Our story for this post is How Far She’s Come.

I’ll bet you’ve edited a story very similar to this.  The story is great but the visuals you have to put it together with are just ok.  I strive to make every edit the best I can.  Here are some tips and tricks to help you the next time you get a story like this or any story for that matter.

This is a story about a little girl that fell out of a window in an apartment complex.

Our story begins inside the apartment.  The first shot is of the little girl.

I did have a few exteriors to choose from.  I decided to start with the little girl.  Would you rather see a cute little girl or an exterior of a building?  

I use a lot of natural sound from the little girl.

This post is about adding elements to a story to help convey emotion.  At [:15] is my first little addition.  I do a match frame from her cute face…

..and then I slow the video down 50% and increase the scale of the frame.

 I increase the scale on the very next shot as well.

the next shot after that too.

My logic for using these frame scale increases is I like to pull the viewer into a story.  It’s a subtle way of adding a little emotion.

• Tip #1 Increase scale to mimic a slow zoom as a way of pulling viewers into the story

Here another trick I use when I think a story needs a little help with emotion.  I’m going to slow the narration down.  I’m NOT going to alter the voice.  Here’s my trick, between her sentences I put 10 frames of nothing.  When I think a reporter is talking to fast, a quick way to help the pace out and slow the narration down is to put ten frames of nothing or silence down.  When I edit documentaries and use this trick to slow the down narration elements.  It’s a good little trick, those 10 frames often gives the viewer time to absorb information.

You can really hear it at [:24].  Now that I’ve pointed it out, look for other places in the story where you hear me putting space between narration sentences.  There are more in this story.

• Tip #2 Add 10 seconds of silence between the narrator’s sentences to slow down the narrator.

At [:26] I pan down from the top floor of the apartment to the ground below.  I am not a fan of pans.

 Once in a while a pan works.  This is one occasion where conveying the fall to the viewer works with a pan down.

At [:29] here me pausing her narration again.  10 frames make a big difference!

Another scale increase at [:31]

You’ll also notice every shot from [:18] to [1:03] is a dissolve.

A series of dissolves with several shots and frame scale increase.  All my little tools to help pull the viewer in and add a little emotion.

I also decided to add music to the story.  I chose something very simple and unrecognizable. 

At 1:03 there are no more dissolve (well for a while) and no more music.

Back to go old storytelling.

Why?  I don’t feel a need for any music now.  The little girl is recovering, she’s in therapy, and I have lots of good stuff to convey the feeling of the day.  I don’t need music here to help.

It’s not till [1:54] that my story need a little help again. We’re going back outside, back in time talking about the fall.  I use dissolves and frame scale increases again to convey to the viewer were in the past again.

The reporter stand up is something that was shot on a different day at a different location.  I tried to convince the Reporter and an Executive Producer I could make the story better and work without the stand up.  Obviously I lost that one.  You can’t win every editing battle.  But I’m happy I tried.

The closing shot is that of the little girl again playing being cute.  I’m book ending the story keeping the opening and closing shots similar.  I also think this is a much better shot than say an exterior.

Thanks for reading

Shawn Montano

This is a video editing blog.  I try to give you insight into my mind and the process I go through in editing stories.  I’m not just a video editor.    I produce, I shoot and I write as well.  

The world we are in now doesn’t seem to have many job opening for just one skill-set.  Nowadays you need to know multiple skills, multiple platforms and multiple parts of many different parts of many different jobs.  I encourage you to learn as much as you can about…well everything.

The story I’m going to use for this post is Miss Doe

I didn’t just edit this story.  I wrote the story too.  Here are a few tips and trick on how I write stories like this.

When I log sound I don’t write the entire sentence down anywhere.  I write the beginning of the sentence and then maybe a few key words to help me remember the rest of the sentence.  I want to have just enough written so I remember what was said in each soundbite I log.  I’m not writing this on paper.   Depending on what NLE you’re using you can make comments, add markers, add locators and then add text to those.  I arrange my browser so I can see that text.  Based on all the information I’ve logged I start putting soundbites down to the timeline.  

