The first thing that comes to mind of how my editing practice has is in numerically organising footage in a specific way being scene-shot-number has helped me out a lot. This especially applies to when following a script or shot list I have made or need to follow as I like to stay organised and have my footage in an order that is logical to me.
Being in charge of directing, writing and shooting from a shot list for narrative based videos has been quite new to me during the first couple of weeks. In the pre production phase of shooting this has made me think not only about shots that are mandatory to get but also how they can be put together in a way that creates a story. My current work flow I have discovered that currently works best for me was writing out all the shots I can think of (at least one wide, medium and close up for flexibility when editing) for a specific part of the narrative I had in mind and then listing them out in an order for how I see these shots in the edit. Also prioritising capturing a wide or master shot that covers the whole scene is something else that I have been thinking of when shooting as it acts like a safety net in the editing phase if not enough has been shot.
During the editing phase, I have been thinking about emotion more in relation to Walter Murch’s The Rule Of Six guide to editing in thinking about what I want the series of shots to convey and how I can edit them in an effective way to convey those feelings. This also applies to when watching media like films where I try to be more observant and take note of what I find interesting and stands out to me in a scene or series of shots and what it makes me feel in relation to the narrative or overall message or concept told or explored.
Scene from Memento
My chosen scene is from the film Memento directed by Christopher Nolan. Overall as a whole, the way Memento was very interesting in that it is based around the concept of discontinuity editing which I have not seen a lot of in films. Memento used scenes in colour that have a sequence of events that occur in reverse chronological order whilst inserts of black and white scenes told backstories and information on who the protagonist Leonard is in a chronological order was unique and an interesting way of telling a story to me and well expressed Leonard’s condition of his short term memory.
One of the scenes that stuck out to me that well expressed Leonard psychology and really brought me into his world and perspective was the scene where Leonard attacks Natalie but cannot remember shortly after what he did. The scene opens with Leonard sitting on Natalie’s couch and is oblivious and confused as to why Natalie is stressed. The pacing of this part in the scene is cut with the camera moving quickly following Natalie circulating the living room and made me feel like I am confused with Leonard as to what is happening. What is interesting to me as well is how the camera follows Natalie taking the pens to prevent Leonard from writing down what happens due to his short term memory loss but that comes to Leonards realisation later on.
As Natalie gets angrier, the rhythm changes as shot takes become a bit longer especially in the over the shoulder shots of Natalie venting. These shot compositions then nicely transition and match to Natalie circulating Leonard with the camera slowly zooms in on Natalie criticising Leonard helping create and replicate a claustrophobic and more intense atmosphere that Leonard is in.
The sequence of shots afterwards when Natalie walks outside changes to shot with a shaky camera movement as Leonard tries to find a pen to write down what happened. The change in pacing of the shots not as steady and controlled as before to me symbolised and reflected on the chaos and urgency of Leonard trying his best to not forget what has happened.
Another part of the scene I found to stand out was the cuts between Lenny looking out the window to Natalie and her looking through the window as if she is breaking the fourth wall. This really to me I found was quite abstract in the scene as there is no really other shot like it but is effective in situating the audience in the perspective of the protagonist watching Natalie being psychologically manipulative in waiting for Leonard to forget then looping back to the narrative convention of Memento of the scene unveiling an answer to a question brought up in what was shown before.
Significant Moments Cut Down
Significant Moments Interview Cut
A difficulty I encountered when cutting the interview footage was down to around two minutes and deciding what to cut out. After reading the Mark Le Fanu text On Editing, I discovered that the way I was editing was manipulating a truth and a memory of the interviewee to tell an engaging story and in a way to keep the viewers engaged. I found this relating to the end segment where I ended up rearranging a few sentences around so that the overall narrative would make better sense and flow better from the viewer’s perspective. For the cut down edit afterwards, it was a lot easier making it as compared to the 2 minute cut as by that time I had an idea of how to create an edit that did not give too much away in the story but was still engaging and interesting at giving some insight into who the character is.
Since there was no way the scene that the interviewee told could be recreated again, for inserting b-roll I was quite selective in choosing footage that could assist in matching the visual images the interviewee was describing in a literal and symbolic way. I found this process to be eye opening in the sense that as an editor I was incharge of transporting the viewers into the interviewee’s perspective. This applies especially to the overall tone and emotions I wanted to accentuate and match to stay true to how the interviewee told the story.
I also found it challenging but sort of enjoyable in working with music this time around to implement in the interview clip. I had difficulty finding a suitable track so I just resorted to relaxed ambient music which I used in the beginning which I think created a sad but also nostalgic and sentimental feeling the interviewee had in retelling the story. Afterwards I managed to find a more upbeat and happier track which definitely assisted in changing the mood and rhythm of the interview and I saw fit in telling what she did being a mischievous child who was unaware of what she was getting herself into.
2. Chosen Activity: Class 4.1 Short Story
For my short story I tried to experiment with different rhythms and tempos in the edit. The overall concept of the way I edited my footage together was having close up shots with tighter compositions in a fast rhythm in representing a claustrophobic feeling of me trapped in my room to then wider shots with longer takes of peacefulness of walking outside taking photos.
Whilst editing the first half of my short story where it involved the fast in pace rhythm, I thought the use of juxtaposing visuals of being inside and outside and cropping in progressively on shots and making them have dutch angle composition were suitable in order to convey that something was wrong to the main character and making the scene a bit more intense. However whilst doing this I thought in relation to Mark Le Fanu reading that editing is in some cases lying and false in that it can be manipulated to and create an unrealistic perspective from the character in an attempt to evoke an emotion or tone to the story. But with changing editing footage in a way it takes the everyday human perspective to more of an extreme level, it can serve a purpose in creating an engaging story where it can be compelling and engaging to the viewers. This to me can also apply to creatively incorporating sound and audio which I found challenging. In the part where there were fast cuts, I thought it would be suitable and worth a try to progressively make the audio that was paired with the footage progressively louder. Even though this flash of sounds is not realistic, it serves a purpose in heightening the intensity to amplify this emotion of feeling trapped.
For the wider shots towards the end in being intentional in how to shoot and edit them, it made me more aware and realise what Mark Le Fanu was talking about in editors having the control to be “emotionally manipulative” in presenting to the audience how they feel when watchings. In this part of the short story I prioritised the emotion of feeling calm and relaxed when going outside and seeing these cherry blossom trees.