Hi,
I?m new to filmmaking ? I?m 18 and just finishing my first film. It was a light hearted, action-adventure narrative short film. While doing the film I was lead to ask some very broad questions about the process of film-making. One of these in particular I wanted to discuss..and hopefully some of you can help me out. If ur short on time, skip to the qs below. Otherwise please read on:
I was shooting with DV on zero budget - I had no dollys, tracks carnes etc, so my camera was generally limited to pans, tilts or the occasional handheld shot. Thus I new I would have to do a lot of cutting, and repositioning each time there was any movement/or action, because I couldn?t follow it. Before I shot my film, I storyboarded every shot ? not in great detail, just moderate sketches to show me basic camera angles, composition etc. I sort of played the storyboards out in my mind to see if they?d work smoothly (generally they did). When it came to shooting, I found that because I was having to cut so much, especially during action sequences, I was having problems with the continuity of shots in editing ? primarily because the movement of the characters would vary slightly from one shot to the next. For example, person A might faint and person B runs over to catch them ? so I shoot it from the front, and then from the side, with the intention of cutting the two shots together mid-fall. However, in one shot Person A may have just hit the ground by the time they are caught, whereas in the other shot they are caught earlier. Hence they don?t cut together properly. I found such scenrios happening often, especially with more complicated sequences - and it can foten be very hard to tell they wont work until u get to editing. Often I found my self having to reshoot many scenes, at times requiring tens of takes before the actors give me the exact actions which I need for continuity in editing.
So this experience has basically led me to ask two broad questions:
1. In the real film world, especially during action sequences or sequences involving lots of movement/action, is it the norm to be getting the actors to complete tiny bits of a sequence at a time, with a particular emphasis on continuity of actions (often a painstaking process), so that all the shots will be put together in editing to make a cohesive sequence?
2. What then is the role of the editor, other than simply cutting and pasting the pieces of the storyboard together in the exact order drawn? If there are lots of tiny shots bits with the intention of creating a linear sequence, they have got no choice but to put it all together in the order of the story board which the director followed when he shot the film? Does the editor have a creative role then?
Anyway, that was a huge lot of text..Im sorry, and understand if none of you even got this far into the thread! But please, if u understand what Im getting at, and if u can help me out here, I would very much appreciate it.
Thanks
Hegs
So this experience has basically led me to ask two broad questions:
1. In the real film world, especially during action sequences or sequences involving lots of movement/action, is it the norm to be getting the actors to complete tiny bits of a sequence at a time, with a particular emphasis on continuity of actions (often a painstaking process), so that all the shots will be put together in editing to make a cohesive sequence?
No, the norm is to use multiple cameras. That's probably not the answer you were looking for so I'll try a shot at the real question. Which is better and I think it depends upon the scene. A lot of folks prefer to shoot the entire scenes from beginning to end then move the camera. If there is any acting it is far easier for the actors that way and probably a lot easier in editing. I have heard some times when its purely action that doing small segments works fine, that is what Robert Rodriguez did on El Mariachi. If there is a stunt/explosion or whatever involved you won't want to redo it over and over so you might try to get an extra camera that day.
2. What then is the role of the editor, other than simply cutting and pasting the pieces of the storyboard together in the exact order drawn? If there are lots of tiny shots bits with the intention of creating a linear sequence, they have got no choice but to put it all together in the order of the story board which the director followed when he shot the film? Does the editor have a creative role then?
You will find that things you thought would work, do not actually work on film. Slow pacing, things are confusing. A shot didn't come out the way you liked, something wasn't foreshadowed enough to really make it work. Editing is a huge part for most people. THen there is Hitchcock who probably had editors following exactly what he storyboarded becasue I believe that is all that he shot. They were probably bored.
RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA
RJSchwarz
Even when I make an extremely low budget movie where no one is getting paid, I pay four people - one of them is the script supervisor/continuity person.
quote:
1. In the real film world, especially during action sequences or sequences involving lots of movement/action, is it the norm to be getting the actors to complete tiny bits of a sequence at a time, with a particular emphasis on continuity of actions (often a painstaking process), so that all the shots will be put together in editing to make a cohesive sequence?
I?m going to disagree slightly with rj. There is no ?norm?. In the ?real? film world there are many different ways of shooting an action sequence - big budget films almost always use multiple cameras but the low budget films don?t.
Continuity IS a very painstaking process and now you know why. The choreography of an action scene is also very painstaking and exact. I don?t shoot with multiple cameras for two reasons. One; I can?t afford it when I shoot on film. Two; I?ve had bad luck with color differences between DV cameras.
So I take the time to choreograph and shoot the action very carefully and always have a very good continuity person on the set. It?s never perfect, but it gets close.
quote:
2. What then is the role of the editor, other than simply cutting and pasting the pieces of the storyboard together in the exact order drawn? If there are lots of tiny shots bits with the intention of creating a linear sequence, they have got no choice but to put it all together in the order of the story board which the director followed when he shot the film? Does the editor have a creative role then?
The role of the editor is a very creative one - IF the director allows it. I shoot a lot of coverage so my editor has lots of choices.
As a writer/director I tend to get way to close to the material so I use an editor who has a very different style than I do. Sure, we get into some crazy fights, but the final product is better for it. I love the creative process of making a movie and I need creative people around me. Editors have saved my ass on many occasions.
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The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)
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The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)
rj and certified have hit all the main points. My suggestion would be for future refernce you should do more takes on set even if it seems like they got it on teh first take. That way in post you have options and dont have to go back and reshoot. You might find that while on a certain day the take worked great it might not flow right with everything else. Do more and put in extra work before and during production and you will find post will be ALOT easier.
"Anyone who has ever been privileged to direct a film also knows that, although it can be like trying to write 'War and Peace' in a bumper car in an amusement park, when you finally get it right, there are not many joys in life that can equal the feeling." - Stanley Kubrick
"Anyone who has ever been privileged to direct a film also knows that, although it can be like trying to write 'War and Peace' in a bumper car in an amusement park, when you finally get it right, there are not many joys in life that can equal the feeling." - Stanley Kubrick
