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

Have you ever had a section of narration and you have absolutely no idea how you are going to cover it?  Ideally you strive to cover a interview or narration with whatever they’re talking about.  Well, that’s not always going to happen.  Quite often a reporter, writer or producer will right you into oblivion, and you have to figure out what video you should use.

Here is an example of a story like that and what I did with it to make it work.  A majority of the story I felt the shots I chose worked well.  But there are some lines of track I really struggled finding the right shot.  So please watch the story and check S.W.A.P (Synchronizing words and pictures) when it works, then look at the shots I choose when I don’t have a good relevant shot, here I try to use symbolism.

The story is a look at the recovery efforts after a tornado hit the town of Windsor Colorado.

So here’s some of my logic to the story Reminders of May 22nd

Our first track is

There are still reminders of May 22nd.

I start the story with a medium shot of a bare tree.  I felt this bare tree looked like a tree you would see in any day of tornado stories.

The next shot is of that same tree but now you see what appears to be what’s left of an aluminum shed.

Then I take a tight shot of that ripped shed. Notice I take the edit mid-motion.  Like if you were there you’d here that noise the aluminum makes and then you would look at it.

Take notice that the first 6 shot in this story all have slow zooms I added in editing.  My subtle way of pulling you into the story.

At [:13] You hear the reporter and then I cut to her visually.  This is another little trick I do a lot.  Helping take the viewer to a new location and imitating the eye.  If you were looking at that tree and then heard the reporter talk, you wouldn’t look at her until she already started speaking.

I’ve got music going in this whole story but this [at :16] is the first time i bring it up full.  I give a moment for the viewer to adsorb the shot….

…now my journey to try and find some relevant video begins.  I show the shot above because the mayor speaks about houses with no roofs.

Then he talks about someone losing half a home so I show this shot.

Then when he’s talking about fences being gone, I use downed fences video.

He then talks about seeing the living room and kitchen so I show this shot.

Throughout the story so far I’m doing my best to find shots relevant to the story.

Obviously the tornado should be shown.  I had to pull it from a file package so I only had a few shots to choose from to make this section work.

Now my true symbolic adventure begins.  There are several lines of track I’m totally not sure what to cover with.  I try to find shots that have some kind of symbolism,  something the viewer can look at and it helps understand and correlate with the narration.

The soundbite I’m covering with these two previous shots is

For what we’ve seen in a year, it’s a great accomplishment.

Showing the town of Windsor sign up is just a symbolic shot of the town getting back to normal.  Tornadoes knock down trees, so showing trees ready for disposal is again a symbolic shot of recovery.

This doesn’t require reasoning.  Showing someone working on a house shows repair from the tornado.  I think it’s important to point out that I work very hard to find relevant shots, I’m only going symbolism route if I cannot find a shot that truly works with the narration.

This day care was heavily damaged and people familiar with the story will appreciate this shot.  Sometimes an edit may only be for a few.

The narration is about rebuilding families.  There is symbolism in this shot is just subtle and that’s the board in the foreground.

Please continue watching.  There are a few other symbolic shots that I think work very well.  I challenge you to find the right shot for every edit.  I do.

Those challenges aren’t always met.  Several edits in life you just have to find something that’ll work.

Thanks for continue to read

Shawn Montano

This story was on my 2007 Editor of the Year entry.  It’s a natural sound feature.  Looking back on this package and the effects I used I think it still holds up today.  The effects don’t look dated.  This looks like something I might edit today.  I try to keep all my effects very simple.  I am just looking for a few effects to enhance a story and not to distract from it.  Trust me I’ve had my fair share of edits where the effects were so distracting you didn’t even know what the story was about.  I encourage everyone to play with all those effects in your palette.  I encourage you even more to create effects of your own.

This was part of a program I produced called Colorado Getaways Extreme.  My co-producer and I liked the show to look different so we added effects to each story.

You’ll notice as we go along I use the same effect in a story over and over.

I’m going to take you through these and describe how I did them.  You don’t need a high end machine to do any of these.  All you need is a simple NLE that will let you do two layers of video.

The story starts right off with effects at [:01].  This is simply two layers of the same video.

Video layer 1 is normal. Video layer 2 is the exact same shot.  I increase the size (scale) to about 200 percent and drop the opacity to about 40 percent. This gives the feeling of speed and a blur sensation.  The video is slowed down by about 50 percent as well.  This helps with the blur sensation.

Right after that is single frame edits at [:02] at half opacity of a swish pan my photographer shot.

I love single frame edits. I use them whenever I can.  I could write an entire post about single frame edits…hmmmm.

• I use single frame edits whenever and where ever I can.  I love them!

• You’ll see lots of single frame edits in this story.

Next is a shot of a minimoto moving left to right at [:03].  Video layer 1 is blurred.  Video layer 2 is cropped so you just see the body of a minimoto,scale increased to 200% and blurred as well.

after that is more single frame edits using that same swish pan.  Using a swish pan and single frame edits create that motion feel.

This is a circle wipe.  I just layed the wipe onto the video like an effect.  Then moved it to match the contour of his face.  The wheel is scaled to 200% to cover the entire screen.

