Editing and directing knowledge of film and television editing

Practical knowledge of editing and directing movies and TV clips.

Editing is to screen, select, decompose and combine a large number of materials shot in film production, and finally complete a work with clear meaning, distinctive theme, strong artistic appeal and coherence. Starting from American director Griffith, the art of editing was produced by using the method of lens shooting and then connecting these lens groups. Editing is an indispensable work in the process of film production, and it is also the last re-creation in the process of film art creation. French new wave film director Godard: editing is the official beginning of film creation.

One: Is video editing necessary? The eyesight to find the best expression and action in limited material.

The ability to cut materials and find their connection to the next picture.

Ability to use images and choose music, and creativity to create melodies and plots.

The editor should also give the film composed of continuous still pictures a sense of jumping and inject life into the image.

Editors will naturally find the best expression in many shots and find out which point is the tangent point, which is the melody sense of the clip. At the same time, the whole picture of the work will be slowly presented in many photographic materials. Through the material, you can see what the work should look like.

Second, the method of finding the shear point

Where should I cut and connect? Finding the breakthrough point is undoubtedly one of the important tasks of editors. One thing to note here is that this is the vertex of the picture.

The so-called picture vertex means that the picture is the turning point of action and expression, such as the moment when the character's arm is fully extended, the moment when the bow action ends after nodding, the moment when the ball rises and is about to fall, and the moment when the smile is withdrawn.

The image is a series of still pictures, because the previous film will form afterimages in the human eye, so the pictures on the film look dynamic.

Therefore, the more intense the action is, cutting at the top of the picture or at the moment before the action begins will have a strong afterimage effect on the film behind, leaving a deep impression on the audience.

Three: the tangent point that produces a sense of melody. Let's take the action of turning pages as an example to see how to find the starting point.

If you start shooting from the state where the action stops completely, faithfully shoot the action of turning the book from beginning to end, so that the audience can know that it is the action of turning the book at a glance.

However, it is impossible to reflect the beauty of the image just by letting people understand it. Melody and comfort are equally indispensable. So what should we do?

We choose the initial cutting point in the state that the book turning action has started. If the page turning action is decomposed into 1 ~ 24 pictures, then the first 3 ~ 4 clips are cut out as the initial cutting points.

This change has no effect on understanding the action of turning pages. On the contrary, it can also show the melody and comfort of the action. This editing method can also be applied to other images.

Four: There is not only one correct method for film editing.

One thing I hope you don't misunderstand is that the cutting point is not unique.

When the page turns to the middle, it can be used as a tangent point, and it can also be used as a tangent point at the end of the book turning action.

According to different works and different positive and negative diagrams, the tangent point can be changed. The correct editing method is not unique.

Of course, editing also has its fixed forms and conventions, which can be said to be the rules of editing. It is important to know these rules, but editing itself is a creative job, so sometimes you will break the rules and make some new attempts.

Five: the purpose of editing

Free from physical constraints, free to control time and space. In photography and production, it is sometimes necessary to divide the lens and make a plot at the back. The passage of actual time in the story and the movement of space in the story are omitted in the work, so as to combine the performance intention, form the plot and determine the final appearance of the work. Connect the shots purposefully, clarify and emphasize what you want to express, the order and structure of the shots are more rigorous, and the plot elements are prominent.

Six: Fixed rules in action clips

Editing method when shooting object moves. Action connection refers to editing the action of the subject.

Once upon a time, it was often necessary to interrupt the shooting of an action because of changing films. However, the same action connected by different lenses looks surprisingly smooth and impressive. It is said that this is the origin of this editing method.

Seven, action with 7: 3 connection.

First, let's look at the basics in action editing. Action connection? .

? Action connection? Refers to the editing method of connecting two pictures to an action.

Theoretically, these two sets of images are just the difference in screen size and describe the same action at the same time, so you can edit from any point.

However, at this time, the actions will be inconsistent or repetitive. The final edited image lacks a sense of rhythm.

