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Just a Tip – Mirror editing trick
Hey kids….
I revived a l’il trick today that I used to use years ago but had long since forgotten about… just thought I’d share it.
Who knows?… maybe I live in a cave and everyone knows this, but I had never heard of it before….
Years ago when our studio was in a different location, in my chief edit suite I had a big print on the wall opposite the main production monitor. One day, probably while making dubs, I stood up and just wandered around the room as a production played. I caught a glimpse of the monitor in the reflection of the glass in the print, and began watching it. Even though I had seen this production a zillion times as I had edited it throughout the week, suddenly I was watching it with brand-new eyes. Seeing it played mirrored, it looked completely new to me and I was able to give it a completely fresh critical look. Some reactions were “Yeah, that cut worked beautifully,” but often it was also “Hmmm, that edit would work better about 10 frames later,” and such.
We moved into a new building a few years ago, and in my newly-designed suite there was now a big canvas painting on the opposite wall…. gone was my print with the cheap reflective glass, so I just gradually forgot about the techniqe. Walking upstairs today to my senior editor’s suite (who does have a glassed print over the client sofa) I caught a glimpse of the monitor’s reflection…. and suddenly my forgotten old trick came back to me.
I think I’ll put up a print with some glass… it really works if you want a fresh perspective. Of course you could flip the image electronically and give it a look like that… but nothing is easier than the low-tech glance at a real practical reflection.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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8 Replies
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That’s nice, I will remember that…. (I think I may have read that somewhere too – maybe a Walter Murch book or something?).
Similar options are watching it without the sound and watching it in reverse. My very first teacher in a film class when I was 16 urged us to watch title sequences without the music. Something I still do today.
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The way I heard it in video camp, you’re supposed to chant “Thelma Schoonemaker” three times with the lights out, and she’ll appear in the mirror. 🙂
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[Mark Suszko] “chant “Thelma Schoonemaker” three times with the lights out, and she’ll appear in the mirror”
…and begin justifying her numerous jump cuts.
With three Oscars she can cut as she pleases and appear in my mirror any time.
T2
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Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com
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If you blink 20 times into a mirror really fast, you’ll see Walter Murch… And he’ll tell you which eye blink to cut on.
Arnie
Now in post: Peristroika, a film by Slava Tsukerman
https://www.arniepix.com/blog -
Damn…
I tried it and a vision of Walter didn’t appear.
One of my mom (back when I was about 12) did.
Saying… “Keep scrunching your face up like that and it’s gonna get STUCK that way!”
Oh well.
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Similar to either playing a cut with the sound off, or viewing it flopped, I have even disabled the sound, opened iTunes and played any internet radio station. If the edits are clean and work from shot to shot, you can put just about any type of music to it and it will still work, sometimes beautifully. I have shown this to clients and played anything from polka to alternative to funk, and it even amazes me how they all fit the cut.
Try it on a cut that you believe really works and you will have a good laugh. Especially when a polka track lines right up.
Rich Rubasch
Tilt Media -
Adding to an old topic, I know.
But one thing that I found interesting was pressing play and going back to the sofa that the producers watch the cut from. That really removes yourself from the process. Get away from the edit bench, get away from your editor’s eyes and watch it from a new perspective…that of the viewer. That way I actually notice the slow parts, the parts that aren’t working and what is.
This all happened because my producer, in his frustration with me resisting him on cutting a scene that I felt was a darn good one. “See what I am seeing Shane…get back here.” So I did. And sure enough, it didn’t work. It was a great scene. One of those scenes that was compelling and said something. Problem was…it didn’t fit. Everything around it had a certain rhythm and message that this seemed to step out of and interrupt. So I cut it, and went back to the sofa. And the Act was much better. One of those painful times to lose a good moment, but the moment didn’t fit. I did end up finding a better place for that moment later on.
Shane
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At least once before mastering, I force myself to turn off the computer monitors and watch the program solely on the NTSC monitor. I find if the computer monitors are on, I frequently glance at CTI location on the timeline, and thus am anticipating cuts, effects, nodes, etc. Watching the show (and the entire show all the way through, I might add) on the NTSC monitor alone gives me more of a fresh perspective.
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