Unit 16: Film and Video Editing Techniques Megan Brown

Portfolio of Evidence to be presented by each student for:

Unit 16: Film and Video Editing Techniques

SOCIAL ACTION & THE COMMUNITY FILM ASSIGNMENT

Name: Megan Brown

Please provide a written comment that deals with all the italicized tasks below. You don’t
need to write about all of listed content but it essential that you write about a minimum of
two of the sub headings for the learning outcomes.

Unit content

LO1. UNDERSTAND THE DEVELOPMENT AND PRINCIPLES OF EDITING

LO1.1 Development:

In-camera editing; In camera editing is a technique where you film every shot and scene of
your film in the intended screening order, as so then when you are finished filming
everything your film is in the correct order and there is no further editing needed to put
your film in the order later.

Following the action; When you are filming an action shot you won’t be able to capture the
whole scene with a stationary camera on a tripod, so as to be able to film every part of the
scene a camera mounted on a dolly is normally used (although sometimes a crane can be
used instead). This because a dolly is on tracks and can be moved very easily and smoothly
while the camera is rolling to follow the action as it is going on.

Multiple points of view; Multiple points of view is when you show multiple characters’
points of view during a scene. A point of view shot is when you film a scene from a
character’s point of view to make is feel like the view is watching something through the
eyes of the character.

Shot variation; Shot variation is when you use a Varity of different shots (e.g. a long shot
and then a close up) in a scene to help emphasize something or pull the views focus to
something important.
Unit 16: Film and Video Editing Techniques Megan Brown

Manipulation of diegetic time and space; Diegetic time and space is the natural sounds,
passing of time and visuals of the current location you are filming a scene at. Manipulating
the diegetic time and space is when you speed up the normal rate of time passing e.g. for a of a close up*
*Example
montage. This is to show the audience that much time has passed even though it might
have only been 5 minutes of viewing time.

Film; Film is a story, event or sequence captured by a camera as a set of moving images to
then be shown to an audience of viewers for their enjoyment.

Video; Video is a recording of something that is then made into a visual viewing form.
Digital; Digital media is digitized content that can be sent over the internet networks. This
can include text, audio, video, and graphics. This means many things such as that news from
a T.V. network, newspaper and magazine that is presented on a Web site or blog can fall
into this category.

+
Task 1. Provide a written report to explain your understanding of the above media terms,
also provide written details about camera and audio equipment you use to record
production work. P1 M1 D1

Camera equipment

1. DSLR Camera
2. Tripod
3. Boom mic
4. Shotgun mic
5. Box lights
6. LED light pack

LO1.2 Purposes: storytelling, e.g. engaging the viewer, development of drama, relationship
to genre, creating motivation; combining shots into sequences; creating pace.

Storytelling; Storytelling is when you present events as words, sounds and images are of
such interest and novelty to an audience. The purpose of storytelling within your film is to
capture the viewer’s attention and interest, making them want to continue watching your
film

Engaging the viewer; The purpose of engaging the viewer is to make them feel involved with
your film. This then makes them feel more connected to your film making them want to
watch it more.

Development of drama; Drama development is when you bring in a sudden story problem
or issue with the soul intent of it creating some drama within the story. The purpose of
development of drama is to shock and surprise the viewer, to keep the viewers interested in
the story and keep them coming back to see if there is a resolution to the problem.
Unit 16: Film and Video Editing Techniques Megan Brown

Relationship to genre; The word 'genre' originates from the French word that means ‘class’
or 'type'. A genre can be recognised by its common set of distinguishing features or
iconography.
Some examples of the most well know genres are: - Action
- Adventure
- Comedy
- Drama
- Crime and Gangster
- Epics/Historic
- Horror
- Musical
- Science Fiction
- War
- Western
- Romance
When it comes to the editing of different genres of film, individual techniques and styles are
used to illustrate the chosen genre. The edit style of each different genre changes the way
we see the story, the way we think about the story and it also will alter our emotions and
reactions.