After that sound bite you see a combination of single frame edit and the effect I used at [:03] This is the exact same crop used from earlier.  I saved the effect.  I do this in a lot of stories like this.  I’ll reuse and idea over and over.

More single frame edits.  I dropped the contrast down to make the bikes look darker here. There is also a slight blur.  Very slight.  The quick cuts are edited to the music.

 Same circle wipe from earlier at [:06].  Just moved to to the other side of the screen.  See, same effect over and over.

Same circle wipe again at [:09].  Moved down on top of her windshield.  Another slight blur to disguise the bikes a little.

At [:10] I speed up a driver putting on his helmet.

The next shot I slow down another driver moving her head.  I like the look of two speeds juxtaposed together.

This is a cool wheel shot.  I like editing when movement has already started (If you know me you know I’m a huge proponent of editing on motion).

This isn’t an effect I created in the edit bay. I field produced this story.  I had my photographer shoot with a forced perspective.  So as not to give away the true size of the minimotos.

A good idea when doing a story when you want to use foreground but don’t want to give away all the story.

At [:11] Coming out of that interview above I have the video scaled to 200% and then quickly resize it to normal.  All of these color effects I use I’m just playing with contrast.  This is really simple to duplicate. Use your color correction filter.  Drop your blacks down, increase the mids and highlights.

Another forced perspective.  I love these kinds of shots.

I like to using shot when photographer are zooming in or out of moving to another shot.  This is an example at [:15].  My photographer was zooming in to get the shot and I used it.

• I like using photographer mistakes or the moments before they set up for great shots.

This is two layers of the same video at [:23].  Layer 2 opacity is dropped,  and I scale starting big and pulling back to 100%.  In this same sequence is single frame edits using the same swish pan I’ve been using.  I’m also using the same color effect from above.

Reiterating what I said before.

• All my effects are really simple

• I use the same effects over and over in  stories.

At [:25] scale, single frame edits, playing with the opacity, using color correction or color effect and some cropping and that is most of the effects I use.

Those simple things are all you need to create effects like these.

From [:26] to [:43| there are no effects.  I do want to tell some of the story without effects getting in the way.  When you're doing an effects drivin story just sprinkle the effects here an there.  When you're cooking you don't put spices in constantly, you put them in the beginning a few during your cooking and then some at the end right?  Well, you should edit like that.

Notice the next effect section at [:41]. Then, not again until [1:07]. Then a last bunch toward the end at [1:28].  You don’t have to go hog-wild with each edit, just sprinkle it in.

Thanks for reading.

I love using natural sound (you should too).  I love experimenting with natural sound.  I have used too much natural sound in a story.  I have used too little natural sound in a story.  The only way to figure out if you use too little or too much is to experiment.  Ultimately you have to decide if your story has too much or too little natural sound.  

I did more than just experiment with natural sound in It’s a Kid’s Game.  I experimented with the rhythm of natural sound in this story.  A Long time ago someone told me that using natural sound elements in threes was his/her guideline or rule,meaning he/she would use 3 distinct ‘pops’ of natural sound when appropriate.  This rule/guideline helped with rhythm of stories.

What if you tried to do anything but three natural sound pops.  What if you did four, five or six.  What if you did just one but tried to avoid 3.  That’s what I attempted to do one day while doing a natural sound story.

I’ve written the story out here as if I was following was a script.  The natural sound ‘pops’ are numbered.  So, watch It’s a Kids Game, then read the script, then watch It’s a Kids Game again.

Here is the script;

1. Wiffle ball being thrown
2. Player taking deep breath
3. Swinging a ball
4. Pitcher saying ‘All right’

It’s kind of like a swiss cheese ball.

1. A wiffle ball being thrown
2. A ball hitting the chain link fence
3. A ball bouncing on the tennis court
4. Someone hitting a wiffle ball with a bat
5. Spectators saying ‘nice’

It sounds like baseball.

1. A batter take a big sigh
2. Someone saying ‘One out’
3. Someone saying ‘bases loaded’
4. The pitcher saying 3,1
5. A batter hitting the ball

It resembles baseball a lot.

1. Batter hitting a wiffle ball
2. Another batter hitting a wiffle ball
3. A batter watching ball go by and hit hitting net
4. A spectator saying ‘just a bit outside, ball two’
5. Ball going into net and batter saying aw!

They’re all kids when it comes to this game.

1. Guy saying oh! as he misses a ball while batting

That’s the first time I’ve ever seen an adult play wiffle ball before.

1. A batter hits a wiffle ball

Wiffle ball, all the way.

1. ‘Count’
2. ’2-0′
3. Natural sound of someone missing

The Balls are a lot smaller.

1. Sound of pulling ball out of bucket
2. Sound of pitcher’s efforts

And they’re a lot obviously lighter. It’s pretty much like throwing air.

1. Sound of wiffle ball going by and hitting fence
2. Guy saying ohh!

It’s the baby brother of baseball.

1. Guy hitting fowl ball

It’s America’s game.

