Glossary of editing terms

Big Close-up - a shot taken very close to the subject (closer than would be necessary for a close-up), revealing extreme detail. (i.e., part of the human face)

Bridging shot - a shot (cut) used to cover a break in time, or other break in continuity.

Clapper - the sticks that are slapped together in view of the camera for the purpose of synchronizing film sound. These are usually, but not always, attached to the slate and appear at the head or tail of a sync sound take.

Close-up - a shot taken very close to the subject ( or with the subject of the shot very large in the frame), revealing a detail only. (i.e., the human face, or hands).

Coding - once the workprint and sound stock  have been placed in sync, the rolls are coded with matching yellow edge numbers so they can be matched up later once they have been cut up into pieces.

Continuity of motion - the flow of action from one shot to the next as it is placed on the screen at the cut point. Placing the significant action at the end of a shot in the same area of the screen where the significant action will begin in the next shot.

Cross-cut - the intercutting of shots from two or more scenes so the fragments of each scene will be presented to the viewers attention alternately. - see parallel action.

Cut - in editing, a single unbroken strip of film.

Dissolve - a gradual merging of the end of one shot and beginning of another produced by the superimposition of a fade-out onto a fade-in of equal length.

Dolly shot - a shot taken while the camera is in motion on a dolly.

Errors in continuity - This is the disruption on the flow of a single scene, this can be caused through failure to match an action or prop location between takes.

Establishing shot - a shot used near the beginning of a scene to establish the inter-relationship of details to be shown subsequently in closer shots.

Eyeline match - This is the matching of eyelines between two or more characters. For example, if character A is looking to the left at character B in one shot, then in the other character B will be looking to the right in the other at character A.

Fade-in - A shot which begins in total darkness and gradually lightens to full brightness.  To gradually.  Bring sound from inaudibility to required volume.

Fade-out - the opposite of a fade-in.

Final cut - This is the finished edit of the film which has been approved by the director and producers, this is the cut of the film or tv show that the audience will see.

Frames Per Second - FPS refers to how many video frames are shown on a screen every second.

Jump cut - A cut which breaks the continuity of time by jumping forward from one part of an action to another.

Library shot - a shot used in a film, but not originally taken for that film.

Long shot- a shot taken from a considerable distance. Often the LS serves as an establishing shot. (i.e., a human figure taken so it is shorter than the height of the screen)

Master shot - a shot which covers an entire piece of dramatic action (usually a long shot, or wide shot).

Matched cut - A cut joining two shots whose compositional elements match, helping to establish strong continuity of action.

Medium close-up (abbr. MCU) - a shot between a MS and a CU. (i.e., a human figure taken from the chest up)

Medium shot (abbr. MS) - a shot between a LS and a MCU (i.e.,. a human figure taken from the waist up)

Montage - 1) the juxtaposition of seemingly unrelated shots or scenes which, when combined, achieve meaning a series of related shots which lead the viewer to a desired conclusion

Optical - any device carried out by the optical department of a lab using an optical printer.

Pan - to rotate the camera about on its vertical axis.

Parallel action - a device of narrative construction in which the development of two pieces of action are presented simultaneously.

Pitch - the spacing between perforations.

Relational editing - editing of shots to suggest association of ideas between them.

Rendering - The computer process of creating a special effect, animation or editing task.

Rough cut - first assembly of a film which the editor prepares from selected takes, in script order, leaving the finer points of timing and editing to a later stage.

Rushes - prints made immediately after a day's shooting so they can be viewed the following day.  

Scene - action that occurs in one location at one time.

Sequence - a series of shots or scenes which has a beginning, middle and end (like a chapter in a book).

Slate - a board upon which key information about a shot is displayed. This board is held in view of the camera either at the head or tail of a shot to identify it to the lab and to the editor. If it appears at the tail of a shot, it will be held upside-down.

Shot - a recording of a single take.

Sync pop - a single frame tone placed on the sound track so as to correspond with the "2" frame on the SMPTE leader.

Synchronize (sync) - to place sound and picture in their proper relationship.

Take - a recording of a single shot.

Tilt - to turn or rotate the camera up or down in shooting.

Timing - the process of adjusting the colour balance for the printing of each scene once the negative has been conformed.  

Shooting Techniques

Focus

The vision of the shot, if the shot is blurry in the foreground then there is a chance the camera is focused on something in the background. The focus is basically the clarity of the current shot. There are two methods of focusing, there is auto-focus which surveys the area and focuses on whatever is in the centre of that shot, and there is manual focus which allows the camera operator to focus on whatever they like that is in the shot.