Here I will be looking at the relationship to the genre ‘Horror’. The scenes are always very
dark with a lot of very low-key lighting. The few colours that are featured are mostly black,
greens, blues and reds (for blood). The characters are almost always a very lonely and
psychotic antagonist, who very often will throw caution to the wind in order to investigate a
stranger noise or a shadowy figure, almost always ending in their death. This main
character(s) typically live in a small isolated town or visit a place that has been abandoned
for many ominous reasons. Horror films continuously involve many disturbing sounds or
sorts, giving the whole film, a creepy feel throughout and thus making the views feel very
uneasy. It’s not a horror film without unnatural and sharp camera movement to help create
fear and terror within the audience where there are many 'jerky' and 'jump-out' moments.
POV shots are also greatly used, either from the POV of the protagonist hiding from the
antagonist, or also there can be POV shots from the antagonist trying to find the hiding
protagonist.

Creating motivation; Creating motivation is extremely important when it comes to the

production of a film or a television programme, as it is the main feature used to help keep
the target audience interested in the media product. In order to effectively edit a film or
programme together the editor must continuously look for ways to add motivation in their
cuts, this then will affect and determines how the audiences feels about the product.
Cutting from one character to another or cutting from one scene to another helps to
influence how the audience will then feel about a certain scene. Each cut will help to
motivate the viewers emotions and then should cause them to either react in a positive or
negative way to the said scene.

Combining shots into sequences; Combining shots into sequences is the process of putting
all of your shots together, making sure they seamlessly flow into each other. Firstly, you
need to individually edited each of your shots so you can then place them into a successful
Unit 16: Film and Video Editing Techniques Megan Brown

seamless sequence. The quality and standard of your editing will determine how smooth
and seamless the flow of the sequence will be. The editing needs to be as perfect as
possible, you need to ensure that it is almost invisible to the audiences.

*Example of combining shots

into a sequence*

Creating pace; Creating pace within a film is where the film speeds up or slows down in
certain parts of the films story. The pace changes the way the audiences view film, this then
helps to make them more understand it in different ways. An example of the type of films
that would use a fast pace would be action films, this is because there are normally many
car chase or running away from something scene where a fast pace would be very
appropriate. To the create the fast pace of the scene, shots are cut very quickly and move to
other different shots to help create the feeling of a fast pace. A more slow pace would be
used in a drama/love story type of film. This is because it lets the audience see and fully
understand the scene and characters without them getting distracted by quickly cut shots.
This is done by having longer shots in your scenes.

Task 2. Describe how the above media terms are important to moving image productions.
Give an account of you are intending to employ editing techniques and processes to tell
your story? P1 M1 D1

LO1.3 Conventions and techniques

Seamless; Seamless editing is when you edit two different shots of your film together to
create a neat, smooth, seamless shot of film that runs into each piece of each other easily
and the edit looks almost invisible to the viewer. This could be you taking two different
shots from your film that were shot at totally different times, for example as the character
walk down the same street and into the very same building, you would mirror the image to
help create a seamless edit.

Continuity; Continuity editing is the process of cutting your film to keep the flow of the shot
together as fluidly as possible. Continuity means you most take a lot of care to make sure
there are no mistakes within your film, this would include: -
- Lighting
- Audio
Unit 16: Film and Video Editing Techniques Megan Brown

- props and other mise en scene

elements such as their placement.
- Wardrobe
- Movement
For example, if your main character is holding a bottle in one angle of a scene and then they
are they not holing said bottle in another angel of the same scene and then you cut back the
first angel and they are holding the bottle again, this would be a shameful continuity error.

Motivated; A motivated edit is an edit which is motivated by what the viewer sees or hears.
A motivated edit sometimes will break the illusion of continuity. A motivated cut is used
when there is a reason or a need for a different type of shot, for example when an actor
looks to one side in a dramatic scene, you would then cut to whatever the actor is supposed
to be looking at.

Montage; The definition of the word montage is "a single pictorial composition made by
juxtaposing or superimposing many pictures or designs." However, within the art of
filmmaking, a montage is an editing technique in which shots are juxtaposed in an often
fast-paced fashion that compresses time and to convey a lot of information in a relatively
short period of time. An example of where a montage would be used is mostly train scenes,
someone trying to get something done fast, a trip somewhere or a couple falling in lover
together.

