The film has been shot and somehow the days following the shooting became weeks which in turn became months and all you have to show for it are a bunch of little shiny black plastic reels stacked one on top of another. Every once in awhile you thread them on the projector and marvel at some of the shots, or the ecstatic colors Kodachrome captures, but then the little reels get snapped back into their plastic covers which then are placed in neat little stacks back into the closet.
        When are you going to muster up the courage to actually take a pair of scissors and cut these beautiful images into something resembling a coherent, entertaining story? The mere thought of this can strike fear into the hearts of many a filmmaker, the kind of fear that only one thing can cure -- procrastination. So, the procrastination continues, and the film sits in the closet untouched by human hands.
        But movies need to be finished in order to be shared, and planning and filming is only half of that process. The other half -- one that often can be the most rewarding -- is called editing. I have assembled some basic steps that help me begin the editing phase of my creative endeavors, and end the procrastination that can affect all of us amateur filmmakers.
        Many times, such as in a documentary or a family vacation movie, I have no idea where to start editing, as there is not yet a clear vision of how the film should look. In these cases, I find it useful to take the films off the little fifty foot reels and splice them together, usually in the same order they were shot, onto a larger 400' or 600' reel. This not only lets me see how long the film potentially can be, but also gets me in the mood to make some splices. While doing this, I delete obviously bad footage, such as out of focus shots, or over or under exposures. At this stage, however, I do not cut out any repetitious shots as long as they are properly exposed and framed.
        Once this chronology is complete, I clean and lubricate the film to keep it from getting scratched. Renovex or RTI film cleaner and FILMRENU lubricant works extremely well. Frequent cleanings and lubrications during the editing process keeps the dust off the film and thus avoids scratching the one and only camera original.
        Now the film is on a larger reel, or reels, and more importantly, the little fifty foot reels have been discarded and this visible change psychologically makes making other cuts to the film easier. Since I still have thirty or more minutes of film without a complete vision, I project the movie several times to get some ideas of how I see the beginning, end, and even middle parts of the film to flow.
        Some filmmakers like to assemble the whole film in a rough cut version from start to finish. I take a different path. I still have a lot of film that can be a daunting task to try to shape into something meaningful, so I begin by taking one small section at a time. Perhaps there is a one minute section of the film that I know exactly how it should look. This might be a section where all the necessary shots are in place -- just in need of assembling in the right order. This is a perfect place to start. It doesn't matter where in the film this section belongs -- I just want to work on this one little segment. I edit it, perhaps rearrange some shots, and then tighten the whole sequence -- eventually frame by frame, until that one small section is complete. Voila -- I now have 60 seconds that is 95% or 100% the way I want it to be. This section needs to be cleaned and put back onto one of those little black plastic reels. It may be tempting to watch and re-watch the one little accomplishment, but it's time to move on. Normally, at least another section comes to mind, but if not, then the remaining film needs to be watched either on the projector or editor until one does. This second section might be nowhere near the first completed piece, and may only be thirty seconds long instead of sixty seconds, but the same process applies.
        Often, I see a longer two or three minute segment in my mind, and then break that segment down into smaller sub-segments, starting with the ones in which I know the order of the shots I want. Completing each sub-segment, and removing it from the available footage, gives me a clearer perspective on finishing the entire longer segment.
        Eventually, using this method of completing one small sub-segment of a few shots at a time, you will come to the point where the sub-segments become a completed one to three minute section or scene. Working on the next scene and breaking it down into sub-segments in the same way will result in the next completed scene. One thing leads to another, and then the whole film begins to fall into place as the scenes are able to be strung together. The film begins to take on a life -- a shape and feel all its own. If there is some narration to be added and the words come to mind as the editing proceeds, then take some notes. But most important is to make the visual aspect of the film, without sound, entertaining in its own right.
        Editing silent films, with little regard for the soundtrack, is the most satisfying for me as it forces concentration on the visual aspect of the movie. If the film is entertaining without sound, then a good soundtrack will only make it better. So I concentrate first on the visuals. This, of course, is easier to do if the film was shot silent and the soundtrack is to consist of mostly music, sound effects, and narration added later. A future article will explore the aspects of editing dialogue sound film, with the dialogue either recorded on the film directly or onto a secondary source but in sync with the picture.

        Be ruthless when you put on your editor's hat. A shot may be beautiful but if it slows down or does not add anything to the story, then it should go. Strive for variety by mixing up your shots as best as possible, giving different angles and perspectives.
        It is a common tendency to start a scene with a long establishing shot, followed by a medium shot, and then close-ups to show detail. For a change start a scene with the close-up, or even an extreme close-up, giving some mystery to the audience as to its context. Then, cut to a long shot showing the location of the close-up, thereby answering the mystery.
        Take an action shot and cut it in two -- inserting something else in the middle of it. In this way the action does not become boring and will give the film a more flowing feel. Alternating between two action shots can also give the impression that both actions are happening simultaneously.
        Use match cuts, which are two shots of the same action, but from different angles, cut together in the middle, so that the action is not interrupted in any way. For example, a few years ago I was editing a family movie of my wife's son diving off a tall diving board and into a lake. I had filmed him doing this twice, but one shot was much closer than the other. Instead of including both shots of essentially the same action, I got the idea of incorporating one half of the first shot and one half of the last shot, and match cut them together right in the middle of the dive.
        Try taking two or more scenes and cross-cutting them, alternating between shots of each. For example, you have several shots of a man juggling at a circus. But the different angles you have shot do not flow smoothly together. Sometimes he is juggling three balls, and in a few other shots he is juggling some knives. Try interrupting this sequence with shots from another segment -- perhaps some other activity going on at the circus. Now the audience will not notice the continuity problems of changing the juggler's use of balls and then knives, and the film will have the added bonus of a faster pace due to the variety of events.
        Edit two film segments together by creating a common transition between the two. Perhaps this can be a movement, either from action in the scene or by the camera panning, from one side of the screen to another in one segment, and the reverse in the following. Or two shots from each segment may incorporate the same colors, or contain similar size objects in the same positions of the frame. This is known as utilizing the same "focal point" of the frame on each side of your edit. The focal point is that point in the frame that the audience is focused on.

        Editing can be an agonizing process for me, always taking more time than originally planned to determine what works best. Trying different cuts, sometimes looking good in my head but not quite right when projected on the screen, can be frustrating. On the other hand, I can work by myself, in complete solitude, and not be rushed, and this I find very satisfying. It can be a time for experimentation -- a time when all the rules about the nature of the film, even the original intent, can still be altered. For these reasons editing is my favorite part of filmmaking, once I end the procrastination and actually start to cut some film.

---  Chris Cottrill
        E-mail:  ^{chris_cottrill@yahoo.com}
 

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