1. Reflection of workshop activities that we have done so far 

There are two classes that I find to have a more profound impact on me than the rest of the classes. Those are the 4.2 lecture when we have the opportunity to shoot an interview and the recent 6.1 lecture when we see all the final edited cuts of classmate interviews. On the interview shooting day, I did not expect that the discussion would turn out to be one of the most emotional bonding I ever had with my classmates. I did not either attend any shooting with a crew before (normally I worked out my product alone) or had a chance to talk with my classmates about their lives outside of the classroom. What caught my attention initially was the questions in the handout Mr. Sebastian gave us (you can preview the handout in the image attached below).

Our teammates came to the conclusion that we would not use the questions listed in the handout. Otherwise, we started with a simple question: ‘Tell me why/how you chose this Communications (Media) program?’ since we are all Media students at RMIT. I was genuinely impressed with Caelin and Oliver for being amazing interviewers. These friends are extremely careful to remind the interviewees that they should give a full answer to questions. So instead of saying a concise response, we should rather extend the length of the sentence with question subjects implied within.  Aaliyah and Oliver were also great interviewees considering how they gave us extra information for our interviewers to lead to more insightful questions. For example, Aaliyah told us stories about her background in Germany and how she responded to society and people. She even went further giving us how she interacted with Australian TV shows and media formats and her motivation to start a new life in Melbourne. That gave us extra comfortable space for future editing. I would like to appreciate the helpful pieces of advice from Micheal Rabiger, ‘Directing the Documentary’. It helps us a lot in providing essential tips to create an interactive interview. We seek tips for thinking like an editor, giving behavioural feedback and evoking emotion. I also find enthusiasm in the pre-production setting of a documentary. Though I have already acknowledged some technological tips on how to function the H2N recorder to take external (backup) audio records and room tones and operate the Sony camera, it was the first time I actually listened to my peer’s advice to improve the sound recording quality and set up a proper interview style scene. I had to consider where I could position the interviewee on the screen, decorate the set, alter the lights in the room to create a look, and set up the audio recorder. It compliments my personal experience of shot preparation.

Helpful tips

My 20 second edit (thank you Emily)

The lecture of Week #6 was the inspirational session where I could have a better look and give feedback on my classmates’ edited version of the interview. There are two versions we have to create from the interview footage we captured before and the pool of B-rolls my classmates added to the shared Google drive: a 2-minute version and a shorter 20-second version. Regardless of the multiple editing approaches, all of the final edits were amazing and blew my mind in several ways. For the 2-minute version, one thing that I could easily notice was that one storyline can be perceived in variable ideas and as a result, every artistic choice is interestingly different. I will post two examples of one interview for you to have a better understanding of the works of these amazing people.

It comes back to the question of why people see the same stuff non-identically. For example, I might feel about this person’s interview was fun and want to create a comic interview by adding hilarious sound effects and compatible B-rolls. If it was my choice of editing (I edited someone else’s interview), I would like to create suspenseful moods with a few zoom-ins to the face and some blank screens in the middle to make punchy cliffhangers. I would not say one approach is worse than another or promote any superior working method. I even saw someone apply a subtle J-cut audio transition and when the teacher showed us that there was one in the edit, I was surprised a bit because I did not notice that before. Everybody intensively used B-roll cuts in their edits to give different angles to the story. It was a bit disappointing that we did not have more cameras set up in the scene. In my opinion, it would probably give us more freedom to play around with the shot angles. However, it is fascinating to use the B-roll shots from other classmates. Even though most of them are not the ones I truly see fitting to the developing storylines, I might say it is helpful considering the fact that we will outsource B-rolls a lot for references in future projects.

2. Deconstruction of a scene from a film

The story that led me to choose this scene from the Dark Knight (2008) is likely a surprising discovery. I bumped into this scene after I read the script written by Christopher Nolan and compared the screenwriting with what was shown in the final outcome. I will choose the Dark Knight opening with the bank robbery scene of Joker (actually it was the fight of Batman with Scarecrow but I found it was not so much to discuss in terms of editing). I think it is fascinating to dive into the analysis of the scene. If you compare the original script with the final screening, you will see one important point the screening does not have to follow the script in order. I will attach the script below.

thedarkknight-screenplay.pdf

We will not discuss so much about screenwriting here because it is not a part of our discussion. However, I want you to have a better vision of why editors are important roles in any film crew. If the film scriptwriters focus on the storytelling aspect, which means that they outline it in professional order (scenes, actions, dialogues and so on), the directors and editors play a role in transforming the written words on pages into visually appealing stories. What I conclude after a few times watching and comparing back and forth is that not everything in the script will be on the screenings afterwards, some miniature details were changed. However, the scene describes exactly the chaotic atmosphere of the bank. In the script, we can see a lot happening because the script changes the setting so often, from the interior of the bank to the exterior ceiling and vice versa. Also, a lot of dialogues and actions are described intrusively. Christopher Nolan wants to create a tumultuous scene inside the bank hallway, therefore this scene is more fast-paced, when two robbers break in, wreaking havoc, and everyone freaks out. Contrasting to that, the editor intercuts the scene on the bank rooftop and the bank vault in between to create a side story of betrayal in the group. Most of the scenes are shot in medium size, especially they use medium close-up shots for dialogues that might lead to the consequential result. The benefit of having multiple cameras on the screen is that you have more angles to tell the story in the editing process. For example, when a robber tells everybody to stay on the ground, the scene flicks to the close-up face of the bank manager. Angle changes like that help you enrich more refreshing characters and retrospective angles into the storyline. The switch from third-person view to first-person view when the bank manager shouts at Joker and Joker strides toward him is good. It is the first time Joker reveals his face and we see close what that character looks like from the eyes of the bank manager. I think that sums up lots of editing in this scene. Despite that there are not so many fancy editing implications in this scene, it shows how intricately The Dark Knight’s pre-production process was planned to create a smooth rhythm. 