Jump-cutting; A jump cut is a transition that happens between two shots, this gives makes it
appear to "jump" due to the way the shots are framed in relation to each other. Jump cuts
are usually very fast, which then gives a sense of confusion in the space and time or the
scene. Jump cuts are usually used to help keep the flow of continuity.

Parallel editing; Parallel editing or sometimes called ‘cross cutting’ is the technique of
alternating back and forth between two or more scenes that are happening simultaneously
but in different locations. For example, in a scene you see a woman who is running down
the street, and then scene cuts to a man sitting at a restaurant eating alone. He then looks
sadly at his watch. Then then scene cuts back to the woman running, this is to give the
effect that in this sense these two events are happening simultaneously and are connected.

180o rule; The 180-degree rule is a basic guideline regarding the on-screen spatial
relationship between a character and another character or the object within a scene. There
is an imaginary line called the axis that connects the characters and by keeping the camera
on one side of this axis for every shot in the scene, the first character will always be frame
right of the second character, who is then always frame left of the first. If the camera passes
over the 180-degree axis, it is called crossing the line or jumping the line.

splicing; Traditionally film used to be edited by someone cutting sections of the film roll and
rearranging or discarding pieces. The process is very straightforward and mechanical. If
needed a film could be edited with only a pair of scissors and some splicing tape, although in
reality a splicing machine is the only real practical solution. A splicing machine allows film
footage to be lined up and held in place while it is cut or spliced together.
Unit 16: Film and Video Editing Techniques Megan Brown

Transitions, e.g. cut, dissolve, fade, wipe; Cut: The cut is one of most basic type of shot
transition, the cut is the most common way to join two shots. It is basically the continuation
of two different shots within the same time and space.

Dissolve and Fade: A dissolve is a slow gradual transition that happens from one image or
scene to another. The terms fade-out (also called fade to black) and fade-in are also a type
of dissolve and are also used to describe a transition to and from a blank image. This is in
contrast to a cut where there is no such transition.

Wipe: A wipe is a type of film transition where one shot is replaced another shot that is
travelling from one side of the frame to another or with a special type of shape.

Cutaways; A cutaway shot is the interruption of already playing scene by inserting a view of
something or someone else. It is typically followed up by a cut back to the first shot, when
the cutaway avoids a jump cut. The cutaway shot doesn’t really contribute any dramatic
content of its own, but it is used to help you put together a longer scene.

Point of view shot; A Point Of View shot, also known as a POV shot is angle that shows what
a character is looking at from their point of view. Typically, POV shots are placed in between
a shot of a character looking at something and a shot showing the character’s reaction.

Shot-reverse-shot; Shot reverse shot or also known as shot/counter shot is when one
character is shown looking at another character who is often off-screen, and then the other
character is shown looking back at the first character.

Providing and withholding information; Providing and withholding information is for

example, in a scene you see a shadowy figure creeping up on a man sitting alone, then you
see only a hand with a black glove on hitting the man over the back of the head, leaving him
dead on the floor. In this example you have with held the information of who this
mysterious killer is. Withholding information is important because you are leaving the
viewer guessing and in suspense, making sure they come back for more.
Unit 16: Film and Video Editing Techniques Megan Brown

Editing rhythm; Editing rhythm, also known as rhythmic editing is when the relations
between your shots purpose is to control the films pace. Some of the characteristics of
rhythmic editing are that the shot's physical length corresponds to a measurable duration.
The viewers can tell when a film does not have rhythm as they can sense the sudden
transitions or when there is an audio pops, even when the composition lacks balance or
when the scene was shot without proper white balance.

Crosscutting; Crosscutting is mostly used in film to establish when action is occurring at the
same time as something else and it is usually in the same place. In a crosscut, the camera
will cut away from one action to another action, this then suggest the simultaneity of these
two actions.

Cutting to soundtrack; Cutting to soundtrack is a technique where each cut in a scene is

influenced by the style of music heard playing in the background of the scene. So, for
example, if the scene is a sad one, a slow song will be heard and if there is a car chase scene,
the music will be fast and intense.

