My Understanding of Editing Technqiues

Whilst creating the Imagine Dragons Believer music video I took screenshots of the process.

The following image is a screenshot of me creating the Mutli-Camera Source Sequence.

To create a Multi-Camera Source Sequence, you have to select every single file which contains both music and audio from the bin that you have created earlier which contains all of the footage including the master of the song included.

This is how the icon for both the video and audio looks like.

After you selected all of the files which look like the files on the right, you right click the selected files and select "Create Multi-Camera Source Sequence".

Once the menu opens you then get a lot of settings to play around with, the most common which is shown on the screen shot to the left.

After pressing okay there will be a sequence created on the bottom of the bin, to make things easier i placed the sequence into a bin which i named 'Sequence'

To then place the sequence on the timeline you select and right click the sequence which you just created and then select 'Use in Timeline'.

To use the multi cam sequence you need to select the Multi Camera setting which is highlighted in blue on the image to the left.

If that icon can not be seen on the tool bar above the timeline you need to press the '+' icon and find it in the extended menu, after finding it you need to drag it onto the original tool bar.

After selecting the Multi Camera icon, the screen will change into what is seen on the image to the left.

All of the videos that were previously selected have now merged with the Master Audio File which contains the song, this allows us to create a basic music video by literally playing the music and then pressing the different videos. You can see what video you selected by the yellow outline on the multi camera source sequence, you can either press the videos with your mouse or use the number key pad on the right had side of the keyboard. This creates a simple shot sequence which can be changed and adapted later on in the process. For example if one of the shots is slightly out of beat you can use the ripple edit tool to adjust the mistake.

In the screenshot to the left because of a slight problem that we had with aligning the audio with the video I decided to place in video footage without any audio in it so that it will fit well with the music video.
To do this i found videos which consisted out of only video, i then placed an in and out point by using the I and O keys. afterwards i dragged the video onto the timeline and created what is above.

Here i used the Opacity meter to have two different videos with different opacities so that the two would merge into one.

To do this i two different videos with the same length and i placed them above each other on different timelines. After that i used the line which can be seen in the middle of the actual video as shown in the screenshot here. The line in the middle can be adjusted either up or down, also it can be adjusted with a pen tool to have a fade effect. where as here i only wanted to fade the two together.

In this screenshot you can see how to adjust col`our into either one or all shots in the sequence.

To do this you need to select a video in the timeline, afterwards you go to the top bar and press Colour. This will then show up and you will be able to adjust the colour of the video as shown in the screenshot to the left.

In the screenshot below you can see how time can be adjusted in a motion capture. To use this you need to right click on the timeline where the video is presented, and then choose the option "Clip Speed / Duration". After that the window which is shown below will open and you will be able to decide how quick or slow the video must be. 50 % is half of the speed and 150 % will be twice as fast where as -100 % would make the video go in reverse.

In this screen shot i am showing how to find the ripple edit tool to edit the video, you simply press the blue highlighted tool on the left of the screenshot and then use it on the timeline. afterwards there two screens that show on the main screen where you can adjust the selected video to be cut in a certain place.

In this screenshot i show how the pen tool can be used to cut the opacity in a certain shot, As you can see there is a line going through the videos in the timeline, they can be adjusted by using the pen tool and dragging the line down.

In this screenshot I use the Marker to make an edit to the beat of the song. To do this I simply pressed 'M' when i wanted the shot to change. after doing this you need to count how many markers you have created and then select the amount of videos which will fit with the markers. After selecting the videos you right click on them and select "Use on unmarked markers" then they should just appear on the timeline.

Evaluation of my own Continuity Sequence

The idea behind my short continuity exercise is that there is a student who disobeyed the rules in college and decided to roll a cigarette in lesson when the teacher was not in the room.
The first few cuts involved a eye match line shot to the tobacco, filters and rizzla.
I used straight cuts which switched really quickly from one to another to show that he wanted to roll a cigarette quickly. I used different angles of the same shot to show the audience that there is an aspect of action in this scene as I will be fighting against time due to the next shot coming up.

As i am rolling the cigarette there is a cut to Sean walking down the corridor, there is no transition just a quick cut, this is a "meanwhile" cut as this is placed in between the shot of me rolling a cigarette. this is to add tension to the scene as if what will happen next.

After this shot there is a match cut on action, Sean is walking up to the door and as he touched the handle the shot changes to a close up of the hand touching the handle and after that there is a shot of the door opening from the inside of the room as he walks in.

After this sequence of shots there is an establishing shot showing the audience that the scene is in face in a college. Sean is on the left and I am on the right not breaking the 180 degree rule. This shot is here to show show both of the expressions of the two people, Sean is surprised

that I decided to roll a cigarette in a class room and I am expressionless showing the audience that I am in fact a rebel.