Exposure

Exposure is the volume of light that the camera can pick up in a single scene. A scene can be over-exposed because of the amount of light that the camera is shooting, this can be adjusted by altering the aperture of the camera to let in the correct amount of light that is perfect for that scene, for example if you were shooting a scene with very little lighting you would want to set the exposure to high so the camera lets in enough light for the shot to become visible to the viewer. There is a feature on some cameras which auto adjusts the exposure, this isn't the best feature as it can be unreliable.

White Balance

The white balance is the quality of the light, there are 2 types of light, natural light and artificial light. Different kinds of lighting can give the shot a different feel. Natural lighting makes the shot more natural looking which can be effective, however artificial light can be adjusted to how the camera operator will want it to be, for example, if you want a shot where the scene is filled with light you can set up a lighting rig and adjust it to the specification you need.

Sound

If you want the audio to be the way you want it always listen to a live feed of the audio through headphones. If you are interviewing someone use an external microphone to cancel out background noise and to make the interviewee the main focus of audio. If you want to reduce the noise of the wind you should put a protector over the microphone.

Composition

The composition is your own judgement of the shot. This can be different between people. It is up to you how you want your shot to be filmed but you must always stick to the headroom rules and always have a relevant background for what ever you're filming, for example, if you are filming a reporter on a news story about a football club it would be inappropriate to film the reporter in front of a hospital because the context of the news report wouldn't match the background. As you are filming also keep the rule of thirds in check and make sure what you are filming is roughly in-line with it. Also make sure you have a suitable profile of the interviewee, if you film the interviewees head and leaving nearly a whole screen of background you're not making a good shot.

Film Language- mise-en-scene

The horror film I am analysing is Night of the Living Dead. The setting that is used in the film is a house and a field outside the house from what the trailer shown. The director mainly kept to a local filming area.
The props they used were wooden planks so they could board up the windows and doors to stop the living dead from getting into the house. In the trailer they also used a car, it didn't look like it was moving or not but it looked like an important shot for the film. They also use bones for the living dead as if they were eating the flesh of the bones of humans they have killed. There are wooden torches being used to ward off the living dead and a massive fire to block them off.
The film also used prosthetic make up for the living dead to make them look deformed and to make it look like their flesh is rotting. They also used make up on the survivors to make them look like they're in distress and made their clothes all torn up as if they have been grabbed by the living dead.
The shots used are mainly on the actors boarding up the windows and running, they focused on the living deads emotionless faces which made them look non-human. The body language that was used was the living dead hanging their arms.
They kept to dark lighting so the film was given more depth and atmosphere, even though it was shot in black and white it had an atmosphere which would make the viewer feel cold inside and become emotionally invested in what they were watching.

This frame shows one of the living dead entering the house through the door, his hand is placed across the frame of the door so it can't be shut fully. It shows the face in perfect clarity with shadow only covering a small portion of his face. Silhouettes of other living dead can be seen in the background but the main focus is the on that is in the centre of the shot. The camera is also filming at an askew angle which gives it a more intimidating atmosphere.

This frame shows the living dead walking through a field, the shot focuses on the living dead in the foreground but also shows that there are many more in the midground and background. It gives the viewer a feel of depth and realisation that it isn't just one or two but dozens, even hundreds of living dead trying to look for living human flesh. 

This frame shows the sruvivors using fire to scare off the living dead, from the context of the trailer they are at a petrol station which explains the large spread of fire and the car. This shows the survivors are trying to defend the car at all costs. The lighting is dark because the fire is over powering the shot which is focal point of the shot. The survivors put it there so the car can be defended at all angles and the keep the living dead away.

Roles in a TV production

For our production class we produced a news show, we set up the green screen to have a suitable background for a news cast. At the start of the lesson we had a group discussion on what stories we should use in the final broadcast, our News Editor had the final say on what stories we could put into the show. When we were happy with the stories we had to put them into an order of relevance starting with an important story and slowly scaling down towards a less important story.

Floor Manager

A floor manager manages the presenters and camera crew during the broadcast, if it is in front of a live studio audience they will tell them to stay quiet during the recording. The floor manager will do the 20 second countdown to the recording after consulting the director on when they call action. The floor manager will call 5 seconds to action and tell the presenters to when they are live. Before the recording the floor manager will check on the camera crew and see if their shots are perfect and will adjust the presenters desk and green screen if it is needed. When I was floor manager I watched over the production in both the control room and on set behind the cameras, making sure the presenters looked into the correct cameras and made sure they knew they were on air.

Vision Mixer

The vision mixer is the person who switches the cameras in the control room and makes sure the graphic in the back matches up to the story that is being told on the new show. They also set up the title card for the production making sure it says the correct thing. They also choose which background they want for the green screen to make it look suitable for the news cast.