1. One guys hits wiffle ball
2. Another guy hits wiffle ball
3. Guy saying ‘yeah baby’

It might be the next olympic sport you never know, yeah you never know.

1. Guy saying ‘all right’
2. Give you something to hit

We’re all a bunch of has-beens, bunch of has-beens never will be’s.

1. Natural of shoe sraping ground
2. Sound of his second foot scraping ground
3. Batter hitting the ball

They don’t run like the bases, they just basically have points where um it’s used for 1st base, 2nd bace or whatever cause there’s not enough room you know to run.

1. Sound of wiffle ball
2. Sound of ball hitting fence

You can’t get a full team of guys together anymore we’ve got work, kids.

1. Bat hitting wiffle ball
2. Kids saying whistle ball
3. Gentlemen clapping

Gives us a chance to come out and be heros even if it’s in front of six guys on an afternoon.

1. Guy missing pitch

I’m really surprised to see a lot of these guys have gotten it over the fence here.

You got it, get over, get over.

Hey this guys just hit a home run.

I always used to think it was a kids game but it’s actually gettin’ to be pretty serious.

1. Bat hits ball
2. Wiffle ball comes in

It’s just kind a come out here and be a kid for a little while.

I should of hit that one.

I played it back in elementary school but that was it.

1. Ball coming in
2. guy hitting ball

It is a kids game.

More adults are getting into it.

1. Ball hits backstop

If it makes me just a little bit younger.

1. “Nice buddy”

I’ll take every second of it I can get.

Good game, good game.

As you observed, I only used natural sound in groups of threes only 4 times.  I tried to avoid doing that but I also had to get this story to air.  I wanted to prove you don’t need to follow some rule or guideline simply because.  Understand the rules (which are really just guidelines) and then break them.

Thank you for reading

One of my recent productions went viral.  This Ignite talk by Ash Beckham is on it’s way to becoming the #1 Ignite talk viewed ever on Youtube.  As of this writing it’s been viewed over 250,000 times.  Yeah! 250,000!

My editing had nothing to do with this video going viral.  The content drove it to be viewed by so many.  I do think my editing helped in the viewing and understanding of the content.  Yes, there is logic in editing this video.

If you are familiar with Walter Murch you know about blink points.  If you’re not allow me to explain.  When you listen to someone talking to you your blinks may in fact coincide with your understanding of the information.  You quite often blink when you’re brain has processed some information.

Walter Murch has a theory that the human blink is an emotional punctuation.  Murch found that nearly every single time he decided to make a cut, a character in a movie he was editing would blink very close to the frame he chose to make an edit on.  He concluded a person will blink every time they understand a thought or emotion.

“So it seems to me,” Murch says, “that our rate of blinking is somehow geared more to our emotional state and to the nature and frequency of our thoughts than to the atmospheric environment we happen to find ourselves in.  The blink is either something that helps an internal separation of thought to take place, or it is an involuntary reflex accompanying the mental separation that is taking place anyway.”

As I was editing the Ignite Boulder presentations I used this ideal.  The first sentence Ash says is “My name is Ash and I can say unequivocally I am so gay.”  and right after she completes that thought I make an edit.

W

I put her graphic on the screen full and she says “… eliminating the word gay as a pejorative from our lexicon.” She completes the thought, and I make an edit.

I am using her completions of thoughts to make edit decisions.  I’m not using her complete sentences.  Quite often you see multiple edits make before she completes a sentence.  Now I will sometimes use other cues to make my decision.  Perhaps I make a decision because I want cut to the full screen graphic because she talking about it.  For the most part in this edit I used what I felt were thought completions. Here’s an example.

Explain to you the difference of what I just said and what this image conveys (CUT).  Now you may be saying Ash we live in Boulder we love gays here, (CUT) we have pride, we have BCAP all true, (CUT) but I guarantee you there are places you go every day (CUT).

As you can see I’m not waiting for her to complete a sentence but a thought.  Watch the entire video and really concentrate on when she makes a complete thought.  Watch how often I have an edit at that same moment.

Here is another example in the edit when I use blink points.  At [1:38] she says

“..The top row they’ve all come out, (CUT) now the bottom row we cross our fingers but (CUT) until they do, their cartoons and muppets so at the very least they’re happy (CUT).  Now there is a long list of things that you should never call so gay (CUT), an assignment you don’t wanna do is not so gay(CUT).  Someone’s new haircut is not so gay (CUT). A workout you don’t like is no so gay (CUT).  A test that you bombed is not so gay (CUT).  Someone’s car is not so gay (CUT).   Now again I may be preaching to the Boulder loving gay choir (CUT).

Blinks point can be used in ANY type of edit.  Blink points should be used in EVERY edit.  Next time your stuck with where to make an edit, think about blink points.

Thanks for reading.

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This is an educational blog so what can you learn from a story like this.  You can learn that the basic element we use everyday can turn into an effect.  Yes the cut can be an effect.  This was edited in a tape-to-tape edit bay back in 1999. 

Our story for this post is New York Street Boys.