3. My way of working

To be honest, if someone asks me what I have learnt from the class so far, I would say I did and did not learn a lot of new things. I might have said this before in Assignment #1 about my reflection on the working process. I feel blessed to learn the professional process that experts in the media industry, in particular the editors, are utilising to enhance their products in better quality and more time effective. I never considered learning script writing, prepping shot lists and doing the script breakdown before. Since I did not have experience with pre-production prior to this class, the projects I have done and experimented with so far were a reflection of my self-learning journey. As I said, I was entangled in the miserable paradox of choices and YouTube tutorials stiff my motivation a lot since everyone can claim they are film experts and put up a hooker title like to 10 or top 5 to be master of filming and so on. I had to start again from the basics. The prepping list in Week #3 was actually pretty helpful (thank you so much!). I should have to name the files before importing them to Premiere Pro or any software, therefore I do not need to scroll back and forth to locate my files at odds. I also learn to merge the clips, make proxies,  name the files by putting descriptions, and mark the clips. At the moment, my working process will start with labelling the files in my folder first, and changing the settings to create proxies (it depends on the laptop you are using, I do not think you seriously need that if you think your computer can play back everything smoothly and your project is not too big). After that, I will put up the script, shot list, and storyboard next to me to have a sense of how I will go down the road. I do not normally use the merging since I used to not have to chop up so many clips and insert many external audio clips in the channel.

(The images below does not show perfect example)

1. What do you want from this studio? What do you think this studio is?

The Power of Cut prompt immediately caught my attention when I first saw the overview of this year’s studio structure. Personally, this studio not only centers around how to enhance my technological skills of editing software and gears but also analyzes and visions the purist art of editing. It seems to most outsiders that editing is simply cutting and matching the footage together to finalize a product. The editing role is critically underplayed in the digital century as everyone can easily have the essential tools to learn basic editing skills. However, my personal knowledge of preproduction states the opposite facts. A standard creative final product is the sweat and tears effort of multi personnel crew and there will never be a successful case of one man show. I am not downplaying the work of solo creative freelancers on different media platforms. I just want to show that process is more intricate than mastering any editing program or technique. The fact that editing is already at the forefront discussion of any preliminary discussion blows my mind. I can not imagine before how plotting or shot list can relate to editing. This studio comprehensively leads me through every essential stage of preparation, thus allowing me to grow from a fundamental basis.   Mentioning the preliminary foundation, I enticingly thrive from the lessons of different styles and processes engraved in various media contents. To sum up, this studio breaks through my narrow understanding of the editor’s role by showcasing how the editor is vital in storytelling. I hope that my experience in class can help me understand the complex mechanisms that media experts are following to create media products from beginning to end. On the other side, I am excited to learn more about my identity as a media practitioner through a series of self-reflection and peer feedback. The most sought-after desire is not about trying to be different from everybody but rather about understanding inner talents.

2. Write a reflective post on each of the workshop activities:

Before the introduction of the shot lists in class, I never thought of preparing improvised shot lists in advance of the official shootings. This weak preparation may begin with me being obnoxious with the complex preproduction process. Even worse, I did not have a stable foundation of production. When I started filming the first few projects, there was no manual of camera direction, sizes, angles or even any description of the shot. Every gesture and text in the final footage was out of my unscripted thoughts at that definite moment. I made the same precarious mistakes as every beginner has gone through. The ubiquity of self-paced programs and short courses on the internet used to get my insecure belief that I could master any skill without having paid thousands for university (which turned out to be a hoax). Basically, I was trapped in the paradox of choices. Believe me or not, I have learnt two hard lessons: first of all, there is absolutely no overnight success, keep grinding, and the result will come, and secondly, focus on your goal, and do not let any distraction delude you with sparkling glitters.  I have spent countless hours trying to comprehend why the outcome does not match what I originally thought in my head.

(Below is one of the examples when I am picking up the camera and taking random shots)

And then, I was introduced to the magic of shot lists. Frankly, my first reaction when I saw the standard shot list was “Why do we even mess up with this?” (I believe the long time of dwindling in the same old mistakes led me astray). That epiphany moment always came with a surprise: I and my friends finished shooting three versions of Lenny scripts in the span of one and a half hours.