• Put your soundbites down on the timeline

  
  

• They don’t need to necessary need to be in any order

Once I’ve got my soundbites on the timeline I start building a story with only sound.  I arrange the soundbites so I can create a story without any narration.  I have a got a good skeleton of the story.

What’s a skeleton?  For me it’s just soundbites strung together.  There is no b-roll or narration yet.  I watch this over and over.  I arrange and re-arranging until I get some cohesive story.

When I write narration, I just want to create bridges.  They connect the soundbites.   I write simple sentences.  I try to make them as conversational as I can.

I’m not a great writer.  I am a good writer.  

• I try to keep my sentences plain and simple

  
  

• I read it out load, trying to make it sound as conversational as I can

  
  

• I try to apply both these rules to writing this blog as well

The story begins with two soundbites butted together followed by the narration, Jack and Lori Cavanaugh spend their mornings watching wildlife.

I’m just writing to video.  I know I have a shot of each person, and a shot of wildlife. Simple stuff here. 

I have a narration, But on Christmas Day, followed by a soundbite, We have the deer come across our property all the time, followed by another narration,  a strange sight caught their eye, followed by another soundbite, Christmas morning, I looked out the window with my coffee.  I simply just created a bridge between the soundbites.  It’s that simple.  Ok, it’s not that simple.  It’s takes practice to write narration.

This story is a deer with an arrow in her nose.  We don’t have video of the deer but we do have still pictures.  The question I had for myself was when to reveal the deer.

When Lori’s talking about the deer at [:20] I decided to show a shot of the deer for just a second, but not long enough for your eye to comprehend exactly what’s happened.  I chose a tight shot so as to just reveal the dear and not exactly what’s going on with the deer.

The narrations is, a deer they nick-named Miss Doe was clearly suffering.

We are [:29] in to the story.  I’ve revealed her injury.  I felt good that I didn’t drag this moment to far out.

I show a picture of the doe again at [:42].  She’s the story.  I only have pictures of her.  The challenge for me in this story was to not over-rely on her pictures.  I also wanted to try and make sure I was showing her enough.

The next narration is, Jack and Lori called immediately called the division of wildlife.

You’ll notice when the reporter says Lori I don’t immediately cut to Lori.  On this story here at [:46] and at [:06] I tried to make cuts but the edits didn’t feel right.  They felt rushed.  I was forcing S.W.A.P.  I don’t want to force edits.  Since they are the main people in the story, I didn’t think the viewer wouldn’t understand who they are.  So the edits are where they are for pacing purposes.

Speaking of pacing.  You’ll notice the pacing of this story is very simple.  There is emotion in this story.  I’m not going to rush it.

At [1:01] Lori get’s emotional after her soundbite. At [1:04] her soundbite ends. I leave her up sniffling for almost 4 seconds.  I never try and cut away from emotion. 

I try my very best to keep what I write to a minimum.  It doesn’t always work.  I like when the people tell as much of the story as possible.  Try putting as much of the story down on the timeline and then you may realize you may not need that much narration after all.  More words doesn’t necessarily mean better writing.  Watch the story again.  There are a few cliches.  I know. I tried but some of those simple cliches worked.  Pay attention to how much the soundbites drive the story.  Most of the information you get is from soundbites.  Obviously we don’t get all the information from soundbites, and that’s where narration comes in.

• Try writing and editing a story

• You’re writing will get better over time

You’re storytelling skills will improve with writing

Thanks for continuing to read The Edit Foundry.  Don’t forget to like The Edit Foundry on Facebook and follow me on Twitter @shawnmontano 

Have you even gotten a good story and had no video to support it?  That is a rhetorical question by the way.  That happens every day to every editor at some point.  This story had very little video.  But that didn’t matter.  This story had something much more important.  It had emotion.  Anytime I get a chance to edit a story that has emotion I’m all over it.  What do I do to help the story?  What emotion can I cut into to?  How will my edit decisions impact the story?  Are there edits I’m not going to make that are important?

 The story  for this post is Karen

It is my job as an editor is to make you laugh or to make you cry.  Sometimes the material we are given makes that a little easier than other times. 

