Ah yes, the pita (pain in the ass) factor can be high when you work with green screen shots.

admin Humor, Visual FX editing

Today’s post concludes my exploration of the world of 3D, answers which 3D movie I liked and why – Alice in Wonderland or The Secret of Kells, and dares to predict the future of 3D.

What editors say about 3D

Cutting 3D is a boon to editors because they get to participate more in the creating of the whole picture – its look, characters, their lines and the story – over a longer period, beginning with storyboarding in pre-production.

JC Bond, Additional Editor on Alice in Wonderland: “… you get used to the fact that you’re looking at something in stereo. And then you just cut it like a regular movie. There’s no major difference beyond that. There are minor considerations. You can do some cheats in 2D where you may cross the line, and things like that that are a bit more jarring in stereo. But from a creative standpoint, you should try to avoid those things - even in regular 2D.”

Joyce Arrastia, Monsters vs. Aliens: “For me, it’s been a revelation.  We were able to use it to emphasize key story points and a character’s emotional arc simply by adding it or lessening it.  A lot of filmmakers maybe don’t realize that 3D really is just another tool that helps you tell a more compelling story–just like the choice you make in camera composition, or using color or music or pacing to help set a tone and a style.”

Conclusion

I’ve believe that 3D, like HD is here to stay. Unlike HD, 3D is not for every movie, due to cost. But it is not a gimmick employed to make a creature leap off the screen and terrorize you. And I predict that it will be used in TV when costs are more reasonable, perhaps just for special event show or boosting up old wonders.

3D is another aid to storytelling that can further immerse you in a show and make it more of a felt experience. If the story’s good, well done 3D will enhance it. If the story’s NG, no amount of 3D or HD will help – it just gets a plain old D.

Alice in Wonderland had no magical moments for me except for her fall down into “Underland.”  Even the valiant efforts of all the actors couldn’t make me recommend the movie. Save your money and spend it on…The Secret of Kells.

“I have seen suffering in the darkness, yet I have seen beauty thrive in the most fragile of places.”

Opening line, Brendan, junior monk and main character in The Secret of Kells.

The Secret of Kells grabbed me from the first vibrant frame to the last. Its rapturous images are gorgeous in color, framing, movement and design. The rather ordinary, non-proselytizing story kept me going so that I could enjoy being in the medieval world. The movie was like being in a medieval painting crossed with a sylvan fairy tale.

In the words of director Tomm Moore, “…the medieval world is really flat with false perspective and lots of color like medieval art. That was the majority of the movie. And then for the dream sequences, we went even flatter and simpler. We tried to do something like Monty Python. And then when there was danger, we’d go into 3D like the Viking attack.”

I look forward to being transported by image and story to more imaginary worlds in future 3D shows. Bring ‘em on! 

To learn more about 3D and view the sources of these two posts, go to these links:
http://community.avid.com/blogs/buzz/archive/2010/03/05/alice-in-wonderland-s-jc-bond-answers-questions-from-the-industry-about-what-it-was-like-to-edit-tim-burton-s-3d-spin-on-the-classic-tale.aspx

http://www.studiodaily.com/filmandvideo/currentissue/Editing-for-3D-on-Alice-in-Wonderland

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/comic-riffs/2010/04/the_riffs_interview_secret_of.html

https://www.editorsguild.com/FromTheGuild.cfm?FromTheGuildid=56

https://www.editorsguild.com/Magazine.cfm?ArticleID=712

admin Editing practices, Joy goes to the movies, Technical and process, Visual FX editing

Like everyone else, I’ve viewed more 3D movies in the past few months than I’ve seen in years. Afterwards I’ve wondered two things:

1)    Is 3D a money-making fad or here to stay?

2)    How exactly is 3D edited?

One of the interesting things about being an editor is that there are so many types of projects that no one can understand them all. Animation editors don’t understand exactly what commercial editors do who don’t understand the world of documentary editing who know little about comedy editing and so on. So this blog allows me to see things and explore the editing behind them. And today I’m looking at 3D.

2D to 3D: Alice in Wonderland and The Secret of Kells

With the unbound success of Avatar in 3D, there’s been a huge clamor to boost 2D movies up to 3D. Both Alice in Wonderland and The Secret of Kells were upped to 3D, with different degrees of success. The looks of both features are drawn – literally in the case of Kells whose images are mostly hand drawn – from the periods they depict, Victorian England and 800CE Ireland respectively.

One film I loved, the other, not so much.

I had high expectations of Alice because I’d read the book, enjoyed the Disney animated version as a kid, loved the Jefferson Airplane song as a teenager (had the white light white rabbit poster) and looked forward to re-visiting it all with Tim Burton. Conversely, I was wary of Kells, due to not being a Christian, but propelled by a strong review and by having seen the actual book in Dublin. So which one did I like? Well, let’s look at how these movies are edited and then I’ll get back to you.

Editing 3D

Here’s what I’ve gleaned:

1)    3D takes longer to edit due to:

a.    Large amount of footage.

b.    VFX (Visual effects) such as green screen and computer-generated backgrounds.

c.    Technology: Usually you’re cutting in 2D and then viewing in 3D.

d.    Multiple versions: 2D, 3D, and IMAX 3D.

2)    3D is costly but will come down as processes and technology evolve.

3)    Master shots are cut longer than usual so viewers can take in the action and world being created. Camera movement must be well-defined because fast paced, blurry camera moves are too much for viewers to take in.

