[Alan E. bell]

This is a great job!

Here are some tricks I use to keep a fresh perspective on my sequences, especially when I’ve been working on them for awhile and putting them through different versions.

btw I mainly cut feature films.

1) I always take a deep breath before I sit back and look at something.
2) I remind myself not to aticipate the cuts I’ve made.
3) I when I feel something isn’t right but I’m not sure what it is. I pay deep attention to the feeling. For me it’s often the cut before I noticed.
4) I pay attention to where my eye tracks from cut to cut. (this is something I usually think about while I’m choosing my cuts.

5) Take a rest from it.

We have jobs that are 100% objective. It’s all a matter of taste when you think about it. What was slick 10 years ago may look old today. I my opnion if your piece reaches the audience on an emontional level then it has a better chance of standing the test of time.

Just my two cents.

Alan Edward Bell
Editor

[Alan E. bell]

I personally choose my cuts due to various factors. Timing them to a musical beat is almost never one of them unless I’m cutting a music video or an action sequence. In the event of the action sequence It’s rare that I will use music as my guide as to when to cut from one shot to another.

I like to let the footage tell me when I need to cut away and why. A typical Dialogue scene is usually cut a certain why because of what the actors are saying. It’s always more powerful to see someone say something than have it play on the person listening. Of course there are exceptions to every rule. In fact there are very few rules, because its ultimately a matter of tastes.

In my opinion the best way to learn to edit is to acutally get some footage and do it. There are different types of editing, I don’t go about cutting a narrative story the same way I would a music video or a comercial for instance.

I think the most important part of my job as an editor is to tell the story by connecting the characters with my choice of takes and edit points. It’s often knowing when not to cut away that makes the difference. Our job is all about building performances. It’s about finding the best parts of each piece of the puzzle, and putting them to use for over all betterment of the film.

Editing is a craft that takes time to learn and get a feel for. The only way I ever learned was to cut scenes together, show them to people and then change them. Ask yourself before you even start what the purpose of this scene in the story is. What are the key points to the scene? Are there any moments in certain takes that will bolster these purposes? Should you favor one character or another?

Too often people equate pacing with the idea of a metronome or music. In my opinion they are missing the point. If what people are saying or doing in a scene flows naturally and the characters are pasted together in such a way that it creates an emotional hook within the viewer, then the scene will play well and hence be thought of as well paced.

Walter Murch may choose to work at first without sound. If that works for him so be it. It’s most deffinately not my starting place. At times it does help me to look at a cut or series of cuts without the sound but it’s rarely the way I work. Everyone has a different way of finding the right pieces and putting them together in the order they think is best. Knowing what things will cut together easily and finding those points comes with time.

It seems that earlier in my career I was way more worried with matching than I was with other aspects of the formula. As I mature as an editor I find it’s just one small part of the puzzle. Here is a typical delima? You have two different setups. A master two shot of two people at a dinner table talking while they eat. In the two shot master the main character is holding his fork while he speaks. In three of his close ups he is using the fork but in one of the takes he is holding a spoon. You like the spoon take better for his performance. Which take do you use? The better performance or the one that matches? These are questions that you will have to answer for yourself and the director every day as an editor, know how to answer them and feeling confident and comfortable with the answers comes with time and experience.

Okay I’m getting off the soap box. What a fun job we have!

Regards
Alan Edward Bell

Alan Bell
—————
Discreet Combustion Co-Host
LA Combustion Users Group Co-Host

[Alan E. bell]

I am currenlty cutting a feature using the Kona 2 card and dvcprohd 1080i/24fps. It’s working extremely well.

Regards
Alan Bell

Alan Bell
—————
Discreet Combustion Co-Host
LA Combustion Users Group Co-Host