The Activity

I will shoot a scene from a movie. Right now, I am looking for a scene which could be interpreted in several ways but this is proving to be harder than I thought. Me being an indecisive person does not help either. Once I have done this, I will draft the shots I would like to use in the final edit and also write up an extended list of possible frames to remind myself that I have to shoot a variety of shots. This is so that the footage will allow for different edits to be produced, which is an important point in my project.

Once filming is complete, I will make my own edit and ask two other people who haven’t studied cinema to create their own edits as well. Along with the raw footage, they will receive the script. My instruction to them will be: ‘edit this as you feel’. I will help them with the technical side of things, though I won’t interfere with the creative side.

The Objective

There are a few things I want to take from this exercise:

– What is the relationship between production and post-production like? Is the meaning intended throughout the production process carried on throughout the editing (even with minimal contact between the shooting crew and editing crew)? How does the meaning of ‘stuff’ change in the interval between these two stages? I will ask the participants how they interpreted the script and footage, what kind of emotions they thought the actors were trying to convey, what the atmosphere is like…etc.

– While I edit, I will justify all my choices and explain the intention behind them in a sentence, or more if I need. This part is really important since I often forget why I cut the way I do or choose to use one particular frame over another. So, with all my purposefully executed editing,  I will consider: how the message I want to deliver through my conscious decisions compares to how it is received by audiences. Will the viewer even notice these subtle messages, will it affect them the way I want? Or is it not particularly meaningful?

– Evaluate my skills: is the edit done my someone unfamiliar to this process any less effective than mine? In a way, I’m questioning my own position as a cinema student. Does it make any difference that I have studied cinema and have film theories embedded in my brain (kind of)? Will people be able to spot my edit? Will they find any of the edits better, worse, or just different?

I have a lot of questions and in the realisation of this little project, I hope to find some answers to them.