Editing and Sound

180 Degree Rule Review CW14 CW14

Montage Definitions Soviet montage theory is an approach to understanding and creating cinema that relies heavily upon editing In classical Hollywood cinema, a "montage sequence" is a short segment in a film in which narrative information is presented in a condensed fashion.

Montage Blue Velvet Psycho Raging Bull Citizen Kane

Montage Technique Camera needs to move anywhere from 25 to 45 degrees in order to make a smooth transition When moving through different symbolic shots—it is important to change up the angles and image sizing Think about visual impact

Sound Recording Video is on the screen, but sound is everywhere! People can become engrossed in scenes with shaky camera or possibly bad lighting, but if the sound is bad you lose your audience Also, if sound peaks—over- modulates it is unusable

What is sound? Sound is energy that travels through a medium like air as a wave When something makes a sound, it causes molecules of the air to vibrate, i.e. to alternately bunch together (compress) and to move apart (rarefy)

Ears and Brain When sound waves hit your ear, they cause your ear drum to vibrate, which in turn sends nerve impulses to your brain. This allows you to perceive the vibrations as sound

Microphone When sound waves hit a microphone, they cause a diaphragm inside the mic to vibrate which generates an electrical current known as the audio signal. This can be sent to an audio recorder

Dynamic Mics Dynamic mics don’t need a battery Rugged Cheap Handle loud sounds Not sensitive to soft sounds

Condenser Mics More sensitive than dynamic mics They have a greater frequency response They need a battery They can’t handle very loud sounds

Dynamic Dynamic microphones use a simple magnet and coil of wire to convert sound waves into a signal. Here’s how it works: a thin diaphragm with a coil of fine wire attached vibrates when struck by sound waves. This causes the coil of wire to move back and forth around a magnet, creating a small amount of electricity, which flows out of the microphone’s connector and through the microphone cable.

Condenser Condenser microphones (sometimes called electret condenser microphones) use an even thinner diaphgragm than the dynamic type stretched tight just above a piece of flat metal or metal-coated ceramic, called a backplate. When a fixed electrical charge is placed on the diaphragm/backplate assembly, its electrical output varies depending on the movements of the diaphragm, which vibrates in response to sound waves. This output signal is extremely weak and subject to outside electrical interference, however, so it must be modified and/or amplified by a circuit called a preamplifier

Balanced Audio Cable XLR (X-linked lymphocyte regulated) cables have 3 pins, a circular connector and are used to deliver balanced microphone and line-level signals over long distances. An XLR cable's ability to deliver a balanced signal means that the final audio signal will have less unwanted noise from outside electrical interferences. This preserves the original audio signal, even over long distances and near other electronic devices.

1/8 to XLR Connector

Zoom mic and Shotgun

Directional Omni-directional Cardioid Shotgun (uni-directional)

Omnidirectional – An omnidirectional microphone picks up sound equally from all directions (the prefix “omni” means “all”). An omni mic will pick up sound from above, below, in front of, behind, and to the side of the mic in a 360 degree sphere. The polar pattern for an omni, accordingly, is roughly circular.

Cardiod: Unidirectional By far the most common type of unidirectional microphone is the cardioid, so named because its polar pattern resembles a heart- shaped figure.

Shotgun Doesn’t zoom in on sounds It narrows the field of sounds it’s sensitive to Cuts out undesirable sounds

Shotgun – The shotgun microphone is so named because the long, slotted tube in front of the microphone cartridge makes it resemble a shotgun. This “interference tube” makes shotgun mics significantly less sensitive to sound coming from the side and rear than other directional microphones. A shotgun mic’s extremely directional pickup pattern (called a line/gradient pattern) makes these popular for news gathering, outdoor sports coverage and TV/film production.

Tips Shotgun mics can be positioned slightly above, below, or to the side of the sound source, so that the mic does not appear in the camera frame. Try to avoid aiming the mic at a hard surface, such as a tile floor, brick wall, or hard ceiling. These surfaces reflect sound waves, and may reflect background noise into the microphone or cause the sound to be slightly hollow. A heavy blanket can be placed on a reflective surface to provide some temporary sound absorption. Shotgun mics are more sensitive to wind noise than standard microphones, so try to avoid moving the mic rapidly and use a foam windscreen if possible. Larger “zeppelin” or “blimp” type windscreens are usually necessary outdoors. Also, it’s a good idea to use a rubber-isolated shock mount to control handling noise that may be transmitted through a stand or boom.

