Cutting between shots

[ShaneCo]

Hi all!

I'm a comedy writer who is independently producing my first pilot!

Filming is done, and as I've sit down to edit I've been having some difficulty making the cuts between shots in a scene look smooth (character to character, close up to wide, etc).

Was wondering if anyone had any helpful tips or links to articles/tutorials on the subject?

Thanks so much for any time/help you can give!




Additional info:
- Shot with one camera
- In case I didn't use the correct terminology, I'm referring to cutting between shots in a conversation or some other continuous scene.

[smrpix]

This is the classic:

http://www.amazon.com/Technique-Editing-Reissue-Edition-Second/dp/0240521854/ref=sr_1_...f+film+editing

You may not think so, but you're asking a HUGE question.

[ShaneCo]

I know so, it has taken me two days to edit two minutes. Do you have any links to tutorials or articles while I'm waiting for the book?

[bigass]

Filming is done, and as I've sit down to edit I've been having some difficulty making the cuts between shots in a scene look smooth (character to character, close up to wide, etc).

Was wondering if anyone had any helpful tips or links to articles/tutorials on the subject?

This is where preproduction makes the difference. Storyboard your scene *before* shooting, so you'll know which angles will cut together well. Otherwise you'll find it challenging or even impossible to line up your shots in editing -- eyelines will be wrong, you could end up with shots that don't match up at all, and you could end up with entire pieces of dialogue that wasn't shot at all!

[ShaneCo]

I did all that, and everything lines up well. It's just the transitions I am having trouble with. When I cut from one shot to the next it just seems abrupt. The characters are still in logical positioning relative to one another, and the conversation isn't interrupted, it just wasn't flowing from shot to shot as I'd like. I have begun overlaying the video on the previous shots audio (believe it's called a y-cut) and that is helping. Just wondering if anyone had any other techniques to make the shots flow into one another nicely?

[bigass]

Sounds like you've already done some research and you're using some more advanced techniques. At this point, it's as much art as science. Cutting early to the next person to speak, as you're doing, can smooth things out.

In general, if I can throw out a piece of broad advice that may or may not address your frustration....start wide....get closer... a little closer....go back wider again.... closer...wider....really close...fully wide, end.

[ShaneCo]

Huh, I'm assuming you're referring to shot depths... I'll try that!

Thanks so much! From one Canadian to another : )

[smrpix]

It occurs to me, if you're a comedy writer you know part of the answer.

Cutting a scene is like telling a joke -- it's about pacing, emphasis, focus, underplaying, misdirecting, action, reaction, selling the punchline -- all in the service of telling that particular story.

Don't worry so much about making perfect cuts on the first pass, think about how you want to tell the story. The individual edits can be trimmed and refined after you've got the structure soundly built.

If you want to post a sample we can give specific advice.

[budwzr]

Cut on the action. Example: When the audience laughs, cut to the audience.

Use Fast cuts.

Use "Invisible" cuts. Or you may say a jump shot. You're on the same frame, but you zoom instantaneously. Then cut to the next scene.

Jump in to capture a "moment". Moments can be a look, a reaction, tension. Something worth zeroing in on. A closer examination.

Fades suggest leaving and going somewhere else, or a change in subject. Or picking up in another place, or time, in a dialogue.

Fast cuts skip boring stuff, like someone walking up to a building, then you just cut right to the door. And it continues along the same timeframe.

Try to make the clips look the same as far as bright/contrast/color etc. Maybe that's why it doesn't look right. Or you just don't have enough footage.

Can you post a sample?