Editing (1) : Cutting Down Clips

Before we got into other aspects of editing, I began to cut down the length of clips in order for the opening to flow better. I cut out where the cameraman tells the actors to "go", or when there is too much footage to fit into the correct space of time.

Except when trimming the parts where the actors are told when to go, I began to realise that there were certain problems with cutting down our clips.

We filmed a lot of our movie next to a main road. This meant that when cutting unecessary footage, cars would appear and disappear and the sound would jump depending on how many cars were on the road before and after the cut. For example, I want to cut one of our first clips to trim down the space between Emma walking out of the shot and the Hooded Figure walking in. I want to cut the clip - due to the fact that the hooded figure has to be told when to go - so that it ends here:

You can see there is a black car approaching along the main road on the left. Where I want to cut the clip to:

The black car has gone and another car is now approaching.

I have decided that there are two ways to effectively hide this is to zoom into the clips. This means that, if positioned correctly, the parts affecting the flow of the footage will be gone from the shot.

I could either zoom into the clips and position them so that the road is hidden, like this:

However, this obstructs the shot of Emma significantly. Furthermore, I could zoom in to hide the Hooded Figure:

This means that the shot of Emma is only partially obstructed and we are still able to identify where Emma is walking. I also feel it looks the most natural shot of the two.

I have been doing this throughout, however I haven't found any problems other than the jumping of objects. When I do find this, I ensure that I use the same method as I have for the clip shown above.