This story is about a women that could of been a victim of a serial rape suspect.  In the interview she was very emotional.  My job as an editor is make sure her emotional state comes through in the story. 

My job is to also stay out of the way.  What do I mean by that?  Sometimes an editor needs to not make an edit.  Those non-edits may be the most important edits you ever make.

At [:06] Karen sniffles and the story pauses slightly.  I am introducing her emotional state.  I’m grabbing the viewer as quickly as possible.  There is a full 2 seconds of silence after the first narration before she sniffles.  Let your viewers in.  Give them time to feel.  So many stories the emotion goes by so fast the viewer doesn’t have time to feel it. 

• The #1 rule of editing is emotion.  Always cut into it and never cut away from it.

The pace of this story is slow.  I’m going to maintain that pace as best I can.  Here is a few tricks I’ve learned and stolen.

• There is at least 10 frames of silence between the narration and any soundbite.

Watch the story again.  Just listen to it this time.  If you listen closely you can here all the pauses in between narration and soundbites.  This is a subtle trick.  It also a very effective trick.  The beauty of it is it won’t cost you but a few more seconds.  If your in a world that requires short running times this could be huge.

At [:11] is her first soundbite. “I just kept thinking if Shawn hadn’t of come home with me, I just know what would of been happening.” After that soundbite she looks at Shawn (her boyfriend not me) and then turns her head and takes a deep breath. 

Upon revisiting this story I think I left this moment just a bit too soon.  I think I could of held this for at least 15 more frames. Would 15 more frames have made any difference in the overall story?  No, but it’s important to understand how just changing a few frames in an edit can create such a different edit in the end.

After the soundbite is a slow 80 Frame dissolve to a car going by and I put a slow zoom in on the shot.

• Another simple editing trick for emotion, put a slow zoom on static shots to help pull the viewer into the story.

There wasn’t much video to work with on this story.  The only way to have more video would of been to shoot a re-enactment.  This is not the type a story you would ever ask anyone to re-enact.  I have to use generic video at several points in the story.  Do I care? Nope.  The story’s got emotion.  Viewers won’t remember these shots the next day.  They will remember Karen crying though.

Karen didn’t want her house identifiable in the story.   I used this tight shot that could be from any house in many neighborhoods.  Notice I put a slow zoom on each of these shots.  I hate static shots.

• I hate static shots

I am a fan of movement.  This is a visual medium of motion.  I like to have as much motion in every story as possible.

At [:45]  her soundbite is  “It was the first thing that popped into my mind, that it was him.”

There is a full second (30 frames) of silence before the narration starts.  I’m giving the viewer that extra time to feel and see her. 

• Sometimes nothing is more powerful than something.

At [2:16] is the final section of narration in this story.  9 seconds go by and then she sniffles.  The story ends.  This is a powerful moment with no narration and no sound from her.  She is simply emotional on camera.  You can feel how fortunate she feels not to be a victim.  You can feel how terrified she still is.  Simply amazing what 9 seconds of silence does for a story.

About the Dissolves

I dissolve mostly by feel.  Feel is impossible to teach.  Let me try and rationalize these dissolves with some logic.  In this story most of the dissolves represent a transition in space. Dissolving from inside the house to outside.  Dissolving from a sketch to Karen. The 3 shots of the exterior starting at [:22] are cut together because they are all outside shots.

As for the dissolves from Karen wide to Karen medium or Karen tight, I simply don’t like cutaways in this type of story.  Karen is the story. Her emotion is the story. Cutaways of her hands, of a lamp, or anything else won’t add to the story.

Thanks for reading.

You can follow me on Twitter @Shawnmontano

Please like The Edit Foundry on Facebook.  I’d like to start discussions about blog post there now.  Let me know what you think on The Edit Foundry Facebook Page.

This was by far the best story on my Editor Of The Year entry this year.  This was by far the best story on any Editor Of The Year entry I’ve ever put together.  This was by far the absolute best story I’ve ever been involved in.  It not only helped me win my 4th NPPA Video Editor of the year title,  It also won an Emmy and a Colorado Broadcasters Association Award.

