From: Directing on Camera, Harris Watts (Notes and summary)

Directing on Camera, Harris Watts

Book Notes

Shoot for Editing

Always think about where the final output will be projected, always frame for the screen where it would be most played, (e.g. for television you would do more close ups to see the details).

Always shoot overlaps, the more footage the better for the editor.

Start and end the shot with the main subject coming into and out of frame. You can achieve this by avoiding panning too much.

When shooting cutaways look for parallel action, so when you decide to cut in the middle it can seem seamless (works better for interviews, with short films it’s better to use cutaways)

Although you should film cutaways, avoid using them.

Do a geography shot, make the audience understand the space; go wide just for the sake of sense of space.

Shoot long; shooting long is essential for editing

Allow a 5 second run up so you give more comfort of time for the editor, don’t yell cut until you are sure nothing more to be added, (the cameraman/woman) should know when to cut on their own, if you yell cut to soon you could miss an opportunity)

Never cut if there are interruptions it could be surprising.

(*Personal Note; lots of big blockbuster film have improvisations or errors that are kept on film that ended up as great performances, looking into this I found out the following, Leonardo DiCaprio actually cut his hand in Tarantino’s “Django”. Midnight Cowboy,

The line "I'm walkin' here!".

Only use camera moves if you have a reason too, it should always be justifies (*Personal Note; Track in to create tension, pan down to reveal an object, etc.)

Make Continuity of Direction, don’t cross the 180 line, keep the sense of direction true to the motion, if the character is in a car driving right, make sure the motion is always to the right. (*Personal Note; usually when the character is moving from left to right it signifies something good, and the opposite makes the audience feel slightly negative )

Minimize background noise, if you want it, dub it later

Edit

Make sure you slate in parallel to the script, you can be more detailed with the time code.

Make a cutting order first “paper edit” do everything according to the script, not worrying if it’s too long, after that check the assembly of it all.

Work with an offline edit to keep your edit faster and simpler, when exporting make sure it’s broadcast quality for the colour grading/correcting stage.

Work on detail of the edit; is the shot too long/short? Is the sound not matching? Etc.

Cuts would be less obstructive if you avoid parallel cut, try cutting the sound before the picture, and see how that seems from a fresher eye,

Don’t cut from the same sized shots, it creates a bad continuity, to get the best cut; cut in the middle of the motion, the mind assumes that it is perfect naturally.

Editing should normally take twice the time of the shoot if not more.

Keep in mind the rhythm and pace of the piece, don’t let the cuts be predectible. (*Personal Note; I tried this by watching successful feature films, and every time I never knew when the cut was) the best cuts in films go unnoticed.