I have been looking into pacing, and I have found a webpage which provides a lot of useful information about it.
http://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=2233986
I found this website to be useful because it gives examples of fast and slow pacing, and names some directors who are known for using good pace in their editing. One of the most notable things I have learnt from reading this webpage is that pacing does affect the viewer physically. For example, an extremely fast edit will excite the viewer and keep them interested in what is happening on screen. So, if I was creating an action scene in my own work and I wanted it to be exciting for the viewer I would need to make the edit fast paced to keep the viewer wanting to see more. Researching more into pacing will help further my understanding of it, and by finding examples of directors who use pacing I can learn from them and try to apply similar skills to my own work.
I have learnt that slow pacing does not have to mean the scene has no action, because slow pacing can be good for building up tension. I find that a good example of this is a scene from The Dark Knight (2008) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FP5YbXb6lFs
This scene begins with very quiet music and the dialogue with the Joker in the beginning isn't that dramatic, but as the clips cuts tension is built as the music slowly becomes louder. The scenes gradually become more and more intense because they are showing different situations escalate at the same time. The shots aren't cut quickly and the edit is very slow, but this does not affect the visual content being shown and the slow edit is what makes the scene intense.
Tuesday 27 October 2015
Pacing
During lectures we have been looking into pace and how it's important for editing. Before, pacing was not something I ever really considered using with my own films because I was not taught about it in college. Learning about this has changed the way I will approach my own film making.
Without pacing, the edited footage doesn't really have a desired structure and it would not be as entertaining for the viewer. Pacing in editing could also be a interesting way to show change in time or events in a story. Pacing could be used to show how a scene is action packed or dramatic by having a fast pace, and it could be used to show how a scene is emotional by having a slow pace.
Transporter (2002) BMX Scene - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDNgal73wWw
For example, this scene from Transporter has very fast editing to show that it has a lot of action. In the start of this scene there is no sudden camera changes as the scene is still calm, but as soon as the character turns around the camera cuts and we see lots of motion. From 0:10 in this video onwards the camera cuts become very quick, and there are around 10 different shots which show the character running through the market stalls. These 10 shots are cut extremely fast and they are very hard to notice individually, but these 10 quick cuts add to the action of the film. At 1:08, to show him riding the BMX and using the car as a ramp to get to the window there were 13 different shots. This again is very quick editing and this quick editing shows that the character is in a rush to get to somewhere.
Inglorious Basterds (2008) Restaurant Scene - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sn35dWgffTk
This scene is very different to Transporter because it does not have any fast editing. This scene shows how fast editing would not be used in a scene like this because there is not any fast paced action like in Transporter. Instead, the pacing is slow which means the shots last longer. The clips in this scene cut at the end of the character's lines so there conversation does have flow which makes it seem more natural for the viewer. The clips also cut so suddenly because there is not much emphasis on the characters emotions so much in this scene, most shots are mid shots.
What I have learnt from this is that pacing is something I need to research into more and I should observe pacing in films and TV that I watch.
Without pacing, the edited footage doesn't really have a desired structure and it would not be as entertaining for the viewer. Pacing in editing could also be a interesting way to show change in time or events in a story. Pacing could be used to show how a scene is action packed or dramatic by having a fast pace, and it could be used to show how a scene is emotional by having a slow pace.
Transporter (2002) BMX Scene - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDNgal73wWw
For example, this scene from Transporter has very fast editing to show that it has a lot of action. In the start of this scene there is no sudden camera changes as the scene is still calm, but as soon as the character turns around the camera cuts and we see lots of motion. From 0:10 in this video onwards the camera cuts become very quick, and there are around 10 different shots which show the character running through the market stalls. These 10 shots are cut extremely fast and they are very hard to notice individually, but these 10 quick cuts add to the action of the film. At 1:08, to show him riding the BMX and using the car as a ramp to get to the window there were 13 different shots. This again is very quick editing and this quick editing shows that the character is in a rush to get to somewhere.
Inglorious Basterds (2008) Restaurant Scene - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sn35dWgffTk
This scene is very different to Transporter because it does not have any fast editing. This scene shows how fast editing would not be used in a scene like this because there is not any fast paced action like in Transporter. Instead, the pacing is slow which means the shots last longer. The clips in this scene cut at the end of the character's lines so there conversation does have flow which makes it seem more natural for the viewer. The clips also cut so suddenly because there is not much emphasis on the characters emotions so much in this scene, most shots are mid shots.
What I have learnt from this is that pacing is something I need to research into more and I should observe pacing in films and TV that I watch.
