EDITING THE NARRATIVE FILM II Instructor: Peter Thompson Rev. 7/12/99 DESCRIPTION This course teaches traditional narrative editing issues and techniques on a nonlinear digital platform. Using existing footage, students edit projects of sufficient complexity for complete visual statements, placing emphasis on editing as further discovery of montage and structure. Towards the end of the semester, each student will work individually with an advanced director and create the offline edit of the directorŐs film. GOALS 1. Obtain advanced technical and analytical skills necessary to edit a narrative film. 2. Obtain advanced organizational skills necessary to easily edit a film. 3. Obtain advanced knowledge of post-production protocols in digital editing. 4. Understand and use elements of narrative editing strategies including rhythm, pacing, point-of-view, screen direction, matching cuts and script analysis and communication with collaborators. EXPECTATIONS: WHAT YOUŐRE TO DO: Work and participate actively and steadily. You must be organized, able to work for long periods alone, and enjoy the process of creating a film experimentally with time devoted to building and rebuilding it. You will need modest expertise in editing theory and in video editing. You will need to devote 6-10 hours per week to edit your interpretation of the project. GRADES: Grades are based on the quality of your work, your ability to meet the deadlines, and your ability to work responsibly and creatively with editing problems and issues. Grades are awarded as follows: 1. 3-character dialogue sequence.(Law) 30 pts A=> 2. Multi-character sequence. (Next Temptation) 30 B=>235 3. 2 & 3-character dialogue, 3 -scene sequence (Water) 30 B=>200 4. Action sequence. (Gunsmoke) 30 D=>230 5. Comedy sequence 30 F=<230 6. Brief recut and repair sequence. 20 7. DirectorŐs Tech III collaboration. 50 8. Script Analysis 30 9. Class Participation 20 10. Attendance 20 11. EditorŐs notebook 20 I ABSOLUTELY no incompletes. F 3 classes missed. C 2 misses, work not presented on time, assignments presented on dates other than deadlines, or of average quality and with average participation. B Assignments presented on time, regular attendance, good participation, and steady significant efforts throughout. This includes attention to craft (leadering and cueing your work for viewing. The originality with which you solve the problems that the footage suggests will also be a factor in your grade. A ŇBÓ requirements, along with outstanding participation and work. ABSENCES: Departmental policy dictates that three absences constitutes an ŇFÓ for the course. OFFICE HOURS, MAIL, EMAIL PeterŐs office hours: Michigan building, room 1106, Tuesdays from 2--6 pm. Telephone 312 344- 7593 to make an appointment for the time you would like (up to 1 hour). Mailbox: Photography Department, 12th floor of the 600 building. E-mail: phthompsn@aol.com SYLLABUS Week 1 Sept 29 Introduction to class. The role of the editor. Looking at rushes. Dialog I. EditorŐs Notebook. Assign first four projects. Week 2 October 6 Review: Post-production protocols. Review ŇrulesÓ. The role of the assistant editor. Marking a script. Coding and logging. The assemblage. Dialog II. Week 3 Oct 13 Viewing Week : Due: Rough cut - Assignment 1. Week 4 Oct 20 Again: Story. The script. Shot size and working with the set-up. Pacing and rhythm. The reaction shot and motivated cutaways. Dialog III. Week 5 Oct 27 Due: Final cut - Assignment 1. Due: Rough cut - Assignments 2 & 3. Week 6 Nov 3 Action sequences. Montage sequences. Comedy and Suspense. Communication and collaboration with the director, producer, sound designer, assistants. Assign: Projects 4 & 6. Week 7 Nov 10 Due: Final cut-Assignment 2 & 3. Due: Rough cut - Assignment 4 Week 8 Nov 17 Point of View. Assign Projects 7, 8 & 9. Week 9 Nov 24 Due: Final cut - Assignment 4 & 5. Due: Editing Strategy for Tech III Film. Week 10 Dec 1 Long Take and Camera Movement. Time Manipulation and Transitions. Parallel action and cross-cutting. Due: Rough cut - Assignment - 6 & 7. Due: Assemblage Tech III Film. Note: viewing will be during your individual time slots. Week 11 Dec 8 Due: Final cut - Assignment 6 & 7. Due: Montage and Fix. Week 12 Dec 15 Sound design and the role of the Sound Editor. Music and the composer. Due: Editing Strategy