Audio Recorders Nagra Digital Audio Recorders

Tips and Tricks Position the mic as close to the source as possible Especially important when recording dialogue The difference between great footage and unusable footage is whether or not the dialogue is well recorded or not Controlled situations are easier to work with

Headphones Always where headphones— preferably ones that cover your ears

Problems with Camera Mics They can’t detach They tend to be omni-directional They pic up sound from the camera

External Mic Using an external mic The camera can be placed for visuals while the microphone can be placed for best possible audio Audio cable noise Keep mic and sound person out of the shot

Lavalier Mic It can be clipped to your subject’s shirt

Sound Waves Sound waves exist as variations of pressure in a medium such as air. They are created by the vibration of an object, which causes the air surrounding it to vibrate. The vibrating air then causes the human eardrum to vibrate, which the brain interprets as sound. Sound waves travel through air in much the same way as water waves travel through water. In fact, since water waves are easy to see and understand, they are often used as an analogy to illustrate how sound waves behave. They are created by the vibration of an object, which causes the air surrounding it to vibrate. The vibrating air then causes the human eardrum to vibrate, which the brain interprets as sound. The illustration on the left shows a speaker creating sound waves (click the button to show animation). Sound waves travel through air in much the same way as water waves travel through water. In fact, since water waves are easy to see and understand, they are often used as an analogy to illustrate how sound waves behave.

Audio Waveform in Premiere

Wavelength The distance between any point on a wave and the equivalent point on the next phase. Literally, the length of the wave.

Amplitude: The strength or power of a wave signal. The "height" of a wave when viewed as a graph. Higher amplitudes are interpreted as a higher volume, hence the name "amplifier" for a device that increases amplitude.

Frequency: The number of times the wavelength occurs in one second. Measured in kilohertz (Khz), or cycles per second. The faster the sound source vibrates, the higher the frequency. Higher frequencies are interpreted as a higher pitch. For example, when you sing in a high- pitched voice you are forcing your vocal chords to vibrate quickly.

Sound Levels On old analog recorders 0 dB was 14 decibels higher than it is on many professional audio recorders on magnetic tape and could push the recording level past the 0dB setting on a regular basis without any serious consequences.

Digital audio has a hard ceiling that is measured as 0dBFS or 0dB full scale When you push the audio level beyond that point, digital clipping occurs. This produces nasty distortion that effectively ruins your recording during the clipping. To avoid digital clipping, it's good practice to keep your recording levels well below the ceiling. A common setting is - 10dBFS. This gives you some headroom for inevitable peaks and still keeps the signal loud enough to avoid noise. Many devices also include a signal limiter of some kind.

Audio Levels on Premiere “The key is, you never want to exceed zero, because your audio will get distorted.” “Now some of you might be delivering to a broadcast station, and they might have specific requirements for your audio mix level. It may be minus 18 or minus 20. The best rule of thumb is ask before you start editing and you won't have to go back and fix it”

Levels Total audio mix level: -3 dB to -6 dB Principle speaker (SOT) audio: -6 dB to -12 dB Sound effects audio: -12 dB to -18 dB Music when its an underscore: -18 dB

Diegetic and Non-Diegetic Sound /11/23/ /a-sound-of-fear- forged-in-the-shadow-of- war?utm_content=socialflow&utm_campaign =nprfacebook&utm_source=npr&utm_mediu m=facebook /11/23/ /a-sound-of-fear- forged-in-the-shadow-of- war?utm_content=socialflow&utm_campaign =nprfacebook&utm_source=npr&utm_mediu m=facebook

Diegetic vs. Non-Diegetic Part of the story world of the film The Most Dangerous Game Diner Scene Diner Scene 2

Offscreen Sound: Paranormal Activity 1 and Paranormal Activity 2 FA FA oyI oyI

Components of Continuity Editing Avoid jump cuts: A shot of a person sitting— cut to the same shot of the person standing creates a noticeable jump in time Preserving screen direction at cuts (180 degree rule) Intercutting Note: I found the whole movie (excellent quality) on Vimeo!

