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How's my editing skill so far?

H

harmonica44

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=222p6pALaUY&feature=youtu.be

Before I look further to send it off for all the audio to be corrected, and for some music and color grading/correction, I was wondering if you had any input on my video editing. Youtube wouldn't upload the sound for some reason, but since it's video editing, that's okay. The audio is much more technical and I'm looking to have it cleaned up soon. Video I found easy since you just slap the cuts together most of the time, but did I do it okay?

The first two scenes are flashbacks going back and forth, so there is no confusion in the jarring cuts, which is intended. The middle scene with the guy and the girl in the living room, I didn't do so well on, and is my biggest regret. But I tried it edit it in order to make it the best it could be. My friends disagree and say that's the best scene, but I thought it could have used more camera movement. It's not the whole movie but a section with a few scenes, so any tips? Thanks.
 
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Okay, I watched to 1:30 . . .

Here's a few suggestion

1) the subjects are too "centered" in the frame. You can fix this by cropping the image so there is more space in the direction the subject is looking (yes, I know, you lose a little image quality).

2) eyelines aren't quite matching for the couple on the couch. Again, fixable by cropping (yes, image quality loss)

3) there was a 180 degree rule violation in one clip with the guy at the desk scene. If you've other footage, use that instead.

Good luck.
 
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People on this forum disparage you because you ask so many silly questions, not because you have no talent as a filmmaker. This is pretty good stuff harmonica and most of the problems are things like framing and lighting which, as director and editor, you have less control over (although you probably should've had some input about the framing in particular on set).

The fight scene is pretty brutal. I'd consider not showing the scene where the knife is supposedly in the guy's head and the baddie takes it out, because it looks like it's under his head, rather than in it. Also, there might be a better way of doing the baseball bat strikes because they don't look very realistic. Maybe speed them up a fraction.

But this is a pretty good job, so congratulations.
 
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Strictly for editing, disregarding camera work, lighting, acting, story, etc.

It looks fairly decent for a first go round, even though its diffucult to to evaluate without audio.
The shots don't start too soon or go on too long.
It's easy enough to tell when scenes are ending and the next one is beginning.
@ 1:40 there's a horrible extra insert that ought to be cut out.
@ 1:48 there's another insert that ought to be deleted.
The remainder is generally fine.
The bathroom fight needs to be severely cut down on time because how long does it really take to kick open the bathroom door? (And the knife CLEARLY appears to be under the thug's head, BTW.)

20121001Harmonica44KnifeBlade.png
 
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Do you have any establishing shots you can use to help transition from one scene to the other? A wide where we can see the location and understand the context of the scene?
 
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Okay thanks. The knife was suppose to go in behind his ear. It was my friends suggestion who said that there is that part behind the ear, where it goes in to the back part of the neck and cuts several nerves. The knife was suppose to go under the ear, and in the head. However, stabbings behind the head have been done in lots of movies before, so what exactly have I done differently?

I didn't use a lot of establishing shots, cause I thought the story would just be more to the point if I did not use any. There was one I wanted to use outside the car, before going inside the car, but a blizzard came and changed the weather all around, and it did not match. The snow them melted away for the rest of the year, and couldn't match the snow for when they got out of the car.

As for the shots at 1:40 and 1:48, I was going for quick cutting. But how do I make quite cutting look good? A lot of movies, the quick cutting is intentional for style, such as The Bourne Ultimatum or Bonnie and Clyde. How do I make quick editing look good like that?

As for the batting the shot, I already sped it up and tried doing it more, but you can see the skips. Even if I take it just one frame you can see the skip. Any ideas on that? Thanks.
 
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If you think editing is easy, you're probably doing it wrong. I've NEVER had an easy edit, not once, never.

To your credit, I think at least part of the reason why you felt it easy is because in this footage, you have very few cuts that have to match action, from one shot to the next. Cutting from one closeup to another usually means you don't have to worry about continuity, and that makes things easier. I'm not sure if you shot it that way intentionally, but there are many reasons why variation in footage might be beneficial.

