All about editing

Cuts, shots, scores. All of these fall under a magical compilation called Video Editing. This part of the post-production is the primary activity wherein the success of the whole pre- and production is seen. The beauty of  the film lies within the techniques and smoothness of ne process. Video editing is important for it values behind-the-camera processes and the people responsible for it. We experience visually the effort and brilliance of the makers of the film through this editing.

With video editing, so much outputs can be brought to life. Films, music videos, wedding and debut videos, video presentation s for a report, advertisements, TV shows, and many many more are outputs of video editing.



Here are some of the editing techniques an editor and the director must specially know:

1. JUMP CUT 

- Cutting a scene from one range to another in a same visual axis.
Jump cuts are jarring and disconcerting, and pretty much unacceptable, unless that is the effect you want for narrative reasons. Jump cuts can also be used to compress time.

2. CUTTING TO AN EMPTY FRAME AND LETTING THE SUBJECT ENTER THE FRAME.

- This is generally cutting on action to a smooth transition. In this, we cut from one shot to another, just an action is taking place.

3. CUT AWAY

- Inserting shots which are far from the real action or a shot of a subject which is not in the main scene. Shoot many cut away shots especially in shooting documentaries and interviews.

4. THE 180 DEGREE RULE

- The camera must stay on only one side of the actions and objects in a scene. An invisible line, known as the 180 DEGREE LINE or AXIS OF ACTION, runs through the space of the scene. The camera can shoot from any position within one side of that line, but it may never cross it.

5. MONTAGE

-This includes a rapid succession of different images that all tend to be associated with a specific idea. Normally these montages combine many different pictures. These montages are used in film, TV and video all the time as most title sequences of films are montages. The power of the montage comes from showing many images instead of a single picture.

REFERENCES:
1. http://www.lavideofilmmaker.com/filmmaking/film-editing-tips.html
2. http://www.slideshare.net/JaneenGatty/camera-movement-and-editing-techniques
3. http://www.steves-digicams.com/knowledge-center/how-tos/film-and-video-production/post-production-8-tips-for-editing-montages.html#b

Film Review: HUGO

Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield) and George Melies (Ben Kingsley) first struck a conversation when the boy steals machinery pieces in order to revive a broken automaton, which was the only living tangible memory Hugo has with his late father. The film then introduces the casts by Hugo peeking behind a great clock, usually behind the no. 4. One thing led to another when the time came for Hugo to learn that the automaton was first brought to life by George Melies himself, the grumpy old man behind his toy store counter. With the help of Melies goddaughter, Isabelle (Chloë Grace Moretz), Hugo will learn that the automaton doesn't contain a hidden message from his late father. Eventually, Hugo and George reconciled each other as they discover together the past and the reawakened best kept past.

What I loved about Hugo is its beautiful cinematography. Surely, you will go to an exciting adventure with this film and it is all because of the visuals. From the very beginning establishing shots to the last, Hugo didn't fail to capture the film's audience. This factor is the backbone of this film. With only its cinematography and as well as the lighting, Hugo can be one of the best, in shots and in visual effects. Scenes were mostly shot in a studio, but it paid well and done justice coerced with computer-generated effects to stun its viewers.

Photo by Jaap Buitendijk – © 2011 GK Films. All Rights Reserved.

True people like George Melies and his story on the birth of films being included as the one of the main story lines is definitely a double plus. The monumental moon in one of Melies' films is only a depiction on how wonderful Melies' mind works. His creativity had become a vital aspect as he continues to search ways in producing films while war goes on at that time. 

Although with the film's history-based story line, loopholes can be distinguished. Aside from the factual mistakes like time of an event's occurrence and the location of famous landmarks in the film, there are weird and irrelevant parts, too. One of these is how Hugo so much revolved around his father and his last memory, and actually became an overrated part of the film. This, only to find out, was only a minor detail in the connection of the main story of Hugo and Melies. It lost the importance of Hugo's late father, as the film established greatly on how Hugo's father came across the automaton. And in the end, the audience didn't understand the relevance of Hugo's father's great existence in the film. Another loophole I caught was the faulty continuity of the shots. The obvious, I guess, is in this one scene where Hugo finds the end tail of the key buried in a train track on the first frame. Next frame shows the whole key atop a wood plank of the train track. Others need a keen eye in spotting them, but it's still faulty either way.

Director Martin Scorsese's Hugo takes you to this historical-based adventure where reality does not seem so much as so. George Melies' prowess in the development of the film era is to say an understatement. Melies, in person, with his undeniable wildly creative mindset bursting with talent is highly commendable. All of these elements and more accompanied by a capturing musical scoring all throughout the film worked. 

For this film, I'll give it 8.5/10. It's not the most perfect and error-free film, but the visuals saved it over-all and perhaps, my amazement at George Melies' intelligence as well.