Edit Foundry

It’s Bad is our story for the week.

This is a spot news story edited in about an hour.  This week we are going to talk about movement. 

• The shots you choose
  

• When you choose to start your edit (The IN point)
  

• Keeping as much moving in the frame as you can
  

This is a spot news story about a hit and run accident.  It’s the kind of story we all edit.   There are a lot of static shots.   The standard video for stories like these is

• Crime Tape
  

• Paramedics working
  

• Cops Observing
  

• Spectators watching
  

• Scene investigation
  

• The Crashed Vehicles
  

So we know what the video is going to be like in any type of story like this. 

So often in stories like these I see edits chosen with nothing going on.   In this story I edited there are only 6 shots I choose where there is no movement.  What do I mean by movement? 

• Some action in the shot
  

• Something or someone moving in the shot
  

I try and have something going on as much as possible.  So take a look at the story.   Ok, now I want you to pay attention to the next few shots and what I choose as the IN point.

• :07 - I wait until the S.W.A.T member puts on his helmet
  

• :08 - I wait until another S.W.A.T member move his head
  

• :09 - I wait until the Police Officer takes a step
  

• :11 - I wait until just before you see many S.W.A.T members moving forward
  

I’m trying to keep the story moving.  This may sound obvious, but watch a newscast.  Look at how often there is a shot and nothing is going on.  I strive to have something going on in as much shots a possible.  Even little things like

• :15 - The Crime tape blowing in the wind
  

• :20 - Cops walking from frame right to frame left
  

• :38 - Officer’s Arm moving in left hand corner of screen
  

• :39 - S.W.A.T member walking out from behind a police car
  

• :56 - S.W.A.T member walking under crime tape
  

• 1:09 - Cars moving in background and foreground
  

So I’m waiting for something to happen in the shot before I set my IN point. 

Watch the story again.  Now that you know what to look for, notice how much all the little things like a little movement adds to the story.  Next time you edit a story like this think about it

• Think about what’s in the shot
  

• Is there something going on you can show instead of just a static shot
  

• Wait for something to happen and then set your IN point

This entry was posted on Monday, November 3rd, 2008 at 2:52 pm Filed under Deadline Editing and. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.