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Shooting For Edit
We've already looked at the process of storyboarding, but let's expand the idea a little here, and examine shooting strategies that will help you in the edit suite.
When you are shooting your action, it's best to have in mind how the final shots will edit together. This is one reason for the 180 Degree line of action rule, but there are more things to consider than this. Getting the most interaction out of your audience will make for a better viewing experience. Again, this is an extension of the writing process, and when working well, the script will help you improve your choices.
If you ask your audience to become involved in making logical connections between shots and action, then their participation is greater. This is acheived through the pattern of question and answer. In film, a series of shots sets up expectations, and this is narrative motion.
Questions & Answers
The cut on the look is the most basic question and answer pattern. Our close up of Hans has him looking to his right - we ask what he is looking at. We then cut to a shot of Helena wandering towards us. This is our answer.
In a wider context, this sequence will be part of a much larger narrative framework. If we have not met Helena before, we immediately ask who is she, how does Hans know her, what is their relationship to one another? Or maybe we have not met Hans before, and Helena is our heroine. Why is this strange man looking at her? Is he a stalker? Thus the logical flow of the shots can radically alter the narrative in the sequence.
As we have seen in our exploration of screenwriting, Hitchcock was a master of suspense. People sitting around a table suddenly get blown up - this is one moment of drama. But suppose we simply insert a shot of the bomb beneath their table? The tension in the scene increases - do they know it's there? Will it explode? Will they nudge it and arm the device? That man who is standing up and heading out of the room, does he know the bomb is there?
So, not only is the way a shot looks important, the position in which it can slot into a sequence is important too. By shooting in such a manner that shot order can be changed without too much hassle, you allow yourself more scope to enhance the narrative in the edit suite.
That's why it's useful to understand the line of action rule and the jump cut rule, just so you will be aware of what effect deliberately or accidentally breaking them will have on your final edited sequence.
Let's examine a sequence of the same shots and see how their temporal and spatial connections can be used to shape the narrative:
So, by shooting enough footage, and doing so with the editing process in mind, you can see how your decisions on set can help your decisions in the edit suite. Allowing yourself this scope by being aware of how shots will knit together will benefit you in the long run.
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We've already looked at the process of storyboarding, but let's expand the idea a little here, and examine shooting strategies that will help you in the edit suite.
When you are shooting your action, it's best to have in mind how the final shots will edit together. This is one reason for the 180 Degree line of action rule, but there are more things to consider than this. Getting the most interaction out of your audience will make for a better viewing experience. Again, this is an extension of the writing process, and when working well, the script will help you improve your choices.
If you ask your audience to become involved in making logical connections between shots and action, then their participation is greater. This is acheived through the pattern of question and answer. In film, a series of shots sets up expectations, and this is narrative motion.
Questions & Answers
The cut on the look is the most basic question and answer pattern. Our close up of Hans has him looking to his right - we ask what he is looking at. We then cut to a shot of Helena wandering towards us. This is our answer.
In a wider context, this sequence will be part of a much larger narrative framework. If we have not met Helena before, we immediately ask who is she, how does Hans know her, what is their relationship to one another? Or maybe we have not met Hans before, and Helena is our heroine. Why is this strange man looking at her? Is he a stalker? Thus the logical flow of the shots can radically alter the narrative in the sequence.
As we have seen in our exploration of screenwriting, Hitchcock was a master of suspense. People sitting around a table suddenly get blown up - this is one moment of drama. But suppose we simply insert a shot of the bomb beneath their table? The tension in the scene increases - do they know it's there? Will it explode? Will they nudge it and arm the device? That man who is standing up and heading out of the room, does he know the bomb is there?
So, not only is the way a shot looks important, the position in which it can slot into a sequence is important too. By shooting in such a manner that shot order can be changed without too much hassle, you allow yourself more scope to enhance the narrative in the edit suite.
That's why it's useful to understand the line of action rule and the jump cut rule, just so you will be aware of what effect deliberately or accidentally breaking them will have on your final edited sequence.
Let's examine a sequence of the same shots and see how their temporal and spatial connections can be used to shape the narrative:
So, by shooting enough footage, and doing so with the editing process in mind, you can see how your decisions on set can help your decisions in the edit suite. Allowing yourself this scope by being aware of how shots will knit together will benefit you in the long run.
Tweet
Back to the How To Guides