In this post we’re going to talk about

• Using a cut as an effect.

• Using quick edits as a transition device

The cut is the device storytellers use most often.  I’d guess over 95% of the content you see in film, television and the web uses cuts.

We often see storytellers use effects to enhance a story.  Many of us know what effects in our NLE are capable of and can grab any one of numerous effects to enhance a story.

New York Street Boys is an effects driven story, except the effect is simply a cut.

Our story begins at [:02].  It starts with a wide shot of crowd gathered.

After that shot we have 44 cuts in less than 8 seconds.  All of these cuts are edited to the beat.  I’m creating an effect by simply cutting quickly. 

Understand I wanted to have fun with this story.  Rarely you ever get an edit that just calls out for a certain kind of edit.  I could of easily edited this with significantly less edits and had a good story.  This is a case of wanting the edits to enhance the overall experience of the story.

There are only 3 shots that are wide shots within that series of cuts.  Your eye probably only reconized two of those wide shots.  I did that because of the way the brain process information.  The brain can only process so much information at a time. If you’re going to use this type of editing and you still want the viewer to gather information about the story, tight shots are the way to go.

Try to use shot that are vastly different.  Wide and tight and/or different colors or different elements.  This will help the viewer’s eye and getting information.

I’ve established the style in which I’m going to tell the story right from the beginning.  I’m going to use quick cuts, often single frame edits.  Does this represent the way the eye would work if you were there?  No.

New York Street Boys is not about imitating the eye.  It’s about using a tool, in this case a cut, to enhance the viewing of the story.

• I want the viewer to see the story, hear the story and I’m going to try and make them feel the story.

Quick cuts are my attempt to take the viewer as much into the story as I think I can.

In the series of cuts from [:12] to [:14] the tight shot have little going on in them.

In a few frames you see the drumstick hitting the trash can.  But other than that I keep what’s going on in the quick edits simple.

In the first 14 seconds of the story I have lots and lots of cuts.  It would be an epic edit if I kept that pace up throughout this piece.  I don’t do this for a few reasons.

• I don’t want this style to get in the way of the story

• I’m just trying to use it to enhance the story in places

• It would of taken me a long, long time to edit.

So from [:14] to [:31] I’m simply just trying to tell story.  I also introduce our first character in the story.

The next time I use quick edits is at [:32].  I’m using it as a transition devices to introduce another character.

I do this quick edits transition again at [:52] to introduce the final character.

Looking back on this story I realized I didn’t introduce the viewer to him like I did with Alex and Dean.  I guess that’s the reality of natural sound stories.  You don’t always have all the elements to tell the whole story.  It is a true talent to tell a great natural sound story.  I did a good job.  I did not do a great job.  You should always strive to tell a great story and have the editing secondary.  Honestly, I flipped those guidelines for this edit.  I put the editing first and the story second.  I will happen to you many times in your career.

At [:58] I use quick edits again as a transition device.  The story moves from them banging on trash cans to banging on their heads.

I have quick edits agian at [1:09].  I use them for a transition to the crowd.  I felt I needed a little crowd reaction here with cheering.

• You’ve got to have reaction to all those actions in a story

I go back to quick edits at [1:15] to transition to the final element of the story.  The New York Street Boys using fire.

Again at [1:22] for the beginning of the fire portion of the show.

And then there’s my big finally at [1:32].  After doing all these quick edits in certain places I wanted to create a big finale in the editing.  Just like the New York Street Boys create a finale for the viewers on the mall, I wanted a big finale for the viewers watching the story at home.

Our story closes with a series of reaction shots from the crowd.

This was one of the funnest stories I’ve ever put together.  I took me about 8 hours to edit.  I edited this story tape to tape.  There are 246 edits in the story.  It runs [1:45]

Quick edits, when used in an appropriate story can often enhance a story like this.  Taking the viewer in more intimately than even someone watching just a few feet away.  Frankly it was a ton of fun to put this story together.

Thanks for reading.  Don’t forget to like The Edit Foundry on Facebook.

The story I am going to use for this post is Lots of Snow.

So we want to get the audience’s eye moving across the screen.  Let’s break down doing this.  I’m a huge fan of any movement in your edits. Now lets see if we can actually guide the eye around the screen.  Eye movement-

• Makes your story look better
• Movement imitates life and the way your eye would pick up visual cues
• You can also move the viewer’s eye with audio cues
• Eye movement helps the viewer retain more information in your story.

If you are hesitant to buy into my logic, here is some research on eye movement

Moving Your Eyes Improves Memory, Study Suggests

A quick eye-exercise can improve your performance on memory tests (but only if you’re right-handed)

Can Lateral Eye Movements Enhance Narrative Recall?

This does not work for every edit.  If I could get this to work for every edit I’d be an editing genius.  I’m not.  I do though understand the power of making the eye move.

Let’s examine our story.

Our story begins with two wide shots of the East High practice field covered in snow.

The first 3 shots in the story don’t have any movement, except for the opening shot of the a high school student [:01] walking away from the camera.

I normally don’t like editing so many shots back to back without any movement.  In this case I wanted to show the practice field with no action going on, just snow.