Monday 19 October 2015
10-20 Shot Process
Link to my video - https://vimeo.com/142418331
For this project, we were told to create a process showing how something progresses from A to B, this work was a part of Production Technology. My idea for this was to film my Dad doing some artwork. He draws using Pyrography, which is a method of drawing an image on wood by burning the surface. My reflection on this project is that after I had filmed and edited this video I found it to be quite uninteresting because of the lack of music and pace. I think if I had added music I would have made a better edit because I could have created this pace and made it more interested to watch. There are quite a few mistakes with this video in the production and post production stage.
In retrospect I think there is a mistake with the two shots at 1:28 and 1:29, I don't think these two shots flowed well together. The cut between the shots seems very sudden and I don't feel as if they flowed naturally enough, this may be because of how the camera was placed at the back of his hand to begin with, and then cut to a shot of the side of his hand. There is a continuity error here and it makes the shot feel unnatural.
The mistake between the shots at 1:21 and 1:23 is a very small mistake but a mistake like this can throw the viewer off the video and potentially ruin the pace which is being set. Here, I had accidentally left a very small gap between shots and something like this can go unnoticed when viewing your timeline. We see a very short black screen and it's very noticeable, in future I now know I should check through the video timeline to ensure there are no small gaps between shots, and I should also use the Ripple Delete feature when using Adobe Premier. Ripple Delete can be done when there is a gap between shots, if you right click and press Ripple Delete it will cut the empty space between shots by adding the shots together.
In the beginning of the video I think that the shots flow well together nicely. None of the shots are too long and they have a even pace to them and it's very quick into the actual process. I think that the shots had been cut to the right moment of motion so nothing jumped forwards and we see everything as it progresses in time. Originally I had edited this particular shots together and they were really long and this again made the process feel like it wasn't natural, but I was able to edit the clips down nicely so that they were shorter and the timing of the video felt a lot more realistic after I had cut them down.
One of the difficult things about creating this video was that the shots were very long and I had not originally anticipated this, a lot of the shots were around 10-25 seconds long each and this obviously becomes uninteresting for the viewer. I found it difficult to cut down these shots because it would affect the continuity of the video, as one of the main points of this project was to demonstrate our use of continuity in our own work.
For this project, we were told to create a process showing how something progresses from A to B, this work was a part of Production Technology. My idea for this was to film my Dad doing some artwork. He draws using Pyrography, which is a method of drawing an image on wood by burning the surface. My reflection on this project is that after I had filmed and edited this video I found it to be quite uninteresting because of the lack of music and pace. I think if I had added music I would have made a better edit because I could have created this pace and made it more interested to watch. There are quite a few mistakes with this video in the production and post production stage.
In retrospect I think there is a mistake with the two shots at 1:28 and 1:29, I don't think these two shots flowed well together. The cut between the shots seems very sudden and I don't feel as if they flowed naturally enough, this may be because of how the camera was placed at the back of his hand to begin with, and then cut to a shot of the side of his hand. There is a continuity error here and it makes the shot feel unnatural.
The mistake between the shots at 1:21 and 1:23 is a very small mistake but a mistake like this can throw the viewer off the video and potentially ruin the pace which is being set. Here, I had accidentally left a very small gap between shots and something like this can go unnoticed when viewing your timeline. We see a very short black screen and it's very noticeable, in future I now know I should check through the video timeline to ensure there are no small gaps between shots, and I should also use the Ripple Delete feature when using Adobe Premier. Ripple Delete can be done when there is a gap between shots, if you right click and press Ripple Delete it will cut the empty space between shots by adding the shots together.
In the beginning of the video I think that the shots flow well together nicely. None of the shots are too long and they have a even pace to them and it's very quick into the actual process. I think that the shots had been cut to the right moment of motion so nothing jumped forwards and we see everything as it progresses in time. Originally I had edited this particular shots together and they were really long and this again made the process feel like it wasn't natural, but I was able to edit the clips down nicely so that they were shorter and the timing of the video felt a lot more realistic after I had cut them down.
One of the difficult things about creating this video was that the shots were very long and I had not originally anticipated this, a lot of the shots were around 10-25 seconds long each and this obviously becomes uninteresting for the viewer. I found it difficult to cut down these shots because it would affect the continuity of the video, as one of the main points of this project was to demonstrate our use of continuity in our own work.
Surfing Edit
Link to my edit - https://vimeo.com/142146156
This surf edit was created during tutorial in Post Production Technology. To begin with we were given multiple clips and had to edit them together to create a clip that flows well, my edit was under 20 seconds long. Next we were told to use these clips and create 45 second long video, which we found difficult because there was not many clips we could choose from. To create a 45 second video we needed to consider the shots we were using, continuity, and most importantly pace and the use of music. Without pace, the surf edit would not be as interesting for the viewer and the viewer would not be able to tell that the footage has been constructed in a way which is meant to be entertaining.
