Archives for the 'Editing' Category
Final Cut Pro keyboard shortcuts
Chances are if you’re in film school, you’re probably editing with Final Cut Pro. If you really want to master the program and save a lot of time, you should learn the keyboard shortcuts that are built into the program. Below is an example:
To download a pdf of all the shortcuts, click here.
Shoot for the Edit
A tip that I always pass along to my friends/aspiring film makers is to ’shoot for the edit’. What this basically means is that you should film as much footage as you can from as many different angles as you can and then let the magic happen when you edit the movie together.
For example, let’s use a home movie. How many times have you seen a very boring home video where it’s an hour of footage that could easily be edited down to 15 minutes? That person, unknowingly, shot for the edit — except they didn’t edit it. That hour long footage gives that person a ton of footage to choose from to put together a short, tight piece that will impress and interest more people than an hour of boring, two minute shots of a monument.
Also, make sure that one of your shots is a wide shot, that has the entire scene and actors in view. This wide shot will be then cut with mid-shots and closeups. And last but not least, remember to film a few seconds before the scene starts and a few seconds after the scene ends. These extra seconds give the editor extra footage to work with to make cuts better.
But remember, your footage is the most important. If your shots are garbage, no amount of editing will make them better. Garbage in, garbage out.
