of motion caused by displaying still images one

after another. It is visual effects incarnate and requires editing at all levels.

In animation, persistence of vision, (which we discussed in the earlier

chapters) is the reason for seeing continuous movement that isn't really

happening.


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Cartoon films are often considered as animation in its classic form. The

animated cartoon made its debut in the early part of the 20th century andcalled for the use of different drawings per second. In traditional animated

cartoons, frames are hand drawn or painted. These frames, which will be

many thousands in number, are shot using special cameras to produce the

film. Frames can also be generated by altering a model unit in small ways

and taking pictures of the results. The model units can be puppets, figures

made of clay etc.

The work of producing animated movies and cartoons is intense and

laborious. Now computer technology has made the process much faster by

speeding up the process of making individual frames. As animated films

have become more elaborate, an assembly line of sorts has developed inthe studios. Certain animators specialize in backgrounds, while others

design and draw the extremes. Yet other animators fill in the colors, clean

up the drawings, and apply special effects such as fire, smoke, water,

shadows and lighting.

The boxes in fig-11.7 represent frames in an animated film. In the first row,

the beginning and ending "extremes" of an action are shown. It takes

planning to get to the right position at the right time. Thought, as well as

imagination, is required to make something move in a believable way.

Fig. 11.7: First box Middle box Final box

Like painters, animators use perspective and scale to create depth, and

color to enhance mood, but most of the visual information in an animated

film is transmitted through movement. Before animating a scene, animators

study the way their subjects move, whether they are animals, people or

leafy trees. Although the movements they draw are based on real life,

animators often caricature or exaggerate both movement and design.

Animated characters, like human actors, express themselves with gestures,

mannerisms, posture and facial expressions as well as voice. A tilted head


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can indicate surprise. A body slanted forward suggests speed. A character

freezes at a scary sound. Background movement also conveys meaning.The gentle flutter of leaves signals a breeze, but when the leaves toss and

turn, it could mean a storm is coming.

Animators use the term "squash and stretch" to describe the effect of gravity

on living creatures and pliable material. Racing after the Road Runner, Wile

E. Coyote flies off a cliff and plummets downward. His body smashes into

the ground (squash) and then elongates into a bounce (stretch). In this

instance, the deformation is used for comic effect, but in more realistic

situations squash and stretch lend weight to characters and make

expressions such as smiles or frowns convincing.

Choosing the right look for a character is important for creating its

personality. A "cute" character might be drawn with characteristics that

resemble a human baby's, such as a large head, small body, high forehead,

big eyes and short, plump arms and legs. A bully, on the other hand, might

have a small head, a thick or nonexistent neck, a big chest, and short legs.

Exaggerated features and a quirky posture could indicate a comic character.

The animator can also use these traits to ridicule stereotypes. The mutant

toys in Toy Story, for example, turn out to be selfless and helpful, not

dangerous as they first seem to be. Handsome Gaston in Beauty and the

Beastis also egotistical and mean.


8. What is Compositing?

9. What is squash and stretch in animation?

11.6 Editing Stages

The various stages in editing are as follows:

Editors cut

Of the several editing stages, the editor's cut is the first. An editor's cut is

also referred to as "Rough cut". The film editor usually starts working as

soon as the visuals taken on each day (known as dailies) arrive at theediting studio.

Dailies or rushes, is the term used to describe the raw, unedited footage

shot during the making of a motion picture. They are so called because

usually at the end of each day, that day's footage is developed, synched to


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sound, and printed on film in a batch (and/or telecined onto video tape or

disk). The director may view these dailies as an indication of how the filmingis progressing.

The editor will start editing the dailies after having a discussion with the

director to have an idea of his/her intentions. Because it is the first edit, the

editor's cut might be longer than the final film.

Director's cut

After finishing the shoot, the director turns his full attention to the editing

process. This is the time when the film editor's first cut is molded to fit the

director's vision. The director and the editor go over the entire movie with a

fine-tooth comb; scenes and shots are re-ordered, removed, shortened and

otherwise tweaked.

Final cut

Sometimes, after the director has finished the editing process, the producers

may demand some changes. And they have the legal right to do so. This

editing session is known as final cut. There have been several conflicts in

the past between the director and the producer on this, and many directors

have refused to put their name in film titles, which underwent the final cut.

Self Assessment Question

10. What do you mean by final cut?

11. ________ are the raw, unedited footage shot during the making of themotion picture.

11.7 Editing Sound

Sound editing consists of the following:

Dubbing the dialogues

We had seen in Unit 10 that dialogues are either recorded along with the

filming process or recorded later. The process of recording dialogues after

the shoot is over is known as dubbing. It is also called looping.