But at [:09] I establish a good portion of what the story is about with the shot of shovels and kids. And…

our eye movement adventure begins here.  

You probably didn’t notice but your eye was focused on the turned over traffic cone [:07].  Then your eye immediately moved to the left of the screen to pick up the shovel at [:09].  Your eye then moved from the left of the screen to the right side of the screen where a young girl is pushing down on the a shovel with her foot.  I have your eye exactly where I want it.  Because in the next shot at [:10] you see snow added to a pile. 

• I used a visual cue to move your eyes

In that instance I led your eye visually. 

Your eye is on the right side of the screen when the next edit comes along and it moves to the right side of the screen.  But it’s not a visual cue, it’s an audio cue this time.  You here a girl say “It’s time to get out and play.”  Your eye immediately starts searching for who is saying this.  Your eye discovers it’s a girl on the left side of the screen.  I moved your eye agian.

• You can lead the eye with audio cues

Y

At the end of this shot a shovel throws snow across the screen.  As your eye moves with the snow, the very next edit at [:13] has shovels moving primarirly on the right side of the screen.  This is another time when I’m leading your eye across the screen.

The next 4 edits don’t have a lot of eye movement.  Like I said, as much as I try I can’t accomplish this in every edit.

At [:24] we pick up some more leading the eye.

Your eye moves to the right side of the screen and the end of the shot.  The very next shot has action I want your eye to focus on right there on the right side of the screen.  Your eye now focuses on the shovel and actually stays mostly on the right side of the screen.

As the shovels is pushed into the snow and I make an edit.

Everything in the next shot at [:26] is screen left.  I’m moving your eye to the left simply because there is nothing to see on the right side of the screen.

I like to have a balance.  Meaning a equal amount of action on the left side of the screen as on the right side of the screen. 

• By keeping your eye moving I’m also balancing my edits

Shooting with the rule of thirds really helps in balancing your edits. 

The next shot at [:27]

I keep your eye on the left side but your eye now moves down and will focus on the shovel at the bottom of the screen.

At roughly the same point at the bottom of the screen in the next edit, a tarp full of snow begins moving as your eye picks that up.

It’s the action at the end of the edit at [:28] that helps with eye movement.  Editors often wonder when to start an edit. 

• I think it’s just as important to think about what happens at the end of the edit as well. 

In this case the shovel pushes into the snow, I make an edit and there’s your eye right where I want it to be.

The next 3 edits don’t really have a lot of eye movement.

At [:35] Your eye moves to the left of the screen searching for who is talking.  The next edit is a tight shot of a the tarp dumping snow.  The action starts screen left and moves your eye screen right.

Your eye then comes back to the left as you focus on the man singing at [:37].  As he bends down at the end of the shot…

your eye moves down. I’m leading your eye to the next shot of a shovel right where the shovelhead is.  Again, what’s going on in the beginning of the edit isn’t nearly as important as what’s going on at the end of the shot before I make an edit.

That shovel moves screen left right to the next shot of a person throwing snow.

I have a lot of really good eye movement from [:48] to [:51] Pay attention to the shovels.

My favorite edit of this story happens at [1:05]. It’s what happens at the end of the edit that makes these two shots work so well together.  You see a girl pick up snow and throw it.

And the very next shot is snow coming down on the top, on the right side of the screen.  Right where I want your eye to be.  This is also matching my action. 

Editing with Eye movement logic isn’t something that I understood immediately.  It takes a while to work into stories and understand how to make it work.

I have to admit I never would of known about eye movement had it not been for John Hyjek.

Thank you for reading.  

@shawnmontano

The Edit Foundry on Facebook

This song definitely has a pace.  To me the pace feels too fast. Why?  Because the Gary Jules version in my opinion is better and has the right pace 

The same song with two different paces.  Is it possible for two versions of a story to have two different paces?  You betcha!  The pace will help the viewer understand how they’re supposed to feel.  

Do you want the viewer to feel urgency?  A faster pace would do that like in the story It’s Bad.

This story’s pace is much slower than that.  And that pace is going to help up tell this story.

Our story for this post is In Search of Flatter Ground

Our story begins with a medium shot of the airplane in the field.

 I then cut to a tight shot at [:02] of a lucky rabbit’s foot.  The sound bite says, “we’re going to try and get it off the ground.”  I thought it was somewhat symbolic of luck.  The pilot was lucky to land in a field and not crash.  Now, he’ll need a little luck getting the plane back off the ground.  

The next shot at [:04] is up for 3 and a half seconds.

I am going to establish the pace of the entire story with this one shot.  You need to see the car going in the bumpy field.  The bumpy field is very important to the whole story.  I am establishing the pace of the story.  Now let’s see if I can stick to it.  Remember, that shot was up for over 3 seconds!  Anyone ever told you or have you ever read 3 seconds is about how long it takes someone to adsorb everything in a shot in a story?  I feel that’s jibberish. No two 3-second shots are the same. Each is unique in the information in the shot.  Ok, back to the story.

