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

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In digital editing, everything is a transition.  The cut, the dissolve, the wipe, they are all transitions. A sequence could be a transition.  A pan is a transition.  A person walking across the screen could be a transition.  Anything that advances your story, takes the viewer to another location, time, or space is a transition.

Transitions can also change the mood or the feeling the viewer is supposed to have.

Just like every edit should advance your story, every transition shot advance your story as well or have a reason to exist.

I not a big fan of wipes.  I love Star Wars.  The Empire Strikes Back is one of my top 5 favorite movies of all time.  But to this day, I never understood why there were silly wipes in that movie.  The reason I point out The Empire Strikes Back is it’s still one of my top 5 movies despite silly wipes.  So, if you want to use a wipe or two in a story it’s not a bad thing.  Just think about which wipes you use and if they’ll distract from the story.

Anyone remember the video toaster?  I never found a good place to use the sheep wipe.  Wipes draw attention to themselves.  A good editor tries to hide his edits.  There are however time when transitions like dissolves are necessary and even a sheep wipe could find an appropriate time and place in a story.

The story for this post is The Ocean Carries Meaning which can be seen on my YouTube site.

I’m going to break down the story and talk about transitions.  I’ll explain why I used a dissolve the way I did and what are some other transitional elements in the story.

• The first 4 shots of this story I use dissolves.
  

The first two shots of the ocean are compositionally similar.  If you cut those two shot together it’s a compositional jump cut.  What is a compositional Jump cut?

• Compositional Jump Cut is when you cut two shots together with similar visual perspectives together.

First Shot

Look in the middle of the shots.  See where the ocean meets the horizon.  In each of these shots that line is virtually identical.

Another thing that’s similar in perspective is the amount of sky relative to ocean and sand.  The sky shares the same amount of space in both shots.

2nd Shot

That’s why if these two shots were cut together I would refer to them as a compositional jump cut. Compositional Jump cuts by the way is something I came up with.  I’ve never actually heard or read this phase.  I just think it’s an easy way to explain why you don’t cut these kinds of shots together. So, why didn’t I choose another shot.

• I wanted to show those two beauty shot and didn’t want another shot.  It’s as simple as that.
  

From the 2nd shot above to the first time we see Tom [At :09]

I dissolve again.  Those two shot actually cut together fine.  Why did I dissolve here?  It’s a feel thing.  I just felt like I needed to keep the dissolves going as almost a theme in the beginning of the story.

• Sometimes multiple dissolves simply are there because they are complementing each other
  

From Tom coming down the ramp [At :12], I dissolve to the interview shot.  Why?

Because they are both tight shots. Cutting those two shot together would create another compositional jump cut.

Out of the interview, to the reveal of Tom [:17] in a wheelchair I cut.  From [:17] to [:35] I cut because I have created a sequence.

At [:35] I cut back to interview.

You just see the wheelchair so the cut works fine.

At [:37] is a tight shot of Tom’s leg and I use some natural sound to transition to Tom in the swimming pool training.

Natural sound can be a great transition.  Last week I wrote about sound and how it helps draw the viewer into the story (see The Secret to a great video is the audio).  Use natural sound anytime, always, and use some more.  Try using it as a transition from one place to another.

From here to [:48] is a sequence of Tom training in the pool which all cuts fine.

At [:49] I dissolve from Tom training to a wide shot of the Ocean.

You know what, looking back these two shot cut together just fine.  But I wanted an almost dreamy feel.  It’s Tom’s dream to dive, so from training to the ocean is almost a dream.  The dissolve helps convey it.

So, why didn’t I dissolve into the training.  Training is something he has to do but it’s not his dream.

From [:51] to [1:12] are cuts.  It’s a sequence of Tom on the boat and then a reporter stand up.  From the reporter stand up back to Tom I dissolve.  Why?  She’s talking about how he got paralyzed.  I want to create a feel of time.  The time when he got paralyzed.

• Dissolves can create a transition in Time
  

I Dissolve [1:26] from the interview back to Tom getting ready to dive.

Again part of creating a dream feel.

From [1:28] to [1:55] I’m cutting with sequencing.

At [1:58] I dissolve

and 3 more dissolve follow to [2:07]

Again, back to the dream of diving.  I’m continuing with creating that dream feeling.

From [2:09] to 2:38] I cut.

I’ve already created the dream feel as he begins the dive.  Now I’m sequencing.  I don’t need to keep dissolving.  He’s living the dream so you don’t need to create a feel anymore.

At [2:39] I dissolve from a wide shot of Tom underwater to a tight shot.

Why here?  I didn’t like the way the shots cut.  I’m kind of anal when it’s comes to match action (as you can see fromPart 5. Match Action).

At [2:48] another dissolve.  Same reason, the match action doesn’t cut right.

• Here’s a place where I’d rather dissolve than use a cutaway
  

So why not just show a cutaway?  First of all the reporter is talking about Tom.  So, there is no cutaway that would be relevant.  Second I try not to use shots unless they are relevant to the story.  Earlier I showed a cutaway of a fish [2:20]

because it’s relevant to the story.

At [2:55] is another dissolve to an interview.  This is another feel thing.  I’ve just done two dissolves of Tom underwater.  Yes, I’m dissolving because I don’t like how the shots cut together.  But with those two dissolve I’m again creating that dream come true feeling and the reporter track says

Underwater, his dive buddies see he has discovered so much more.

Followed by the interviewer saying

It’s just so cool. It’s just an awesome feeling…

Another dissolve just felt appropriate here [2:55].  It’s a feel thing.  I’m actually amazing myself explaining feel here.

At [2:59] I use sound as my transition.  I going from the interview to a sequence of Tom coming out of the water.

From [2:59] to [3:24] I sequencing again so I cut.

At [3:18] I bring up the natural sound of the boat.

Again, using sound as a transition.  I’m telling the viewer the boats moving and they’re on there way back.

At [3:24] I dissolve from a shot of the bird flying next to the boat

to Tom on the dock (it’s a tight shot of his hand)

This dissolve is simply a time transition dissolve.

The rest of the story finishes out on the dock so I sequence.  No reason to dissolve anything here.

Transitions are key to every story.  They are the tool that moves the story from one place to another.  They are also a tool to help set a mood.

Thanks for reading.  As always I love comments.