4)    Collaboration and organization are key because there are many editors:  picture, VFX, sound, assistant editors, etc.

Here’s an editor’s eye view of 3D on Avid:

Photo credit: Editors Guild Magazine

The editor can view a stereo frame (left) or select “Over/Under” mode to see a horizontal split frame that splits each eye view.

Next post will conclude my stereo series on 3D.

admin Editing practices, Joy goes to the movies, Technical and process, Visual FX editing

My previous post talked about the history and the cons of the MTV effect on modern editing; today I’ll continue the history and look at the pros and where we are now.

Look what they done to my cuts, Ma

They’ve multiplied them and sped them up; they’re backed by green screen, racked with titillating effects and tracking multiple stories and all while pulsing to the beat, beat, beat. While a lot of MTV runs as mindless background visuals lacking story to be peered at when your companions or sports running on the TV above the bar fail to engage you, the effect of MTV filmmaking has changed the landscape on the silver screen and computer as well as TV screen. I deplore this Muzak-type use of video as much as electronic billboards and all annoying, anti-environment promotions.

Roots are showing

MTV didn’t spring out of nowhere in the 1980s. It germinated from 1950s French new Wave filmmaking style, 1960s music culture, movies like Help, Easy Rider, and Flashdance, the TV series Miami Vice, and the “break out from the clutter” world of commercials. As movies evolved from theatres to TV screens in bars and computers screens at home and everywhere, the modern style grew in cuts and effects.

Writer Debra Kaufman asks: “Video Spawned the Editing Star: What Hath MTV Wrought?” in her 2005 Editor’s Guild Magazine article.

Doug Ibold, A.C.E. responds that MTV has had “a huge impact on how people treat the storytelling process. If anyone doubts that, just look at how many episodic TV shows now end the episode with a dramatic song rather than the score. And observe how a very important part of a feature film release is to have a soundtrack to go with it. In most cases, it’ll include songs from the movie that are included, not the score.”

What are the new, MTV-influenced editing values? Here are the main ones:

• In your face editing: Audience aware of cuts and that they’re watching a show.
• Faster paced with short shot durations in every type of scene.
• Non linear structure frequently. Often takes effort to follow timeline due to asynchronous events.
• Multiple plotlines, commonly.
• Music drives story or songs vital to show and may end show.
• Continuity – whatever! Often observed but not THE WAY.
• Jump cuts embraced.
• Crazy-free use of visual effects. Audience aware of all types of dazzling wipes and other transitions.

Brief resolution

“That [MTV] revolution pushed us into an evolution that’s still going on. When MTV appeared, it seeped into mass consciousness and now is part of everyday life–like Starbucks.”
Mark Goldblatt, A.C.E., in Video Spawned the Editing Star: What Hath MTV Wrought?

Modern editing makes the viewer much more aware of the cuts and pacing. I appreciate seeing how different scenes and characters breathe in different rhythms – like music with its staccatos, allegros and rests – and like life with its times of stress, tranquility, and convergence.

I don’t appreciate the mindless cuts and effects that idle, diminish, or chop up the story. I love to relax into a B & W 1930s movie on TV and just let the present go.  And, I also love the stimulation of seeing where a millennium movie is going to take me in the present and into the future.

I recognize that “constant change is here to stay” as the old adage says. So I am staying tuned to what’s next.

admin Editing practices, Editor’s role, History/research, Sound and music editing, Visual FX editing

“…while it’s great to talk about how revolutionary Avatar is, we were still making a movie…when you come down to it, all this technology is just there to make the images more compelling and to tell the story better.  Ultimately, we’re asking the same questions editors always ask: Does this shot work?  Does this scene serve the story?  It’s all about performance and story.

Things just take a little longer to get done when you’re on the moon Pandora…”

Editor John Refoua, A.C.E.

To accommodate the breakthrough filmmaking techniques used to create Avatar, a unique editing process and work flow were developed. In this article, the editors lay it all out. Read the full details in the current issue of the Editors Guild mag: https://www.editorsguild.com/Magazine.cfm?ArticleID=803

“You don’t cut a 3-D movie just like you don’t write a 3-D movie or compose shots in 3-D,” he says.  “There are some small accommodations to the stereo that need to be made, but they should always be downstream of the dramatic edit.  I don’t think we shifted one cut because of it.  More people are going to see Avatar in 2-D anyway, so the edit is the edit; it has to stand on its own.”

James Cameron

Director James Cameron was one of the three main editors on the movie. In this extensive interview he talks in depth about the filming and cutting of the movie. https://www.editorsguild.com/Magazine.cfm?ArticleID=802

admin Editing practices, Editor’s role, Technical and process, Visual FX editing

I recently finished my syllabus for a course on editing theory, practice, and history based in part on my new book, Film Editing: Great Cuts Every Filmmaker and Movie Lover Must Know. It’s posted on my website under “Free.

The syllabus is designed for anyone giving lectures on editing or teaching a course at a college, high school or middle school or the general public.

The course is aimed at anyone who wants to learn about the different types cuts (smash cuts, flash cuts, match cuts, jump cuts, etc.) and why editors make them as well as the history of editing and how it’s practiced today. It can accompany or be prerequisite for a hands-on editing course.

What I’m finding…

There is no book on what visual effects editors do. There are lots on how to create visual effects and learn visual effects programs. But nothing on the role of the visual effects editor. So give a shout if you know of books or other sites or caches of info on this topic and I’ll add them to the syllabus.

admin Editing practices, Editor’s role, Visual FX editing