08-29-2023

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Edison
- Edison was the king of ‘moments’
- Filmed the execution of an elephant via electricity
- Hired Random People off the street
- Ran “Edison Studios”
- Hated Talkies because it made him lose money
- Basically started Hollywood with the Motion Picture Patents Company
Lumiere Brothers
- Developed the cinematographe, which was a three in one device that could record,
develop, and project motion pictures.
- Refused to sell their cameras to people like Melies
- Screened their first film in Dec 1985. 10 films lasting 50 seconds. Technically the first
feature length film.
- At the time, B and W color retained more detail than color imagery
- Thought Filmmaking was just a trend “The Cinema is an invention without any future”
“The Moment”
- Pieces of a scene that flow together seamlessly
- Impacts the scene’s pacing, emotion, and driving the story
- Can be found in the dialogue, or could be created by editing
- Can be big or small
“Iconic” Early Films
- Two people kissing
- A baby eating food
- A TRAIN COMING INTO A STATION HOOOOOOOLY SHIT IT’S RIGHT THERE
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Oh right, just a movie.
Watch Anna Karina

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09-05-2023

Historical Context
- The social, political, cultural, economic and environmental situations that influence the
events or trends we see happen during that time.
- If we are unfamiliar with the traditions, culture, thinking, or events happening at any time
in history, we could misinterpret it.
 - Modern standards and ideas cannot be applied to historical ideas and ways of life. It is
not truthful to our history.

Georges Melies (1861-1937)

- Born in 1861 to a shoemaker family
- Was a Magician (high paying job at the time)
- Attended the public Lumiere screening in 1895. Was blown away
- Tried to buy their camera but was refused.
- Ran off an bought his own camera and redesigned it to make it more recording focused
- Directed over 500 films, some of which being over 40 minutes long
- He edited all of his work and also designed and executed special effects that we still use
today
- Made films up until 1913 and stopped after WW1
- Destroyed all of his props/films and designs, Only 200 origins films remain
- 1932 was placed in retraite du Cinema, the film industry’s retirement home in Orly
- The US Library of congress holds the original prints of the remaining 200 films
- Some films are still being found today
- Created the double exposure technique (putting two separate images in one frame)
- Invented the jump cut in order to make people “disappear”
- Fading in and out to show a progression of time

Alice Guy-Blanche

- One of the first narrative fiction film directors and one of the first female directors. From
2896-1906 she was most likely the only female director in the world
- Co founder of Solax Studios, New York (one of the first women to own a studio at this
time)
- Directed “A Fool and his Money” (1912) most likely the first film to have an All African
American Cast.
- Went to the same Lumiere screening as Melies
- Started out as a secretary for a camera manufacturing company.
- 1960 Created a 25 “episode” film called Life of Christ. One of the first films to have
special effects such as running a film backwards, double exposure, and masking
techniques
- She directed over 100 films. Only 150 survive with 22 being feature length
- Influenced both Hitchcock and Sergei Einstein
- Rec Documentary: The Lost Garden
- Rec Book: Alice Guy-Blache: Lost Visionary of the Cinema
Narrative editing
- Drama editing: Fantasy, Slice of Life, Historical, Sci-Fi
- The editing is meant to serve the story/enhance the story
- Shifts between fast paced editing and slow paced editing. To suit the emotions behind it.
- Can be emotionally manipulating
- Continuity is key in drama editing in order for the audience to believe it
- Playing on the characters emotion and decisions
- The story can change solely based on the editing choices that are made
- Music can amplify emotions in drama editing but the edit MUST work before music is
applied.
Cuts
- J Cut- Audio First Then Video
- L Cut- Video First then Audio
- When in doubt, J cut. L Cuts sometimes work, but not as well
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09-12-2023
Edwin S. Porter
- Worked for the Edison Manufacturing Company
- Created over 250 films
- Famous for “The Great Train Robbery”
- Showed Parallel actions for the first time
- Firmly established film as commercial entertainment
- First director to use close ups on actors
- Chose to use side lighting instead of full on and changing shots within a scene
- Continuity of Action Editing
Parallel Editing
- Two “incidents” or scenes happening at the same time as one another
- The separate scenes will in most cases come together into one scene
- We do it without even realizing it since it has become normalized in modern cinema
- It adds a layer of suspense and pacing to the narrative
- There needs to be a realistic motivation behind parallel editing
Point of View Editing
- POV Editing can further manipulate how the audience thinks and feels about a situation
- One of the best ways to engage an audience (ex. Reading a letter, see what the character
sees at the same time)
- Very common to see in horror films (the killers POV)
- The POV must make sense when put in. It can’t just be “random”.
- Isn’t always done through shots of the eyeballs. Ex: Fight Club. You don’t know about
Tyler Durden because you only know what the Narrator knows.
Continuity of an Action
- Can be subtle or very prominent
- Not to be confused with continuity editing or cutting on an action
- Helps the audience follow the story without realizing it
- Makes a film easier to watch
- Can be done with a variety of shots intermixed not just with the same shot set up
- Makes a boring scene exciting
- Pushes the story to be even faster or slower
The Relationship Between Editor and Director