The entire process of getting the airplane out of the field is slow and methodical.  That’s how it happened.  That’s what I’m going to try and convey.

The very next edit of the car at [:08] is also over 3 seconds long.  Damn, again with those shots up for a while?  So, if the shot is up longer then they’re must be less edits.  Less edits and longer shots make a slower pace.

At [:12] I have another wide shot of the airplane in the field.

 I keep this shot up for over 2 seconds (sensing a trend yet).

The reporter in this story helps tremendously with the pacing.  Her delivery is calm.  There is no sense of urgency in her voice.  She’s simply telling the story. 

• A calm delivery helps control the pacing

Another way I help with the pacing is how I use natural sound.  At [:25] is a tight shot of them starting the airplane.  This shot and the natural sound to support it is up almost a full 2 seconds.

The next time you hear the plane is at [:29].  I leave that natural sound up for over a second and a half.

This shot is also up for 4 seconds. 

At [:35] I have another shot of the plane.  The natural sound up for nearly two full seconds.  

The shot itself is up for nearly 5 seconds.   I also leave this shot up for so long because I want the viewer to see the difficulty in trying to take off from this field.

They finally get the plane out of the field.  They have to maneuver through cattle gates in order get the plane to a better place to takeoff.  I’ve never seen an airplane maneuver through cattle gates.  Have you?  This shot is nice and worth leaving up for over 3 and a half seconds, and it helps with my pacing.

There are a lot of great shots in this story.  The next shot at [:49] is one of my favorites and I almost didn’t put it in.

Originally I just had the plane on the highway.  No cop car in front of it.  The reporter came into the edit bay and suggested I change it.  She was right.  This reveal of the plane on the highway really makes the story.  At the beginning of the shot I just use natural sound of wind.  I just let the shot breath.  It’s a great shot and it helps with my pacing.

The final shot of the airplane at [1:09] is the last shot and I leave it up until our story is over.

At [1:12] and for a full 3 seconds you just hear natural sound as the plane goes down the highway and disappears, only to reappear airborne.  All this is helping with the pacing.  It’s also the single greatest closing shot I’ve ever had in a package I edited.

• This story has 27 edits
• The story is 1:26 long
• That is an average edit every 3.18 seconds
• A slow pace

Just for comparison sake.

 A story with a faster pace is It’s Bad.

• This story has 41 edits
• The story is 1.17 long
• That is an average edit every 1.87 seconds

Play with pacing.  

It’s another great tool to make your editing better.

Thank you for reading.  

@shawnmontano

The Edit Foundry on Facebook

Sound helps you get the viewer into the story.  It helps them feel like they are there witnessing the story with the videographer and reporter.  When you watch a movie, it’s the ambient sounds that help carry you away and into the story.  News packages are trying to do the same thing.  News packages don’t have nearly the time as a movie.  News packages condense those natural sound elements but still try take you into the story.

Believe it or not I think there is some logic to the use of natural sound.  I’m going to try and explain my logic and my approach the use of natural sound.  The story I’m going to use for this post is It’s Just a Drill.

We’re going to talk about the logic of natural sound.

• Natural sound helps with action and reaction
• Natural sound can help grab the viewer’s attention
• Natural sound can acts like an adverb
• Natural sound can acts like punctuation
• Natural sound at the beginning of narration or soundbites can help change location
• Natural sound when appropriate, reinforces a narration or soundbite
• Natural sound can help with the rhythm of a story
• Natural sound should be relevant to the story

The story starts with an action [:01] of a woman screaming, “get me down.”

This is followed by a reaction of a CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) member at [:02] telling the woman, “I need you to be strong.”

• Simple action and reaction

This is followed by another woman screaming at [:03], “Find my daughter please somebody!”

With those 3 pieces of natural sound, I have set up the entire story.  I’ve also grabbed the viewer’s attention.  Viewers aren’t always paying attention to the television or a website when a story starts.  

• Natural sound is a good way to grab the viewer’s attention

The first narration from the reporter is, The screams are real.

When I think of natural sound, I think of it as an adverb in a sentence.  What’s an adverb?

• An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb
• Adverbs generally answer one of four questions; how, when, where, or to what extent.

A simple sentence with an adverb is, He ran fast.  Now think of this in the world of stories you’re going to edit.  The reporter narration is, He ran.  You follow that with a piece of natural sound of a person running fast.  You’re natural sound is acting like an adverb.

In our story the first narration at [:06] is The screams are real.

I then use a women screaming, “Help.”  It’s kinda of like modifying the verb screams in the sentence, like an adverb would in the written world.

The next narration at [:07] is, The injuries and the blood are not.

I follow that sentence with a women sighing at [:10].

This piece of natural sound is acting more like an exclamation mark.

• Exclamation marks are used at the end of a sentences or a short phrase which express very strong feeling
• An exclamation can accompany mimetically produced sounds

In a story you might right read “The lion went roar!, and I ran away.”

In the world of stories you are editing you might have a narration, The lion roared, and then you’d have natural sound of the lion roaring.  That would make your natural sound an exclamation mark.