Task 3. Provide a written report to explain what the above editing conventions and
techniques mean and give an account of the editing techniques you plan to use in your
production. P1 M1 D1

LO2. BE ABLE TO PREPARE MOVING IMAGE MATERIAL FOR EDITING

LO2.1 Preparation techniques:

Checking material for faults; Checking your material for faults is when you go back and look
over all the footage you have taken after a shoot. In doing this you will be able to see if you
have made any faults or mistakes and also to make sure if all the footage has saved
correctly, if so you now know what to go back and redo.

Logging and storing clips in folder; Logging and storing clips into folders is when you transfer
all you video footage from your camera onto a computer for later use and editing. Once the
footage is stored onto the computer it will be saved into you file system on your hard drive
(you can also do this with an external hard drive) where you can now categorize and
organise your video files.

Creating libraries/bins; Libraries and bins are two of the most needed elements also one of
the simplest to create within editing. To create these elements, you firstly click on “File”
then “New”, once you have done that a drop-down menu will appear. Within the drop-
down menu you will have the option to either select “Bin” or “Library”, you click on the one
you want to create.

Creating projects; Creating new projects is also a very easily done task. Firstly you click on
”New”, once you have done that a drop-down menu will appear, within the drop-down
menu you then click “Project”. Once you have done that a new mini menu you appear, this
is where you can input the name and select what setting you want for this project.
Unit 16: Film and Video Editing Techniques Megan Brown

Clarifying the purpose of the work with a client; Clarifying the purpose of the work with the
client is extremely important when it comes to commission work. You should always make
sure that there is a lot of talking and communication between you can your client, this is so
you make sure you are giving the clients exactly what they want and there are no mistakes.
This could be done in the form of a client brief.

Task 4. Write about and describe the editing terms and processes mentioned above

LO2.2 Preparing to edit:

Importing clips to documents folder;

Importing your clips just makes editing a lot more quick and easy because everything you
need to all together in one place and can be added to your timeline as and when you need
it.

Creating libraries bins and saving to project document folder;

Unit 16: Film and Video Editing Techniques Megan Brown

Bins are another great way of organising all your footage. You can use the bins to store
different types of footage so you can find and access what you are looking for. This makes
bin very useful as you know what clips are usable and which of them aren’t, this makes it so
you don’t have to scrub through all the footage to see what you want to use.

Timelines;

A timeline is where you organise, arrange and edit all your clips before you render them out
as the final finished project.

Storage and folder management of all film, audio and graphics;

Storage and folder management is when you sort out and categorise all your footage, audio
and graphics in labelled folders so they are much easier to be edited. In doing so you are
making it easier for you to know exactly where your flies are at all times when you need
something.

Formats; Within editing there are many different formats that you can
Store your photos and videos. These formats can dictate the quality and
Size of a chosen image or also the type of way it can be viewed. When I
Am capturing an image I normally do it in a RAW format as then I have
much more image quality to work with. When I have finished working
on my image I will then save it as a JPEG to my computer. The reason I
like to save my images as JPEG id because is the most universal, this
then meaning it is supported by a lot of different types of software.
Unit 16: Film and Video Editing Techniques Megan Brown

Resolution;

The resolution is the quality of which a video or image is, this affects the size that the file is
going to be. The higher you have the resolution the lager your save file is going to be.

Task 5. Provide screen shots of the editing techniques used. Command – Shift – 4 and select
the relevant material on screen.

Screen shots of clips, libraries/bins, projects, timeline, effects, transitions, graphics, titles,
credits etc.

LO3. BE ABLE TO EDIT MOVING IMAGE MATERIAL

LO3.1 editing technology:

Software applications; An application program is a computer program, they are designed to

perform a group of tasks, functions and activities for the benefit of us, the users. Software
applications, otherwise known as “End of user” programs are what allow you to do such
things as create documents, databases, design graphics and spreadsheets. The different
types of Software applications include: - Utility programs
- Bespoke
- Integrated
- Specific
- Generic

Hardware; Computer Hardware is all the physical components and devices that make up
your computer.
The hardware that makes up your actual computer system are: - ATX tower (or mid-tower)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------case.
- - Power Supply
- - CPU
- - ATX Motherboard
- - RAM / Memory
- - Graphics/video card
- - Cooling / Fans
Your computer will also need some peripherals. Peripherals are devices that are your
computer's core parts that involved in memory and processing. Peripherals can be put into
3 categories Input, Output and Storage.
Input: - keyboard
- Controller
Unit 16: Film and Video Editing Techniques Megan Brown

- Mouse
- webcam
- Microphone

Output: - Speakers
- Headphones
- Printer
- Screen

Storage: - Hard drive

High definition; High Definition, more commonly known as HD for short, is used to describe
a high-quality resolution such as 1920:1080, although 4k is considerably better than HD with
its 3840:2160 resolution.

