In my last post I talked about the music I chose. Allow me to explain how I started using it a little bit along with some pacing controls and subtle visuals for the beginning of the story.
Scott’s Story start at [:11] on My YouTube channel. The editing in the beginning is pretty standard editing. I’m not trying to be fancy. Just simple S.W.A.P. I’m going though the reporter track looking for shots that fit.
The beginning of the documentary was very important for me. It sets the style for the rest of the piece. The Photographer and the reporter both felt this was a simple and powerful story. Scott’s story didn’t need any fancy editing. In fact, my goal was to stay out of the way as much as possible. I tried to make sure edits did not call attention to themselves. I kept away from anything jarring.
During the beginning of the story I did want to throw in a few shots that showed Scott’s tremors. I wanted to show this without the reporter talking about it. Kind of like the surprise. I wanted the first few times you see this to be subtle.
At [1:11] you see Scott laying on the ground working on the Go-Kart.
Then, I show a tight shot of Scott’s left hand shaking at [1:12].
Then, I show a medium shot with Scott’s left foot in the foreground at [1:14]. These 3 shots together introduce the viewer, subtly, that there is something wrong. Most people won’t pick up on this consciously. However, I strongly believe in the subconscious. That’s what’s going to pick up on Scott’s Tremors.
At [1:34] The reporter track says
Firing up the Engine, you’ll notice something else.
Now I want to make sure the viewer sees the tremors and understand this is an important moment in the story. So, I bring the music up full for a second and Scott says
This is hard to do with my hand shaking.
I then show a tight shot of Scott’s hand shaking.
I place the music here to signify a moment in the story. Scott and Scott’s best friend are talking about his tremors. There is a noticeable change in the mood of the story. The music here helps with that mood.
I pot up the music every now and then. Never just cause. If the music comes up full it’s for a reason. At [1:57] Scott says
Parkinson’s is a degenerative brain disease without a cure.
I bring the music up full after he says that for the same reason as before, a moment for the viewer to feel.
I leave the music underneath until [2:49]. Notice it just fades away? Not really and neither does the viewer.
I don’t want to bring the fact the music is gone to the viewer’s attention. So, I just slowly bring in down over 5 seconds. Back to that trying to keep the editing as unnoticeable as possible.
I do want to bring attention to Scott’s hand, A lot. Pay attention to just how many times there is a tight shot of Scott’s hand just in this first segment.
Music starts again at [3:50]. I don’t bring it full until [4:00].
-
This is a great tip, bring the music up subtle before you need it.
I use dissolves sparingly in this piece. At [4:00] I have 4 in a row. Why? I want to slow the piece down a little bit. Slow the pacing. I used dissolves to help slow the pacing down.
Notice the rest of the story keeps that slow pace. But I don’t need to keep dissolving (is that even a word?). I’ve slowed the pace down and cuts can resume.
This entry was posted
on Friday, July 31st, 2009 at 6:46 pm Filed under General Assignment 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.