An actor watches the image repeatedly while listening to the originalproduction track (pilot track) on headphones, as a guide. The actor then re-

performs each line to match the wording and lip movements. Actors vary in

their ability to sync and to recapture the emotional tone of their performance.

The director supervises and directs the dubbing sessions.


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Recording sound effects

Sound effects, along with music and dialogue, go a long way to create therealism and drama of a movie. The best sound effects are often very subtle

such as the crunch of footsteps on gravel or a key jingling in a lock. Such

touches add greatly to the realism of your movie.

Movie sound effects are added during post production. The real sound

recorded on location will never sound as real as a good sound effect

recorded with professional gear and enhanced for maximum impact. Actual

gun shots sound like a little pop compared to the roaring cannons we hear in

movies.

Good sound effects also enhance the movie's production values. Instead of

shooting a car crash, filming the characters reaction to the accident with

the recorded sound of a crash, (enhanced for maximum impact) will some

times be more effective.

The process of recording sound effects is known as foleying in Hollywood.

Foleying is the "looping" of sound effects by artists who create the sounds

while watching the picture. The process is named after its developer, a

legendary sound man named Jack Foley of Universal.

The sound denoting the footsteps of the characters, the rustle of clothing or

the movement of props are recorded by foley artists. Even kisses are

foleyed. A steamy sex scene was probably created by a foley artist makingdispassionate love to his or her own wrist!

Professional Foley artists have a "foley pit" available to them containing

small samples of every type of flooring and ground imaginable along with

hundreds of props of every sort imaginable. A classic is using two coconut

halves to create the sound of a horse's hoofs running.

Ambience sound effect

Every room and location has a sound. No place is truly silent. During

production, sound recordists record a few minutes of the sound of each

filming location to have the background "ambience" available for the soundmixer, the device used to inject sound effects into a film.

A constant ambience sound does a lot to cover and smooth out the cuts

edited together from different takes of a scene.


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Music

Songs and background music are the two melodic components of a featurefilm.

For songs, the music director composes music after going through the lyrics.

But now-a-days, writing lyrics according to the already composed music is a

common practice.

The background music is created by the music director after watching the

edited film. S/he composes in tune with the action in the visuals. Composing

the background music first and editing the film accordingly is rarely

attempted. Editing to the music rather than the other way round has

produced some powerful films. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, and E.T.

the Extra-Terrestrialare examples from Hollywood.


12. What is foleying?

13. Dubbing is also called _________.

14. _______ is the device used to inject sound effects into a film.

11.8 Summary

In this unit, you got an overview of the post-production stage of film making.

We discussed in detail the history of editing and tried to understand editing

as a technique and as an art. You will agree by now, the grammar of editingis complex: it literally heralds the reconstruction of a film. The significance

of the cut, the fade, and the principle of continuity make for the body of

editing. When we speak in terms of the addition of special effects with 3-D

contours and animation, it makes for the very breath of film creativity; editing

at its zenith. When you watch movies the next time, cautiously follow the

change of shots and camera angles, the use of sound etc., and you can

understand the world of editing better.

11.9 Glossary

Work-print:positive copy of the film negative used for the initial editing. It is

also know as cutting copy in UK.

Clapperboard: a device used to assist in the synchronizing of picture and

sound.


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Jump cut: a cut within the setting and time frame of a scene where

continuity is visibly broken.

11.10 Terminal Questions

1. Describe the evolution of editing.

2. Explain the importance of continuity in editing.

3. Describe the various editing stages.

11.11 Answers


1. Edwin.S.Porter

2. Montage

3. When audio and video prints are combined together to form the final

negative print of the film, it is known as the married print -it will have an

optical sound track along with the visuals.

4. lip flap

5. L

6. A fade is a transition that includes a gradual, progressive

transformation from a full image to black (or occasionally another

color).

7. True8. It is the combining of visual elements from separate sources into single

images, often to create the illusion that all those elements are parts of

the same scene

9. Animators use the term "squash and stretch" to describe the effect of

gravity on living creatures and pliable material.

10. After the editing process the producers may demand some changes.

The editing session to make those changes is known as Final cut.

11. Dailies or rushes

12. The process of recording sound effects is known as foleying in

Hollywood.

13. Looping

14. Sound mixer


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Terminal Questions

1. Hints: Contributions of Edwin S. Porter and D. W. Griffith Kuleshovexperiment French New Wave films.

2. Hints: Physical continuity techniques to shorten the sequence with out

affecting continuity importance of emotional continuity.

3. Hints: Editors cut directors cut final cut dissolve purpose of

dissolve effects - difference between dissolve and effects.

unit 11final

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