Standard definition; Standard definition is when a film or video is only standard HD

definition instead of FHD (Full High Definition). Standard definition has a lower resolution at
only 1280;720 and a much smaller file size.

Hard disc; A hard disc is a rigid non-removable magnetic disk with a large data storage
capacity that is in your computer. Your hard disc can be read and written to.

Exporting productions; Exporting your productions is when you have completed your final
edit of your work and then compile it into one singular file document, this is so your product
can now be sent and viewed with the editing program.

File types, e.g. H264 quick time; High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) also revered to as
H.265 is a video compression standard, that when in use gives detailed video with very good
audio. H.265 is also one of the few possible successors to the most commonly used AVC.

Mov; Mov is a type of Mp4 format. Mov’s file size is reasonably small and is mostly used to
store video files in media devices.

Mp3; Mp3 is most commonly used for audio format as it has a very small file size, but
without losing any of the audio quality.

Compression; Compression is used when you want to send any large file. When you
compressing the file it gets changed into a different type of file than it was before, making it
take up much less storage, thus making it easier to send.

Task 6. Describe what editing techniques you used to produce the work and provide a list of
all editing equipment employed in production process.

LO3.2 Editing process: use appropriate techniques, e.g.

Unit 16: Film and Video Editing Techniques Megan Brown

Seamless; Seamless editing is a very vital when it comes to editing a film as it helps is ensure
that the viewers are engaged. If your edits are not completely seamless this can really take
the viewers attention away from the story of the film and ruining their viewing experience.

Continuity; Continuity editing is another majorly important part of editing when it comes to
keeping the viewer’s attention and focus on the story of the film. Continuity is when you
make sure that everything in the shots are always the same and there are no mistakes, for
example if there is a wide shot of a man running and he is wearing blue and white trainers,
then there is a close up of the same man’s legs running and he is now wearing plain white
running shoes, then you cut back to the wide shot and he is wearing the blue and white
trainers again.

Motivated; Motivated editing is important when it comes to story telling. A motivated cut is
when the film covertly cuts from the current scene to another as to not deviate from the
story and ruin the viewer’s emersion in the story. A flashback is an example of a motived
cut.

Montage; A montage in a film is a great way to show the passing of film time in a quick and
easy manner that doesn’t take anything away from the films story. A montage is mostly a
group of shots assembled together played in a commonly a fast paced manner, but this can
de different depending on the mood and tone of the scene.

Jump-cutting; Jump-cuts are a type of smooth transition cut, mostly used in a dialogue
heavy scene for a “shot-reverse-shot” this being one of the best ways to show a
conversation between two people.

Parallel editing; Parallel editing, also referred to as cross-cutting is when you are showing
two different scenes that are happening at the exact same time. Cross-cutting is mostly
used in film to build up tension or create suspense.

Use appropriate transitions: -

Cut; A cut is typically used in editing to transition from scenes. Cuts are normally very abrupt
transitions from one scene to another.

Dissolve; Dissolves are commonly used in editing when you want to change the films time or
location. A dissolve in a film is when one shot starts to dissolve into a completely different
shot of the film.

Fade; A fade is mostly used to “fade in” or “fade out” of a shot, it’s a gradual shift from one
image to another. The fade is most commonly in from back of out from black.

Wipe; A wipe is when you replace one image by moving in a different image over the top,
this is mostly done with a horizontal axis movement.
Unit 16: Film and Video Editing Techniques Megan Brown

Use appropriate conventions: -

Cutaways; Cutaways are mostly used to take the view away from the main camera roll.
Cutaways help add more to your story and also gives the viewer something new to focus on
during a long slow scene, this is so they wont lose interest.

