This blog post contains the work me and Kim did in my lesson on how to successfully edit. My teacher filmed the footage but me and Kim edited it together. My teacher also provided the template for the blog post.
Why is continuity editing important?
Continuity editing includes making sure that items like props or costumes stay consistent from scene to scene. But the more important work lies in editing shots together in a way that leaves viewers thoroughly grounded in both time and space.
Different types of continuity edit
Straight cut (cut)
Eyeline match
Shot /reverse shot
Cutaway / Insert
*Match cut
Footage
Here is the footage that my teacher shot which utilises a variety of camera angles and movements. The scene is very simple, it involves a student standing up and leaving the classroom. A single shot here might be quite boring for the audience, by editing and combining the shots together we can make the scene feel more dynamic.
My editing process
Explain how you edited the clips together. Include screenshots of the editing software.
Here is my first attempt with some errors. Here is how I fixed the errors…
Here is my final scene. Editing multiple clips together made the scene better because…
This blog post contains a mini project that helped us learn how to shoot a cinematic scene. We did this as a group.
My teacher told us to find a scene from a movie in our genre. Our task was to recreate this scene we have chosen from the movie Missing 2023.
Here is our Final Video! From 00:25 - 01:22
Here is our storyboard
After conducting this mini project, we have discovered that there were problems and solutions with the technical elements that we had to go through, and what we have to be more aware of for the future, from our previous experience.
Camera
Problems:
The problems we had with camera were just with inaccurate camera angled shots we took as we recreated the photos from the actual movie scenes. We didn't have any problems on needing specific advanced quality cameras as pictures from the movie were also being snapped on a handphone, and the scenes we chose were filmed through a computer/laptop scene, to which we just had to screen record everything. However the problems we mentioned that we encountered with the camera angles were when replicating the screen recordings where Tisha (who we chose as our actor) had to appear on frame with the exact same camera angle as the actor on the movie had. As well as, where we had to replicate the photos from the actual scene including a "Live Photo" where Kim (another member of our group which we chose to be one of the actors/muse as well) had to recreate as it is also an important staple of the scene.
Solutions:
Solutions we had for this problem was to take our time and remain consistent in double checking to be as precise and similar to the actual scenes as possible. By doing this, our recreation turned out to be pretty similar and accurate from the actual scenes, including the recreated pictures we took.
Next time:
We will learn from our experience and improve by using more professional equipment to recreate specific pictures from the scenes. As well as practicing more on how to conduct certain camera angles properly to get the most accurate result as possible as we attempted to do a recreation/replication.
Sound
Problems:
There weren't much problems for the sound as the scenes we chose to recreate did not require any diegetic sounds, but instead, needed non-diegetic sound which was the tensive music from the actual scenes. Additionally it is also difficult for us to find any similar audio that give off a similar vibe toward our scenes, making it risky and can potentially be incompatible with our scenes.
Solutions:
We decided to download the actual soundtrack from the YouTube video we used to determine our scenes, to make it as similar to the actual scenes and to avoid any copyright from choosing any different soundtrack.
Next time:
We will research more on the soundtracks of scenes we choose to recreate to make our project easier to conduct with more accessible soundtracks to input into our scenes. As well as being more prepared for future scenes needing diegetic sounds by not filming in a noisy classroom like we did for this project, since we did not need any diegetic sounds then.
Edit:
Problems:
Problems during the editing process included getting the accurate speed and duration of each scene to be exactly the same with the movie itself, as there were some scenes that we recorded were too fast and some were too slow. Another problem was that in one of the scenes in the original scene, there was a scene of a zoom in cut motion that was used to emphasize the photo in the scene where it was difficult to have a smooth zoom transition.
Solution:
The solution for the editing problem was to cut some parts of the scene and change the speed of the scene in order to make it the same duration. Cutting some parts of the scene did not have any major effect on the project outcome, rather it made it smoother. For the zoom part of the problem, we cut parts of the clips and resize the part where it is needed to be zoom
Next Time:
For next time, we will need to understand the scene more to know how the story goes and memorize how long each scene lasts and is being done, in order to get the exact similar outcome with the original scene. Another way is to have the original scene side by side during recording and/or the sound so that during recording it would be easier to just follow through the actual original scene. We will also need to learn more about the features in the editing software in order to have a similar smooth zoom and improve our skills to get the outcome that we are expecting.
Mise-En-Scene:
Problems:
For Mise-en-scene the problem was that we couldn’t find the right props that would match and have a similar feeling with the original scene that we were trying to recreate. Anothing this is for our actor to make the accurate reaction / acting that is similar to the original scene. As some reaction was complicated for our actor to do.
Solution:
The solution for the problem was to just use the props that we have, making it look as similar as it is shown on the screen. Like for example the ‘drinks’, we didn’t have the same type of glass but we made the holding of the glass to be similar to the photo we are recreating. For the acting part, we tried to make a reaction to sort of be similar but still having the same feeling with the original scene.
Next Time:
Next time, we will need to learn to be more prepared and find the right props in order to match the scene more perfectly to be seen by the audience. Another thing was to pick the right actor that can act well in a certain situation.
Behind the Scenes IMAGES
- Our group recreating the pictures from the actual scenes
Self Reflection: This project turned out to be really fun, as our first lesson of the new semester. Though it was quite tough as Cassie wasn't present during this day. Therefore the rest of us had to finish the project ourselves. Me and Tisha did most of the work, I was in charge of majority parts of the blog, while Tisha also helped and edited the actual video by the help of Kim as well. This project will be helpful and beneficial for the future as we would be more exposed to the usage of technical elements more often, and helps us practice our project making skills, including all the filming with the technical elements, filling up our blogs, editing and discussing too!