I hate to say it, but in the very few cuts in which your action needs to match, it often isn't. Continuity matters. It's one of the first things you learn how to shoot and edit because audiences notice when it's off. When you cut from one shot, in which a girl is leaning over and looking at the floor, then in the next shot she is standing straight up, eyes forward, the audience might not consciously notice it, but in the back of their mind it's just weird. When you cut from a shot in which our protagonist is walking to the bottom of a staircase, and then cut to a shot in which he is already on the staircase, it just doesn't sit right. Unless you have reason to intentionally employ jump-cuts, action needs to match.

Also, pacing is a huge part of editing, and dialog is a GIANT part of pacing. So, without being able to hear what people are saying, you're leaving out a pretty crucial element when asking for a critique. Pacing is of course completely subjective, and different editors will of course do things differently, but asking for editing critiques without audio is of little use.

Speaking of pacing, some of your shots are WAY too brief. If most of your scene contains shots that are many seconds long, and then all of a sudden we have ONE shot that is maybe half a second, that's just really jarring.
 
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h44, FINISH THIS FILM ALREADY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finish it, put it out for the masses to see and move on to your next project. I think you have a natural ability and a desire to make good films, but this film is NOT going to open any doors for you. You know this.

Just finish it and move on to the next thing. That next thing will be better. Then the next thing after that will be even better... That's how it works. As you keep learning better ways to do things, your subsequent films will be of higher quality.

FINISH IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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At YAFI, we developed a motto... "Done is better than right" early on as we (I) would obsess over all the little niggling things that we'd shot wrong. It would prevent us from moving to the next project. I'll second the "finish it" mentality here. You've learned so much on this project, it's time to apply that learning to the next one.
 
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Okay thanks I will make this the final edit and stop, and move on. I'll send it in as is.

GuerrillaAngel said:
Okay, I watched to 1:30 . . .

Here's a few suggestion

1) the subjects are too "centered" in the frame. You can fix this by cropping the image so there is more space in the direction the subject is looking (yes, I know, you lose a little image quality).

2) eyelines aren't quite matching for the couple on the couch. Again, fixable by cropping (yes, image quality loss)

3) there was a 180 degree rule violation in one clip with the guy at the desk scene. If you've other footage, use that instead.

Good luck.
Click to expand...

About point #2. What if the characters are different heights, as the shots, cut back and forth? Is it okay for their eyes not to line up, if they are different heights, or should I try to make the characters the same height in the frame, for future projects?
 
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My framing guidelines are generally based on an overhead sketch of the scene. In the singles and OTS shots, I let the actor know where they should look based on how it appears the most natural on the screen while composing the shot.

I also put the actor's eyes on the top third line of the tic tac toe board ALWAYS to make it easier to frame... the only exceptions are in wide shots and if I have a specific reason not to do so for the scene/story.
 
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Okay thanks. What's a tic tac toe board? Wouldn't the actors looking at something else other than the other actor, make it harder for the actors to play off of each other? I was told that before that if a shot is a MCU of an actor, and he is looking at an actor offscreen, I should still have the other actor their, so the actor in frame, has the actor to play off of.

What good is having both actors there, if the one in frame can't even look at the other, during MCU AND CU shots?
 
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harmonica44 said:
About point #2. What if the characters are different heights, as the shots, cut back and forth? Is it okay for their eyes not to line up, if they are different heights, or should I try to make the characters the same height in the frame, for future projects?
Click to expand...

If they're both standing, the taller actor should always be looking slightly downward, the shorter actor, slightly upwards, even if a CS. One way to prevent mismatches when you're starting out is to always have the actors stand in their places, even when doing a CS on one actor. After you've fixed numerous mismatched eyelines in post, you'll start to get a feel for this and you'll be able to to just tell them where to look, in the meantime, use the foolproof method.
 
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Okay thanks. In this case, I just had the actors look at each other. So should I tell the taller one to look at the other's mouth, and the shorter to look at the other's hair, or something?
 
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harmonica44 said:
Okay thanks. In this case, I just had the actors look at each other. So should I tell the taller one to look at the other's mouth, and the shorter to look at the other's hair, or something?
Click to expand...

If that is what looks right on the screen, then yes... I've had actors talking to one another and each turned (cheated) slightly toward the camera and looking at one another's ears rather than eyes to make it so we could see their eyes.
 
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