My reflection on this task is that I think in particular parts of my edit I managed to use pace correctly, and in other parts I didn't use pace correctly. I found it to be quite difficult to cut the clips to fit in with the beat of the music, because sometimes it was hard to make them accurate. Overall however I feel that I have improved my understanding of what pace is, and I have realized how it's effective for editing.
For example at 00:07 in the video I used the speed and duration feature in Premier to make the footage slow down to match the chorus in the song. In this section of the song there is drums which pitch down and I made the clip slower as soon as the chorus begins. After this shot, the shot gets cut to another shot where the surfer is mid air but this clip is in regular speed, and the shot after has been slowed down again. The slowed down footage ends as soon as he hits the water again (00:17). I think this use of slowing down footage was good because a lot of it fits into the beat of the song, however I was trying to stretch out the footage so it could be longer and fit the 45 second mark.
At 00:21 in the clip I chose to use a cross dissolve when the song cuts out, this choice of editing didn't really fit into the beat of the song because the music ends so suddenly but the clip does not. In retrospect I think I should have cut the shot instead of using a cross dissolve. After the song cuts out I chose to a wide shot because it fitted in with how the song has been cut at this point and it fit in with the echo in the music.
Next at 00:24 - 00:27 in the video was a part of the edit which I think suited the beat of the music. At this point the chorus was about to start again so I tried to edit the clips to add to this progression of the music. I thought by quickly cutting in between shots of the surfer going up in the air I could add a progression to the chorus.
The song I used has quite a slow beat but there are many different changes within the music, which means there were many ways in which the clips could be edited to demonstrate this. For example at 00:28 in the song there is a small section which I added a clip of the water hitting the camera, I felt that this matched the music and added a good pace to the video.
At 00:35 in the video I had cut between shots which shows a jump forwards in time, I felt that this quick edit helped to match the music effectively. During this shot also the surfer does a forwards slip and I wanted this flip to match in with part of the music, I didn't manage to do this correctly because it didn't really fit into the music because it looks too slow for the music.
This surf edit was created during tutorial in Post Production Technology. To begin with we were given multiple clips and had to edit them together to create a clip that flows well, my edit was under 20 seconds long. Next we were told to use these clips and create 45 second long video, which we found difficult because there was not many clips we could choose from. To create a 45 second video we needed to consider the shots we were using, continuity, and most importantly pace and the use of music. Without pace, the surf edit would not be as interesting for the viewer and the viewer would not be able to tell that the footage has been constructed in a way which is meant to be entertaining.
My reflection on this task is that I think in particular parts of my edit I managed to use pace correctly, and in other parts I didn't use pace correctly. I found it to be quite difficult to cut the clips to fit in with the beat of the music, because sometimes it was hard to make them accurate. Overall however I feel that I have improved my understanding of what pace is, and I have realized how it's effective for editing.
For example at 00:07 in the video I used the speed and duration feature in Premier to make the footage slow down to match the chorus in the song. In this section of the song there is drums which pitch down and I made the clip slower as soon as the chorus begins. After this shot, the shot gets cut to another shot where the surfer is mid air but this clip is in regular speed, and the shot after has been slowed down again. The slowed down footage ends as soon as he hits the water again (00:17). I think this use of slowing down footage was good because a lot of it fits into the beat of the song, however I was trying to stretch out the footage so it could be longer and fit the 45 second mark.
At 00:21 in the clip I chose to use a cross dissolve when the song cuts out, this choice of editing didn't really fit into the beat of the song because the music ends so suddenly but the clip does not. In retrospect I think I should have cut the shot instead of using a cross dissolve. After the song cuts out I chose to a wide shot because it fitted in with how the song has been cut at this point and it fit in with the echo in the music.
Next at 00:24 - 00:27 in the video was a part of the edit which I think suited the beat of the music. At this point the chorus was about to start again so I tried to edit the clips to add to this progression of the music. I thought by quickly cutting in between shots of the surfer going up in the air I could add a progression to the chorus.
The song I used has quite a slow beat but there are many different changes within the music, which means there were many ways in which the clips could be edited to demonstrate this. For example at 00:28 in the song there is a small section which I added a clip of the water hitting the camera, I felt that this matched the music and added a good pace to the video.
At 00:35 in the video I had cut between shots which shows a jump forwards in time, I felt that this quick edit helped to match the music effectively. During this shot also the surfer does a forwards slip and I wanted this flip to match in with part of the music, I didn't manage to do this correctly because it didn't really fit into the music because it looks too slow for the music.
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