Cutting Dialogue Tracks Sometimes words have to be separated Avoid clipping (up-cutting a word) A two-frame crossfade can help make an awkward cut sound natural

Narration or Voiceover Narration works best when woven in with sync sound from a scene Be careful that background sounds do not become distracting Ideally, final narration should be recorded in a sound booth to get high- quality clean sound Tips and Tricks from -- Digital Films a blog by Oliver PetersDigital Films

Cut tight – Cut tight – The best editing approach is to cut tight scenes without becoming too “cutty”. This means taking out unnecessary pauses between actors’ delivery of dialogue lines. Sometimes it means tightening the gaps within dialogue sentences through the use of carefully placed cutaways. It may also mean losing redundant lines of dialogue, after the director has reviewed your cut.

No Dragnet edits – The original Dragnet television series used a certain approach to cutting dialogue scenes. Audio and video edits tended to be made as straight cuts between the actors without any overlaps as they delivered their lines. It followed this formula: cut to actor A – deliver the line; cut to actor B – deliver the line; cut back to actor A and so on. Our brains seem to react better to edits where the change in picture and sound is not always together. These are called split edits, L-cuts or J- cuts.These are called split edits, L-cuts or J- cuts.

Matching action Matching action – Matching actors’ hand positions, use of props, eyeline and stage position from one cut to another fall into the technical category of how to make a proper edit. The greatest weight is given to whether that cut drives the emotion of the scene or moves the story along. Technical matching is the least important concern. (not that it should be thrown out the window) The audience will often ignore many minor continuity differences from one shot to the next if they stay totally engrossed in the story. Your job as the editor is to cut in such as way that they do.

Don’t cut back to the exact same angle – If you have a choice of several camera angles, don’t automatically cut back to the same camera angle or take that you just used in the previous shot. if the director shot different takes with different framing, try to use a little of all of them. Don’t get stuck in a cutting rut, like master/single/reverse, master/single/reverse, etc. Mix it up.

B-roll shots in threes When the scene calls for cutaway inserts, it feels right to use three on a row. Not a single shot, not two, but three. These should be at least seconds long (or longer). An example might be when a character enters the room and looks around. The POV inserts work nicely in triplets and give the audience a good idea of the landscape that the character encounters. It mimics our real-world experience of moving our head around and seeing different aspects of the same surroundings.

Cut for the eyes Actors that do well on TV and in films (as compared with the stage) are all very expressive with their face, but most importantly, their eyes. When I’m cutting an intense dialogue scene, I’m looking at how the actors’ eyes play in the scene. Do they convey the proper emotion? What is the reaction of the other actors in the scene? What the actors are or aren’t doing facially determines my cutting. It drives my decision to stick with the principal actor delivering the dialogue or whether I briefly cut away to see reactions from the others.

Pull the air out of actors’ performances Going back to Item 1 – I like to cut tight. Recognize that many actors will overact. They will milk a scene for more than is appropriate. They will accentuate pauses, add more stumbles and stammers (where scripted) and give lengthy glances. Sometimes this works, but your job as the editor is to dial these back as you cut. Take these pauses out by cutting away and then back. Cut out redundant actions and line deliveries. Make it real, so it doesn’t feel like ACTING.

Shaping story It is said that there are three films: the one that’s scripted, the one that’s been filmed and the one that’s edited. Pay close attention to the story chronology and don’t be afraid to veer from what was written or filmed if it makes sense to do so. Many editors use note cards on a storyboard wall to create a quick visual representation of the storyline. This helps you make sure that you reveal things to the audience in the most logical order and that nothing is inadvertently edited out of place. -- Digital Films a blog by Oliver Peters

Non-Linear Editing Allows access to any clip without scrubbing through entire clips Film was the first nonlinear editing system

Workflow

Editing Software Is only making references to clips on your hard drive. The clips are not actually there in the software program. That means that if you move your clips around or delete them off of your hard drive—you will offline your media.