The general image editing method is to connect the actions according to the ratio of 7: 3 or 3: 7, so as to achieve the effect of smooth action. In this way, not only the front and back movements look coherent, but also the sense of rhythm and vitality arises spontaneously.

Of course, the ratio of 7: 3 is not an absolute truth. According to different materials and cutting points, human eyes sometimes have the illusion of repetition and jumping.

Therefore, deliberately cutting or overlapping some shots will make the movements look more natural and smooth. Try changing the cutting point in different images to see the effect.

Eight, connect the two actions into one.

Connect multiple actions of different subjects into one, commonly known as? An action clip? .

Here is an example of use: the pitcher and first baseman who got a home run looked back at the flying ball. Two players finish at the same time? Look back? This action.

If you want to make full use of waste materials, you will definitely use this connection: hit a home run->; The pitcher turned around-> The base guard turned around-> A ball flying far away.

However, with this connection, the movements of two players turning around and retreating will be repeated, giving the audience a dull sense of approval.

A single action clip will combine these two back movements into one, and the time difference will be eliminated through editing.

Specifically, it is to cut off the first half of the pitcher's return and connect the second half of the first baseman's return, which can enhance the sense of speed and make the picture coherent.

Action connection points

Two cameras took two images with different sizes at the same position and angle. If it is a different position and angle, this rule can also be used to deal with it.

Of course, if the material is not shot at the same time, as long as you change the angle and take the vertex of an action (a characteristic action) as the tangent point, there will be many ways to connect. For example, before the ball is shot, it is shot instantly, and then it is shot backhand.

The act of contracting downward and then connecting them.

When editing with action as the center, we must pay attention to several aspects. The following are the main points.

① Take the lens that looks longer as the main lens.

(2) Consider the top, bottom, left and right of the picture, so as not to affect the continuity of action.

(3) Greatly changing the use and position of the camera will be the imposing manner of the picture.

(4) According to the actual time, the connection will be more protracted, so we should compress the parts that can be omitted in the transition action. Especially in scenes with intense action, the lens length should be shortened.

⑤ The material shot at the same time can be edited at any point in theory, but choosing different editing points and repeating or omitting some shots will make the action smoother.

⑥ When using different pictures for the same action, try to connect them at the vertex of the action.

Nine, purposefully overlapping action is used to emphasize.

Through purposeful repetition, an action is emphasized This method is called double action or triple action.

In the example image, take the shot where the pitcher's arm is raised to the highest point as the tangent point, connect the front and rear action shots, and finally connect the side full shot where the hand retracts downward after pitching.

In this case, the movements may not be so smooth for the audience, but? The ball action was repeated three times (triple action), which was very impressive.

Double action is only effective when you consciously want to highlight an action, and it should be as short as possible to avoid verbosity.

Ten, intense action scenes may omit the middle part.

One of the purposes of editing is to omit in time and space.

If you edit according to the actual passage of time and the movement of space, no matter how much time is not enough, the audience will feel tedious.

At this time, the more effective method is to extract some intermediate shots of the same action and then connect them.

This method is also called intermediate extraction.

Its function is to greatly shorten the time, increase the sense of speed of the film, and make the audience never tire of watching it.

When using this technique, you must choose which shots to shoot, which is a difficult point.

The most important thing is not to cut off the vertex of the action (characteristic action). If you take away these vertex shots, you can't know which direction the action will go.

Jump editing developed this technology, which is an intermediate extraction technology, founded by Golda, and connects images by jumping like a phonograph needle.

Jump editing dares to break the taboo of traditional editing, making it possible to shoot impressive scenes.

When removing the middle lens to omit the time and highlight the sense of speed, we must pay attention to the choice of which lenses should be omitted. When other lenses are omitted, when the arm position reaches the highest in the initial state and pitching, the arm will sag, which can be minimized by using only these three lenses.

It clearly shows the action of pitching.

;