Simple Shot List Template-1

(My magical Shot List)

If I have to compare the before and after workflow when I know this practice, it will be between you riding on a naive horse versus riding on a Lamborghini. The process is now to create the script first, and transform it into practical words of production (shot descriptions, angles, movement). As a result, I do not need to wait for a genius moment and mess up later in the post-production (moment of happiness, kudos for giving me a Lambo, Mr. Sebastian!). The detailed description also helps me prioritize the shot, avoid time waste and achieve the best workflow. One important thing to note is that during the editing phase, it comes as peace of mind because I know what the director/producer wants to achieve out of the shots. Good communication will follow since we grasped the basic idea of how we create the final products.

Also, one of the interesting lessons I learned from the class is the process of preparing footage for later editing.

(I am in the studioooooo)

(if you ever feel useless, just remember I had to figure out the difference between Alt/Opt keys for half an hour)

(darling, he is a 10 but he uses Mac instead of Window)

Honestly, my first session at the edit suite was completely a mess (however, I start to withstand my marriage with Mac, which I will explain in the later part of the post). Nevertheless, the process makes a lot of sense when I actually spend time at home looking at the ‘Prepping your edit’ document. It is really good when the teacher shows us that we need to create the following folders in the computer system before importing: Footage, Audio, Music, and Premiere. I always tend to forget to create files for my footage and audio before I import them into Premier Pro. It turns out that all the files are jammed in the list view and I have to reorganize everything into bins again. While the ‘Prepping your edit’ document mainly takes the assumption that we also have an external audio recorder and secondary audio files (which is not true in real life), I find it fascinating the way Mr. Sebastian syncs the audio in his project. Normally, I do not rename the audio track and it took me quite a bit of time to match the right external audio files to the footage. Furthermore, I notice that he also uses ‘Synchronize’ to sync the footage video, footage audio, and external audio clip. Otherwise, I usually compare the waveform between two audio tracks and try to match them at best (Synchronize can do better but sometimes it is quite quirky and does not work effectively. Please fix the bug, Adobe). Personally, I recommend you to learn by heart these short cuts; Ctrl + K, Q and W, Shift + Del. The descriptions of the shots are highly recommended so you do not need to double check on the Shot List again. I am interested in the colour labelling to indicate the shot quality. I must try to give reminders to me when I am doing editing of which shot works best.

(Come back to the suite again today and try the prepping methods again. The description is hella awesome)

3. The initiative post:

I have an opportunity to see the breakdown of one of the Interstellar scenes by the film editor, Sven Pape, who is also the owner of the Youtube channel, This Guy Edits. Honestly, I was not so much a fan of Interstellar when I first watched it with my sister a few years ago. My impression of Christopher Nolan’s films was the Dark Night Series, Dunkirk (also a well-executed and edited film), and Inception. However, after I watched this editing breakdown and analysis, this might be one of the moments that I am indebted an apology to Nolan. The scene shown in the clip is the final third act of the movie when Cooper enters the multi-dimensional tesseract as the black hole engulfs him. It is really interesting to see how the editors can subtly interconnect every element of scenes in different acts to create solid and structured storytelling. My opinion of a ‘genius’ movie is one that does not need to tell the meaning of the story explicitly. You should let the audience have that epiphany moment of “Wow, how could that sh*t happen?” (It was me after rewatching the breakdown the third time). My first watch of Interstellar was a failure because I was caught up in the complex lectures on quantum physics and avoided the instilled meaning of the film. When Sven Pape dissects the third act and categorises each cut into past, present and timeless order (he mentions it at 7:22), I am truly surprised by how scenes can actually support each other perfectly. I know that many filmmakers and editors use the past scene to simply provoke a memory or remind the audience that an event already happened. I used to do the same and it turned out that putting vignette and grain effects did not help me make a better film. Every scene serves a purpose and even minor details can be used to solve the issue later (We can see the ‘ghost’ at the beginning was her dad trying to communicate). The switch between past and present daughter in Murphy’s room is completely not cliche. It leads to the twist in 14:47 when Cooper realizes ‘they’ and the fact that he can contribute to the time is actually the connection between father and daughter. At the first sight, it feels like this type of editing is against the traditional third act evolution – from past to present). It makes sense and doesn’t make sense at the same time. Nolan doesn’t avoid any single detail in the scene, even the smallest one can be a key factor in story development. What he shows us in Interstellar is that the watch, the code, and the toy can explain the exposition act of the story. I love how Sven mentions ‘The Dark Night of Soul’ in Cooper’s desperate effort to tell his daughter persuaded him to stay and he breaks apart. It just fits perfectly with his regret for leaving his daughter and their tension unresolved in the past. He also mentions the ‘Ticket Time Bomb’, which I usually use in my clip to create an intense atmosphere for the video. Last but not least, it shows me that editing is everything in filmmaking and vice versa. With the intricate interwoven network of planning stages, we can see how every process links together. This is truly the art of storytelling.

Here is the reference you guys are asking for:

This Guy Edits. “Interstellar’s Editing Is Out of This World”. This Guy Edits. Sep 20, 2020. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Y8BVC5-fuA>

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