At [:10] I have a women saying, “It’s scary for us.”

I break up her sentence with the natural sound of a woman saying, “I don’t wanna go down, I don’t wanna go again.”

Here, the natural sound is acting like a comma

• a comma can be used to connect independent clauses, as in; My friend, wearing green pants, is playing football outside.

The sentence in this part of the story would read; “Its scary for us, I don’t wanna go down I don’t wanna go again, but we need to learn in this kind of exercise, 3, so that when a real one happens that we’re prepared.”

Just like in sentence structure, you don’t randomly put words or punctuation in right?  If you apply that same logic to natural sound, I think it’ll greatly enhance your use of natural sound.

Watch the story again.  Notice the placement of natural sound and think about sentence structure.  Notice I don’t break up a sentence from either the reporter or a soundbite unless there is a natural pause, like adding a comma.

Notice when the natural sound comes at the end of a sentence from the reporter or a soundbite it’s acting more like an exclamation mark. 

At [:19] I use the woman on the backboard before a sentence.

She moans.  Using natural sound this way I’m changing location.  As you can see they are now outside the arena.

DISCLAIMER

• These are guidelines to using natural sound
• These are not rules
• This is my logic

I don’t follow these guidelines every time I edit.  Sometimes I add natural sound by feel.  Stories have a rhythm.  Sometimes I add natural sound just to keep the rhythm going, like a drum in a song.

At [:24] I have a CERT volunteer laying down a tarp.  You hear the natural sound of him putting the tarp down on the ground.

This natural sound is not an adverb, a comma, an exclamation mark, or a location change.  It’s simply there to help with the rhythm of the story.  You see him and the tarp later in the story.  So, it’s relevant to the story.  It’s just not relevant at this moment.  This brings me to another topic of natural sound.

• Relevant Natural Sound

Ask yourself when you’re editing a story.  Why is that natural sound there?  Just cause isn’t a good enough answer.  

1. It’s relevant to what’s going on is a good answer
2. If you were there, you’d hear that is a good answer
3. It’s helping tell the story is a good answer

• Relevant natural sound is simply sound that helps tell the story and not some random piece of noise.

Back to our story

At [:27] I use natural sound again to change location.  The natural sound of the horse gate opening is taking us inside the barn. Then the narration is, They are real life neighbors learning how to manage emergencies.

The natural sound that follow is reinforcing the narration.  I have a woman asking a girl on a backboard, “Is that painful?”  What is she doing?  She’s managing the emergency.

• I love when natural sound reinforces a narration or soundbite

After her natural sound action, I have a natural sound reaction of the girl on the backboard saying, “yes!” Then I have a CERT volunteer picking her up saying, “on the count of three.”  This is a natural sound sequence. 

At [:36] is the natural sound of the CERT volunteer saying, “Is everybody good?” I’m using that natural sound like a  comma.

At [1:00] the natural sound is used to change location.  At [1:02] the natural sound is used to change location again.  Again at [1:05] with the woman screaming, “Mommy where’s Lexi.”

I love using natural sound.  I love when I can use one shot and all the natural sound within it.  At [1:05] is a prime example of me milking a shot for all it’s worth.

I start the shot with the woman screaming, “Mommy where’s Lexi?”  I back time the next time she says “Mommy,” and a natural pause in the narration.  Then, I start the soundbite and wait for a natural pause in her sentence at [1:14], that is natural sound acting like a comma.

Natural sound comes, well very naturally to me. With time I hope it comes naturally to you.

This was a story I edited in one hour.  So practice, practice, practice.  After a while the logic and use of natural sound will just become second nature.

Thank you for reading my blog

Check me out on Twitter @shawnmontano

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Practice, mess up, practice, get it right, practice, change your mind about what you got right and what you messed up and then practice some more.  You’ll get it, but it’s going to take time.  Crafting a good edit is one thing, adding music and making it work for the edit is a whole other set of skills you need to have.

The story for this post is Journey of Hope Pt. 4

I won an Emmy for this documentary.  Journey of Hope is a story of a man with Parkinson’s disease.  Scott Orr decides to undergo a life changing brain surgery to help control the tremors associated with parkinsons.  I’m just going to use part 4 for this post.

When I edited this documentary I worked at a place that allowed the use of real music.   I used the soundtrack to Erin Brockovich.  This is the only soundtrack I used for the entire documentary.  By using the same music from the same source and same composer the entire documentary felt connected.

Don’t have the ability to use real music?  Search HARD through your library to find music that works.  I edited another documentary for the Discovery Channel called After Obesity, The Final Cut

I found a disc with music from one composer that had an extremely similar feel to the Erin Brockovich soundtrack.  I created a feel for this documentary as well using one composer.

If you can use popular music I recommend using something that’s not too mainstream or current at that moment. I’ll use popular music that you may not recognize immediately.  The reason I do this is  music usually attaches itself to people on some emotional level.  I don’t want people to come into one of my stories with a pre-convinced emotion.  I want them to gain their own emotional attachment to my story.