1. Script Edit: Editor only. Takes notes on every single part of the script.
2. Directors Cut: Director Only. Cuts what they want from the script edit.
3. Editors Cut: The Editor Does the same.
4. Rough Edit: Director and Editor working together with all the notes they have and begin
to cut everything.
5. Pre-Picture Lock: As close to the final product as possible. Very precise editing, like
removing a frame or two.
6. Picture “Pic” Lock: The final product. Permanent Seal on the movie. Once it’s locked, it
won’t be unlocked.
Editor Decision Lists: Lists every editing decision you made and changed. Send to sound
designers and VFX to double check you.
The Editor as a Job
- You are in charge with bringing a film to the final stage of its life
- Responsible for the paperwork, footage, audio after production is done filming.
- You are technically a offline editor, that means you aren’t connected to any part of the
broadcast or showcasing of the film
- You may have up to two assistant editors working underneath you that will sync, group,
and organize your project
- But sometimes you are the only one editing so you get to do all the work
Assistant Editors
- Assot the editor with the technical sides of things
- Have to transcode, sync, and organize the project in the designated software
- Does whatever the editor requires to make the workflow smooth
- Long nights. Hours. Sometimes you have to work when the editor isn’t working on the
project so overnights do happen
- Editors can/should mentor their assistants and there is a higher chance of being carried
into the next project the editor goes to or being given a job the editor can’t do.

“You shouldn’t have an attitude with me because I’m not the problem.”
- Constance
Transcoding, Proxies, and other technical Jargon
- Transcoding: Digital conversion of one type of data to another. Ex Red Footage Raw ->
1080p Mp4
- Proxies: What transcoding creates to allow you to edit without the computer crashing and
a smoother workflow. Always transcode footage higher than 2k.
- Edit with the proxies and it will relk=ink to the 4k when being color graded by the
grader
- Always create proxies when working with footage higher than 2k
- Timecode: helps people sync audio and video and make notes on the edit
- (Types of timecode: Seq Timecode, Audio timecode, Master timecode)
- Hours:Minutes:Seconds:Frames
- Sequence: The timeline you are editing on
Editing Organization
- If you are not organized from the start, you are gonna suffer
- Organization starts the moment you ingest the footage/audio onto your computer
- Always make sure your file paths are direct and precise
- Once you place tour footage and audio into folders and have it loaded into the
editing software, DO NOT MOVE IT
- Moving things will cause media to go offline and while it is easy to reconnect it in
premiere it will not reconnect your proxies
- AVID will make you pay for it
Bin Organization
- You need the following Bin in your project
Raw Footage Sfx
Audio Temp Music
Proxies Titles and Credits
Sync’d Proxies
Dailes Later on you add
Scenes Picklock Sequences
Edit Sequences Deliverables
Sequence Organization
- Everything needs its own track so nothing gets overrun or deleted on accident
- It looks intimidating but it isn’t when you know how to read it
Sequence Track Organization (The Bare Bones)

Video Tracks Audio Tracks

V1:Footage A1: Production Sound
V2:B-Roll or any overlays A2: Additional Production Sound
V3:VFX A3-A4:SFX
V5:Timecode A5:Music
Tips and Tricks
- Always duplicate your sequence when making major changes or it’s a new day
- Save every 30 minutes or more
- Make sure when you move on one thing you aren’t shifting anything else
- Fixing any issues with sync before you start editing. It is a pain to do it as you edit
- When the software inevitably crashed. Don’t panic and go take a “smoke break”
- Don’t work long hours and know your directors/producers limits

“Settle Down Settle Down I know the feet shot is very exciting”