I believe as a news editor if you can edit five things that you are truly proud of in one year, your doing good.  We all have to edit stories that aren’t always the best.  It’s those time you just practice your craft.  Maintain your skills so when the ‘monster’ comes you’re ready.

This news feature was my monster.  This is an amazing story.  It challenged me in many ways.  The more you learn from the edit of this story, the more you’ll become a better editor yourself.

Please watch Ryan Gave Chad the Gift of Life on my Youtube Channel.

The reporter told me she wanted me to edit this story a few days before I started.  She told me what the story was about.  She told me she wanted music.  The first thing I did is I started looking for music for this story.  I wanted to find something not to overpowering.  Something with a simple piano was what I looked for.  As you watch the piece notice how simple the music is I used.

The story begins with a slow zoom in on the Arnold family in the waiting room of the hospital.

I added the slow zoom (or scale in) in the editing process.  I like using these slow zooms to help pull the viewer into the story.  The next 5 shots are simply a series of shots showing the Arnold family in the waiting area.  As I was looking through the raw I was simply looking for shot variety.  I started with a wide shot, then went to a medium shot, to another medium shot and then to a tight shot.  The last three shot are all intimate.  I want to keep the viewer intimate with the family.  I’ve already established where they are now I want the viewer to see them the best they can.

• I’m not going to force an editing element if it won’t work.

Notice at [:08] the music starts.  But the music doesn’t swell until [:13].  I wanted to bring in music but I wanted to make it subtle.  A lot of times when I transition from one location to another I’ll use a transitional shot.  I didn’t have one.  Another way to get into the Pre-Op area is with a bit of natural sound.  I simply didn’t like any thing I had.  I’m not going to force an editing element if it won’t work.  I chose to use music.

The music full at [:13] and the four shots in pre-op set up several things.  The music sets up the feeling of concern (at least that is what I hope I’m doing with this particular piece of music).  I use two shots of Ryan and two shots of Chad. With the music and shot selection I’ve told a lot about our story.  No need for redundant narration.  This is a good example of just visuals and music working together to tell a part of the story.

This is an excellent story.  I don’t want any distractions the viewer might notice.  The video shot during pre-op was a bit on the yellow side as you can see in this screen-grab.

Here is my color corrected version.

• I like to use all the tools I have at my fingertips to make a great story.

I know the walls are yellow but with a minimal amount of effort I greatly reduced the overall amount of yellow in the shot and brought out the flesh tones of Ryan and his wife.  I like to use all the tools I have at my fingertips to make a great story.  Color Correction is one of those tools

After the four shot montage there are seven edits that all have dissolves. Do these shots cut together?  Yes they do.

This is a creative and emotional call.  I think the dissolves here help reinforce the emotion we created.  I want to keep the emotion the viewer feels with the assistance of the dissolves.  The final dissolve leads into the first soundbite from Chad.  You can still hear my music underneath this soundbite.

But as the emotion of the soundbite increase, the level of the music decreases.  Listen when you watch the story again

I don’t want any distractions.  Chad has enough emotion in his voice.  The music isn’t necessary here.

At [1:41] I start a second piece of music.  Using the same technique as before, the music comes up underneath the story a few seconds before I bring the music up full.  Again I’m using music as my transition element, this time to move into surgery.

The second soundbite at [1:56] follows the routine I did with the first soundbite.  The music decreases as the emotion in the soundbite increases.

At [2:09] is the part of the story where they are in surgery.  I had several shot to choose from.  I had many great shots of Ryan’s liver.  I choose not to be overly graphic with surgery video for one main reason, Chad dies.  This story contains some of the last video of him alive.  His wife watched this.  His children may watch when they become older.  I thought of them as I edited this story.

At [2:53] is another selection of music.  I use the music here a little differently.  I bring it up full immediately after the second doctor soundbite.  I’ve established throughout the story when music comes full there is a change in the story.  This time it’s not a location change, it’s the final part of our story,  the truly sad part.  I have a series of pictures of Ryan with his family.  All the pictures have motion on them.  At [3:08] the reporter track tells the viewer Ryan died.