• Music can help the pace of a story
• Music can add an emotional draw
• Music can help reveal a moment in a story
• Music can help with transitions between story elements

Journey of Hope Part 4  begins with music up full.  It’s rather serious in tone.  My music selection is helping set the tone in this section of the story

This section of the documentary begins on a medium shot of the operating room.

The next shot is that of Dr. McVicker [:04] looking down very seriously.

At [:07] the narration begins, We all know in life there are risks.  That’s followed by a soundbite by Dr. Kumar asking Scott a question.  The combination or music and selected soundbites gives the viewer the sense of something wrong during the surgery.  So at this point the music is the establish-er of the mood and the soundbites and narration are secondary.  I keep the music volume low so you can hear the narration and soundbites.  How low you ask?  Each story you edit will be different.  There is no magical number that will work.  You really have to understand the logic of audio.  I highly suggest to research.  Let’s continue with the post.  

The music stay low until [:24]. The narration is, When something appeared terribly wrong.

It’s at this point when you see Scott open his eyes and look to his right.

The music comes up full and I let the shot breathe letting the viewers understand the gravity of the moment.  It’s just a small moment.  It’s a reinforcement moment.  A moment to grasp the possible seriousness of everything that’s come so far.

Now listen closely.  From [:34] to [:38] the music fade down.  It’s very subtle and takes a full 4 seconds to fade away. The moment has passed. The minor scare is no longer an issue.  I want the music to fade away, but I don’t want the viewer to notice it fading away.  I want them to just focus on the story.

At [1:20] I cut out of the operating room and into the waiting room.

A few emotional moments are about to happen.  So earlier I used the music to set the tone.  Now I’m going to do the opposite.  The soundbites and emotion in the frames set the tone.  The music just supports it.  Everyone is happy the surgery went well.  These are positive soundbites.  I call this a feel of relief.  Everyone’s relieved the surgery went well.  The music helps convey everyone’s sense of relief. 

At [1:24] the music starts midway through Scott’s fathers soundbite.  I’m using the soundbite to help bury the start of the music.  You don’t really realize the music is there right away.  The less the viewer notices the better editor you are.

I carry the ‘relief’ music underneath this whole section of Scott’s parents, his wife, and his best friend in the waiting room.

At [1:44] I bring the music up full.

There is a shot of Scott lying there calm. I’ll bet he’s relieved the surgery went well too.  I’m conveying that feeling.

At [1:43] I bring the music up full to[1:45]. There are two shots.  One of Scott’s head and one of his hand.  His hand isn’t moving.  That shot is the reason for the entire surgery.  The tremors have stopped. Very poignant moment don’t you think?  Guess what?  Music full and a moment for the viewer to take it in.

If you are not familiar with Parkinson’s Disease  go here for a good explanation.

At [1:57] to [1:59] the music ends with a small moment.  That part of the story ends as well. Coincendence?  No.  I back timed the music to end right there.

• I use music to help tell the viewer understand that this is the end of this part of the story.

I’ve used two different pieces of music now. I’m not using it constantly.  I’m only trying to use it when I want to help reinforce the emotion of the moment.  The most important aspect of using music may be when you don’t use it.  I don’t use music again until [2:53]

At [2:52] Scott’s about to test the Pacemaker for the Brain he’s had implanted to help control the trembling in his hand.

• This is reason for the surgery.

• It’s a very important moment in the story.
  

Well based on those two bullets points and everything I’ve done so far with the story It say time for some more music.  I chose something light and not overpowering.  I start the music up first and then the scene’s narration.

At [3:07] is the first time Scott sees his hand not tremble after the activation of the Pacemaker for the brain.

I let the shot breath with the music up.  Agian, I’m allowing the viewer to take in the moment for just a little bit longer.

At [3:18] I let the music come up again.  Scott says, “Wow, haven’t seen that in a long time.”

Another moment I want to just let breath for an extra second. 

• Each time a moment or something poignant is said or seen music comes up full in this section of the documentary.
  

At [3:25] Scott twitches his fingers as he’s looking down.  I let that moment breath as well.  It’s also the end of that piece of music.  Again, I’m telling the viewer that’s the end of this part of the story.    Again I back-time the music so the score ends right as this section of the story ends.

At [3:50] I start the music up again.  You have to listen very closely.  I bring it up very subtly.  As you can hear I like bring up music subtly.

• I don’t like music all of a sudden there.

At [4:09] I bring the music up full again. The narration is, There is no cure for Parkinson’s or it’s symptoms.

It’s not a moment but it’s poignant statement.  I decide to bring up the music because is poignant.

At [4:26] I change the music.  They are about to take the go kart on the track  I wanted something upbeat and fun but something that still fit with the rest of the music.  I use this piece of music for the rest of the story.

At [4:54] the music ends as our story ends.  Agian, I back timed the music to make this happen.

I hardly ever use the music as it was originally constructed. I’ll use bit and pieces and rework the music to fit my story.  I strive hard to make cuts the viewer won’t notice.

So, I may use the beginning of a piece of music, cut to the middle piece I like to bring up full, then make another cut to help with my backtiming to the end.

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

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