Director

The director sets up the team in the control room and watches over them. The Director will instruct the vision mixer when to change camera and switch the image on the green screen so it matches the story. The director also watches over the entire production before hand such as making sure the stories are in the correct order, making sure the camera operators adjust the angle so they are at a good angle for the shots. When I was the director I had the news stories that the presenters were reading on my iPad so I knew when to switch the camera to the wide and change the image on the green screen. However, this did not go to plan as the presenter got the order of the stories mixed up which resulted in the image on the green screen background not being the correct image for a few seconds.

Presenters

The presenters job is to read out the stories in the correct order and make sure they speak with a clear enough voice so their mics can pick it up and that they look into the correct camera.

Camera Operators

The camera operators had to make sure the angles were perfect for the show and that if the tripod messed up the shot that they adjust it quick enough. I helped out the camera crew to make sure the shots were in line and perfect for the vision mixers in the control room.

Sound Engineer

The sound engineer has to check the microphones are working and that the presenters can be heard with no back ground noise. They have to adjust the sound board so the presenters voices aren't blown out for the actual broadcast. I watched over the sound engineer during the sound check and they made sure the audio was good enough for TV.

What we could do better

When I was the floor manager I could of communicated more with the control room to make sure the presenters were looking into the correct camera and checked if the presenters were speaking clear enough. When I was the Director I could of kept my cool when the presenters messed up the order of the stories, before the broadcast I could of checked that the stories were in order so the presenters knew what they were reading and in what order. Overall I need to improve on my communication skills.

Supposed to be first blog entry

Hi I'm Jack, Welcome to my blog, I'll be posting entries for my media work here and quite possible some video game and movie reviews because why not?! That's all I need to say for now, here's a picture of an awesome pug!

The Scottish Referendum. Both sides of the story!

The Republic of Scotland?

On the September 18th 2014 the Scottish people will have a once in a lifetime chance to vote for their independence. Over the past few weeks there have been televised debates between Alex Salmond and Alistair Darling on whether the country should separate themselves from the UK with Alistair Darling debating for the No vote and Alex Salmond debating for the yes. The Scottish people still have a split opinion with the referendum with the most recent polls on the vote being closer than they have been. The Scottish referendum has spiked the interest of people all over the world including The Simpsons. The character Groundkeeper Willie talks about the yes vote for Scottish Independence.

The Yes Vote

Tomorrow 90% of the scottish people will be voting and roughly half of them will be voting yes, the yes vote is being lead by the leader of the SNP Alex Salmond. Since 2011 he has been the first minister for Scotland and since then he has achieved to get a once in a life time chance to vote for the independence of Scotland. One of the reasons Scotland want independence is because they want more power and not to let Westminster dictate what happens to them. This is represented in the yes Scotland with the video where the woman is talking about how she doesn't want her child to be raised in a Scotland ruled by Westminster because of their corruption with the taxes system.

In the website they believe that going independent they will create a higher income from all their rich exports such as oil, scotch whiskey. In the image below it shows that Scotland will earn billions of Pounds from their own businesses and services in their country. It also shows that they believe an Independent Scotland will be richer than the rest of the UK and in the top 20 countries globally.

The No Vote

Although 90% of the Scottish people are voting tomorrow not all of them are voting for an independent Scotland. In the most recent poll 52% of the Scottish people have said they're voting no. Through out the past few weeks the polls have been in the favour of the no vote but they are just polls, they're not a definite answer and we won't find out the future of Scotland until early Friday morning. On the website bettertogether(dot)net they clearly talk about the economic downturn of the Scottish independence. The name of the website shows that Scotland would be better off if it stayed a part of the UK, a famous quote from Dawn of the Planet of the Apes describes the possible future of Scotland, the quote goes as follows "Apes alone... weak. Apes together... strong" The scene shows the main character snap a single twig representing be alone, then gathers a bunch of twigs and attempts to snap them but fails which represents being together. This quote describes perfectly what Scotland may be like if it goes independent because it is true that together the UK will be strong but alone Scotland will be weak and could suffer from an economic crash if it is not handled with care.

My opinion!

In my opinion I think Scotland should stay a part of the UK because without the UK their economy will fall within the first 10 years. Their taxes will be much higher so they can sustain their free education, health care, and pensions. The Scottish people believe that they will be a much richer and self sustaining country, however, they are blinded by the harsh truth. Alex Salmonds propaganda has spiked the imaginations of the Scottish people of a better Scotland and a much better way of life with out Westminster ruling over them. Honestly, I believe that Scotland can do what they want but I am worried about what the outcome to their independence may be.