I have the music up full for four seconds here.  I’m allowing the viewer the take in what the reporter just said.  Ryan died.  The cliche would be to fade to black.  I don’t like editing cliches, especially in this piece. I wanted to do something simple while still visually telling Ryan is dead.  I felt a slow fade to black and white with this picture really did the trick.  The next three picture are still in black and white while the reporter talks about Ryan.  I think keeping the pictures black and white are a clever look and help with feel here.  I do however return to color on the final picture of Ryan and his family.

After this section of the story Chad talks about life without his brother Ryan.  He is very emotional.  I don’t need music and I don’t put any music in until the end of the story.  Chad stops talking and is trying to hold back his tears.  Lots of emotion but no sound here.  I decide to bring up the music to fill the sound-void.  It’s very subtle here.  I’m trying very hard not to have the music overpower his emotion.  Again, I want to keep all editing distractions to a minimum.

This final image I leave the viewer with is one of the final images of them together.  I took a freeze-frame of Ryan and Chad hugging before surgery.  I turned it black and white and have a slow zoom out.  I had a slow zoom in to begin the story and a slow zoom out to end the story.

Thanks for reading.

Shawn

For those of you new to the Edit Foundry, here is how it’s works.  I upload a story to YouTube.  I ask you to go and watch the story and then come back here and read as I breakdown the editing.

Our story for this post is click here -> How Far She’s Come <-.

This is a story about a little girl that fell out of a window in an apartment complex.

Our story begins inside the apartment complex.  The first shot is of the little girl.

I did have a few exteriors to choose from.  But I decided to start with the little girl.  I’d rather see her cute face and I feel the viewer would rather see her than the exterior of the apartment complex.

I use a lot of natural sound from the little girl.

This post is about adding elements to a story to help convey emotion.  At [:15] is my first little addition.  I do a match frame from her cute face…

..and then I slow the video down 50% and I put a slow zoom onto her.  I do a slow zoom on the very next shot as well,

and the next shot.

My logic for using these slow zooms is I like to pull the viewer into a story.  It’s a subtle way of adding a little emotion.

Here another trick I use when I think a story needs a little help with emotion.  I’m going to slow the track down.  I’m NOT going to alter the voice.  Here’s my trick, between her sentences I’m going to put 10 frames of nothing.  When I think a reporter is talking to fast a quick way to help the pace out and slow the track down is to put ten frames of nothing or silence down.

You can really hear it at [:24].  Now that I’ve pointed it out, look for other places in the story where you hear me putting space between sentences.  There are more in this story.

At [:26] I pan down from the top floor of the apartment to the ground below.  I am not a fan of pans.

• I’m not a fan of pans

However, once in a while a pan works.  This is one occasion where conveying the fall to the viewer works with a pan down.

At [:29] here me pausing her track again.  10 frames make a big difference!

Another slow zoom at [:31]

You’ll also notice every shot from [:18] to [1:03] is a dissolve.

A series of dissolves with several shots with a slow zoom in.  All my little tools to help pull the viewer in and add a little emotion.

I also decided to add music to the story.  I chose something very simple and unrecognizable.  I don’t like using music that’s too popular or well known.  People often have there own emotional tie to music.

I want them to remember my story and not some ex-girlfriend.

At 1:03 there are no more dissolve (well for a while) and no more music.

Back to standard storytelling.

Why?  I don’t feel a need for any music now.  The little girl is recovering, she’s in therapy, and I have lots of good stuff to convey the feeling of the day.  I don’t need music here to help.

It’s not till [1:54] that my story need a little help again. We’re going back outside, back in time talking about the fall.  I use dissolves and slow zooms again to convey to the viewer were in the past again.

The reporter stand up is something that was shot on a different day at a different location.  I tried to convince the reporter and an Executive Producer I could make the story better and work without the stand up.  Obviously I lost that one.  You can’t win every editing battle.  But I’m happy I tried.

The closing shot is that of the little girl again playing being cute.  I’m book ending the story keeping the opening and closing shots similar.  I also think this is a much better shot than say an exterior.

Thanks for reading

Shawn Montano