Cutting on action; Cutting on action is used when there is a lot of interesting and fast paced
action happening in one scene. You will make your cuts to make sure you are flowing all the
best action, cutting from one shot to the next.

Creating juxtapositions; The act of creating juxtapositions is when you place two scene side
by side of each other in order to show the contrast between them. It is normally done with
two very different visual focus point, for example an old woman’s reflection in the mirror
and there is a photo of the same one in her youth stuck to the side of the mirror.

Intercutting; An intercut is used when you want to interrupt the narrative story of the film,
this is commonly done by the use of a flashback or forward.

Pace effectively; Pace is one the most important parts when it comes to making a film, it is
what dictates the rhythm and flow of your whole production. You can change the pace at
any time depending on what you want your film to convey, you can speed it up to add
suspense or you can also slow it down if you want to convey despair.

Convey information effectively; Conveying information to your viewers properly is

extremely important as so they wont miss any vital parts of the story. A viewer not
understanding what you are trying to say in your film could really confuse them and that
could lead to them not really liking your work.

Use sound to create impact; The sound within your film is one of the most impactful aspects
in film making. Different sounds can add just the right effect to a certain scene effortlessly
creating a tone and mood of your choosing. For example, say you where making a horror
film, a perfectly time knock out of nowhere can really create an eerie tone.

Synchronise sound and vision; When it comes to the sound and visuals with a film they must
be moulded together in perfect synchronicity. There is nothing more annoying and
emersion breaking than when you are watching something and the audio is out of sync.

Mix soundtracks; Mixing soundtracks is when you personally create a soundtrack for your
film on a Music Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) sound files. In doing so not only is your
films soundtrack unique you also wont have to pay any copyright like you would if you chose
to use someone else’s premade music.

Overlap sound; Overlapping sounds is when you add in sound effects and folio to your film
when editing, in doing this you can overlap different sounds to add substance to your films
audio. When overlapping sounds, you must be very careful and listen to everything many
times to make sure you get it right, as this process is very easily done wrong, taking away
from the audio instead of adding to it.
Unit 16: Film and Video Editing Techniques Megan Brown

Task 7. Describe editing techniques used and provide screen shots of editing techniques
employed

LO3.3 Post-production tools: -

On screen text; the “Text” tool is very useful when it comes of adding on screen text, you
can change a number thing about such as, size, colour and font, so you can make it just they
way you like. I mostly use the text tool for adding the title of my film to the start of a
production and then the credits at the end.

Image editing; Editing images is very important when adding them into your film. You can
colour correct the image so it matches your films colour pallet, or you can edit out mistakes.

Audio editing; When editing your films audio you need to match the sound design of your
production to get the feel and flow you want to convey in your film. Getting your audio right
is such and important part of your film as bad audio makes a film hard to watch and ruins
the viewers experience.

Task 8. What credit and title techniques, audio techniques and music clips did you use?

ASSESSMENT AND GRADING CRITERIA

In order to pass this unit, the evidence that the learner presents for assessment needs to
demonstrate that they can meet all the learning outcomes for the unit.

The assessment criteria for a pass grade describe the level of achievement required to pass
this unit.

To achieve a pass grade the evidence must show that the learner is able to:
Unit 16: Film and Video Editing Techniques Megan Brown

P1 Describe the development and principles of editing with some appropriate use of subject
terminology

P2 Apply editing preparation techniques with some assistance

P3 Apply editing techniques working within appropriate conventions and with some
assistance.

[CT]

To achieve a merit grade the evidence must show that, in addition to the pass criteria, the
learner is able to:

M1 Explain the development and principles of editing with reference to detailed illustrative
examples and with generally correct use of subject terminology

M2 Apply editing preparation techniques competently with only occasional assistance

M3 Apply editing techniques to a good technical standard showing some imagination and
with only occasional assistance.

To achieve a distinction grade the evidence must show that, in addition to the pass and
merit criteria, the learner is able to:

D1 Critically assess the development and principles of editing with supporting arguments
and elucidated examples, and consistently using subject terminology correctly

D2 Apply editing preparation techniques to a technical quality that reflects near-

professional standards, working independently to professional expectations

D3 Apply editing techniques to a technical quality that reflects near-professional standards,

showing creativity and flair and working independently.