In the final two shots there is a shot reverse shot action going on, where there is a little plot twist in the script, after i say that i am rolling a cigarette, Sean asks for one, where the audience should think that I would be getting in trouble for breaking the rules. Yet again in the shot reverse shot i did not break the 180 degree rule.

Evaluation of a film extract for continuity

The film sequence that I decided to use was "Brian and Dom Assemble The Team || Fast Five"

180 Degree Rule

The 180 degree rule can be seen when Roman and Tej meet. One person is on the right and the other is on the left and the camera stays on one side of the two as if it were to turn on the other side it would confuse the audience.

This rule is always used when people are talking to each other, unless there's a really intensive fight scene but directors also don't like breaking the rule often in fight scenes.

Establishing Shot

The establishing shot shows the audience where the character may be. In this example there's a massive shot of Rio using a drone with it turning slightly to the left following one massive building showing the audience that the actors are in that building. the following shot of the three together confirms that the establishing shot has followed continuity.

Eyeline Match Cut

In the first few seconds of the sequence you can see the eyeline match cut.

Dom and Brian are looking off into something we don't see, afterwards we see a shot of Mia Toretto and then a cut back to Dom and Brian. This tells us that the two were looking at Mia.

This shot is good at showing the audience things that we don't always see in the frame. Another example would be when Roman walks in to the facility they all end up "assembling" in and he just stares into the distance when all of a sudden there's a cut to a car pulling up and then another cut back to Roman. Obviously Roman was looking at the car and the simple Eyeline match cut shows this to us.

Match Cut on Action

Match Cut on Action is commonly used for continuity reasons, this does not have to be done all the time (I couldn't find an example in this sequence). The reason why this works well is because continuity is a massive part of every movie. To create this effectively you can shoot from either one or two cameras from different angles, (remembering not to break the 180 degree rule) the two shots may differ slightly for example someone is pulling something out of their pocket, you will have to record the person pulling the thing out of his pocket twice making sure that he pulled it out in the same manner in both shots. One of the shots may be from far away showing the audience the full body of the person and the other shot may be a little bit closer up to the person showing us the item and the expression on the persons face. The two shots have to be made identical as the point of the match cut on action is to merge the two clips into one clean cut. If the clip is slightly staggered the effect won't be as good.

Shot/Reverse Shot

This can be seen when Dom and Brian are talking to each other. The camera does not break the 180 degree rule. The camera is switching from Dom to Brian several times when they're talking to each other, this shows us that they are in fact talking to one another.

This technique is common when people are interacting with each other

The Continuity System of Editing

The Continuity System of Editing

The continuity system is a set of rules which have evolved to help audiences understand the relationship of one shot to the next when editing.  Every edit has the potential to confuse the audience, so the rules of the continuity system help stop this confusion.

-180 Degree Rule
The 180 degree rule is where the camera position in editing does not cross an imaginary line between characters and or  items to not confuse the audience. This rule can be broken as long as the scene is simple and usually with one character.
You can position the camera anywhere on one side of the character as long as it does not cross the '180 degree line' which will make the scene really confusing

-Shot / Reverse Shot
Shot reverse shot is usually used within conversation between two characters. Usually an over the shoulder shot is used between the two characters which shows that they are talking. If this rule is used correctly you don't even need audio to show the audience that they characters are interacting with one another.
This rule and the 180 degree rule go well together because if you cross the line during a conversation the places of the characters will switch and confuse the audience.


-Establishing Shot / Reestablishing Shots

The establishing shot can be anywhere in a scene as long as it shows the audience where the scene is taking place. For example two characters may have a evil plan and they are discussing it in a dark room, after the conversation the camera leaves the room through the window and pans out across the city showing the audience where the scene is taking place, the camera then stops at a bank yet again showing the audience that the evil plan may be associated with the bank giving the audience a sense of genre that the movie may be.
In the Marvel's The Avengers this scene establishes where the battle is and who is in the battle, the camera goes from one avenger to another whilst showing the destruction of New York City.

-Eye line Match Cut
The eye line match shot allows the audience to see what the character is looking at. For example a person is sitting down on a stool and looks at a set of keys, the camera then cuts to look at the pair of keys and then cuts back to the character. This would be the eye line match shot.

-Match Cut On Action
A match on action shot is a cut in between a single action, for example, a character is lying on bed with the covers to the left of him, the shot is from an aerial view which shows the whole bed, the character then swings left and grabs the covers, then the camera is cut to the right side of the bed where the character swings over and covers himself to then close his eyes and fall asleep.