for Tech III Film. Week 13 Jan 5 Due: rough of Tech III film. Week 14 Jan 12 Technical considerations and finishing strategies. Jobs and career considerations. Due: Additional cuts. Note: viewing will be during your individual time slots. Due: Script analysis paper. Week 15 Jan 19 Due: Fine cuts with EDLs using CMX 3400/3600 for 2 track audio or Grass Valley 2 (4-channel) for 4 track audio, EditorŐs Notebook. REQUIRED BOOKS (get in any large bookstore around town) Edward Dmytryk, ON FILM EDITING: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE ART OF FILM CONSTRUCTION, Focal Press, 1984. Walter Murch, IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE: A PERSPECTIVE ON FILM EDITING,Silman-James Press, Los Angeles, 1995. pb. NARRATIVE II EDITING EXERCISES All the editing exercises, except the Tech III project, are sequences or scenes. In addition to having a script, they have a scenario which puts the scene or sequence into context within the larger film. Before viewing the rushes for that exercise, editors should read the script for the director's intent, the dramatic beats and the point-of-view. A description of your approach to the material of each exercise should be written in your Editor's Notebook. You should also note any problems or questions the material suggests, such as any conflicts between the script and the rushes, continuity conflicts, etc. I will look at the notebooks from time to time. At the beginning of the semester, you will be given a VHS tape with window- dubbed time coded rushes for all the exercises except the recut and repair project and the Tech III film. You will need to make selects from this tape as well as develop a reasonable idea of how you will assemble the footage. This footage is already digitized. In week eight you will receive a package from the director whose name you draw out of a hat. In that package, you will find the telephone number of the director, a script, and a VHS tape of all the rushes for that Tech III film. The footage is already captured. Editors should read the script for the director's intent, the dramatic beats and the point-of-view and work collaboratively with the director. A description of your approach to the material and of how you solve problems with your director should be written in your Editor's Notebook. The Script Analysis Paper requires you to choose a feature-length script from the Columbia College Library Script Collection, read it in its entirety and select a sequence to analyze. You will need to then view the selected sequence on videotape and discuss how the script is realized through production and editing. Your paper should utilize topics we have discussed and assigned readings. There is a dedicated DVision system for this class. Each editor will be assigned specific editing slots based on desired choices. In addition, editors are allowed to use removable media to edit in the general DV labs on an availability basis. OTHER RECOMMENDED EDITING BOOKS David Bell, GETTING THE BEST SCORE FOR YOUR FILM: A FILMMAKERŐS GUIDE TO MUSIC SCORING, Silman-James Press, 1994. Steven E. Browne, VIDEO EDITING: A POSTPRODUCTION PRIMER, Focal Press, Boston, 1997. Noel Burch, THEORY OF FILM PRACTICE, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1981. paperback Ken Dancyger, THE TECHNIQUE OF FILM AND VIDEO EDITING: THEORY AND PRACTICE, Focal Press, Boston, 1997. Norman Hollyn, THE FILM EDITING ROOM HANDBOOK: HOW TO MANAGE THE NEAR CHAOS OF THE CUTTING ROOM, Lone Eagle Publishing, Los Angeles, 1999. Vincent LoBrutto, SELECTED TAKES: FILM EDITORS ON EDITING, Praeger, NY, 1991. Thomas A. Ohanian, DIGITAL NONLINEAR EDITING: EDITING FILM AND VIDEO ON THE DESKTOP, Focal Press, 1998. Thomas A. Ohanian & Michael E. Phillips, DIGITAL FILMMAKING: THE CHANGING ART AND CRAFT OF MAKING MOTION PICTURES, Focal Press, 1996. Gabriella Oldham, FIRST CUT: CONVERSATIONS WITH FILM EDITORS, University of California Press, Los Angeles, 1992. Karel Reisz and Gavin Millar, THE TECHNIQUE OF FILM EDITING, New York, Hastings House, 1968. (out of print: find in used bookstores). Ralph Rosenblum and Robert Karen, WHEN THE SHOOTING STOPS...THE CUTTING BEGINS, Pengiun Books, 1980. Michael Rubin, NONLINEAR: A GUIDE TO DIGITAL FILM AND VIDEO EDITING, Triad Publishing, Gainesville, 1995. Roy Thompson, GRAMMAR OF THE EDIT, Focal Press, 1997.