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video (editing) Feedback Requested

sfoster

Staff Member
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I'm meeting with a musician this week to produce the soundtrack so I need to get picture lock ASAP.
I've gotten some really insightful comments on indietalk in the past so I think this will be helpful to me if anyone has 24 minutes to spare.

I put the unlisted video on youtube to be watched here until 5/25/20.
EDIT: 3 Minutes have been cut from that video. New version is here for now.

Note: This is not a completed film. The audio is a WIP and there is zero color grading or VFX work completed.
I'd love comments on the editing. I have in mind already what/where the music will be but I welcome input on that as well.

Thanks everyone!
 
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This is the reason I'm pushing you on this.



You'll always end up hitting a wall where the limit is your abilities and creativity... but there's another part of it. Most editors fall victim to being too familiar to the material. Sometimes you need to put it away in a draw for a peroid of time and come back when you'll have fresh eyes. Some editors can do it without putting it away for time, but those are few and far between.

Editing is never about perfection. It's about feeling. Perfection insinuates there's is only one correct way to edit the material.

Clear and consise story telling is what editors need to learn. It's tough because someone else has chosen the ingredients for you to use. It's part of the reason why ex-editors make good script supervisors.

Editors usually grow when they come across a project that they really want to make good and spend the time figuring out solutions to problems. Those solutions stay with you in your toolbox. You use them in future projects. It's worth taking the time working out these techniques.



Reality check: You're never going to get to that point. From what I can tell, in this post production, you've grown as a filmmaker. You're more experienced than when you shot it. If given the chance, I'm sure you'd shoot the material differently. You're going to learn more as you grow as a filmmaker. You're going to grow. You're going to get better. When you look back at your older material, you're going to know better ways to do it.

This is why I'm a big fan of newer filmmakers making micro shorts. It can shorten the learning curve. You can learn a lot (not all) of the same lessons in a 1-2 minute film that you can in a 20 minute film. That being said, there are lessons you can only learn from longer productions/shoots.

One last thing for you to think about. Consider editing other filmmakers projects. Asking more experienced filmmakers if you can edit their project, even after they've compelted post production. You can learn what works and what doesn't. What other directors and editors do. If you get the chance, watch and compare the other editors rough cuts. A big eye opener for me was seeing how polished some experienced editors make their work coming close to their final cut. I've seen projects where the audio was better in the editors version than after (the inexperienced or rushed) post audio had their way.

That would be great to do more work but its just not in the cards for me. it's really painful for me to sit in front of the computer and its bad for my back. sometimes I stand up but i have wicked arthritis in my knees so i can't do that for very long either. it's a serious struggle to do simple things and i'm sure none of this is good for my body either. another reason this will be my last medium length film.

i believe i will get to the point where i no longer see any imperfections i can fix.
i watched my first short film the other day and damn its still awesome as hell. i love that thing.
 
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At some point you have to, what I call, "sign the painting." I'm not sure if anyone has coined that before but that's one of my exercises.

Sign the painting means you are calling it finished and it is ready to sign. Tomorrow is a different story. You will look back and wish you had done something different. Could you change it now? Yes you could, but you have already signed the painting so you do not.

You have to, at some point, sign the painting and realize it for the art it is. It exists as a piece you created and released at a certain time and you don't touch it again. You move to the next.

It's an exercise in restraint but also good for the ole noggin to stop obsessing. It feels good.

i'll know it when i get there. its pretty much there. i'm just adjusting the timing on some dialogue now for the most part.
 
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Oh man I feel a little better. ;)

yeah life sure doesnt go the way most of us plan does it
i fell into a useless depression for years

Ok big update changed the title and its called

Greenlight to Kill

Its a cool double entendre and it makes the opening scene a lot more poignant with the green light.
people are going to see that green light and think they know what the title means and when ryan finally kills someone it will not be anything like what they expected

anyway here is my update as it stands if anyone wants to see the progress

Also today i was thinking about adding thunder and lightning into the shootout scene.
I'm guessing its possible to add some quick flashes in post production for the lightning

in particular the first 3-4 minutes and the rain shootout scene are massively improved
 
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Feels so good to be done :cheers::clap:

I was really down for the first half of the day.
My old computer couldnt handle resolve and i've been looking forward to using it for years.

I've been watching videos this week, I got my color grading handbook out and starting studying it again.
Finally went into color grading for Greenlight to Kill.

Very first step of my workflow - Resolve says I can't do it, it wants $300. For STEP ONE. OMG i coulnd't do a single thing.
So much for free computer software.

So I was pretty down that I can't use noise reduction, i had some some scenes discussing the plan that had a complicated lighting setup and i wanted to enhance that. but it's all grainy as hell, i can't grab a proper key, etc

I dont want to put in the effort for other noise reduction solutions
I feel better now though, I think I can still do the outdoor scenes using just the primary wheels and at least that part is free.

maybe one day in the future i'll own a black magic camera and i can rerelease my film with a proper color grade
i can spend another couple years hoping to use resolve
 
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Miller Time! (oops too early)
:coffee:

yeah but it feels great to move on to other phases of the project
Oh man I just keep hitting a fucking brick wall with resolve.. tried to do some gun wounds and it wont let me add any blurring... so my wound looks fake AF. lol.

 
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Well after like 9 days I got the soundtrack from the composer this morning.
and I don't like it. I'm trying to figure out if it can be salvaged or if i need to find someone else :(

right now I fear its better without the music. maybe it just needs some adjustment?
this is sad. i spent days listening to like 80 different composers to find this guy that i liked.

I guess it depends on if the composer wants to keep at it or not.
sorry for my rambling this is helping me to think

edit: media redacted
 
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Do you not like it at all? Or can you ask him to tweak certain parts of it to better fit your needs?

I like about 35% of it.
I suppose that is enough to put the ball in his court if wants to keep on working.. although i also think he ignored some of my notes the first time around lol.

I'm not going to tell him that today, I want him to spend a day being happy that he sent in a copy of the music.
I'm going to spend the day browsing storyblocks and try to get more context of what different music sounds like in the film.
 
10:35 AM I get an email confirming my storyblocks membership subscription
5:55 PM here is my version of the film using prefabricated songs

sound nerds may appreciate 5:50-6:20 sound design

Edit: redacted after a long day of work. I'm happy with storyblocks songs, it's nice to have the control over the soundtrack.
if the composer wants to compete with them and try again he has the opportunity. otherwise i said i will use 2 minutes of his soundtrack and credit him for one song
 
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