7/30/2019 Spooks Editing Task 1 250911

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Editing Task 1

You are learning about continuity editing techniques .This Spooks Sequence work is from Sequence 2 of the extract.

There are FOUR elements to the narrative of the SPOOKS Extract1. A telephone conversation2. Some people working at the MI5 offices3. Some ‘shady’ people in a warehouse 4. The meeting of the office people’s representative and the ‘shady’ people

This exercise covers elements 2 and 3 .

MISSION

Look at the images you have in the envelope.These shots cover elements 2 and 3 but they do not get screened sequentially (i.e. oneafter the other). They are cross-cut . This is where action in two different locations ishappening at once in terms of the narrative (storyline) and the film switches between thetwo, usually to build tension.Sort them into the order you think the sequence should run overall. When you haveagreed your final version, number them. Stick them onto an A3 sheet, in order, and notethe number and letter of the image in your file/folder/note book e.g. 1G, 2J, 3A etc.Write all your names on the front of your work.Prepare to S hare, Compare, Reflect a nd P lan SCRAP!

NotesStarting a sequence

Think about what you have learnt about EDITING and making sense in film terms.Films and TV drama start with establishing shots that show location and thespatial relations (or relative positions) between characters.Then we need to see the characters in a master shot . After this, what would youexpect to happen? The shots that the camera moves to are called cut-aways whenthe s ound/dialogue doesn’t change. Cutting between two (or more) people frombehind their heads during a conversation is called a shot-reverse shot .Look at the detail in the shots to see what characters seem to be doing and at thedetails in the props and sets – the images on the computer are not there byaccident and do have a specific part to play in making the sequence make sense.Equally the duplicate shots (of the screens, the plastic box in the dark shots) havespecific purposes (as do most edits).

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Help getting started… 1. A good way to go about constructing the narrative is to separate the two strands.

How do you sort out the two elements?

Some of the shots are very dark. This is because they are also dark in the sequence soyou should think about what this means in terms of setting, character and the task (i.e.how this would group the shots together in one location). Mark the shots that are fromelement 3 (shady people) with a coloured dot or mark (leaving element 2 unmarked) soyou can easily see how the two elements are spread across the whole sequence – thatway you will be able to see if you are c utting between the two roughly ‘ correctly’ overall.

2. Work out the order within the two sub-elements (2 people in office and 3 shadypeople).

Look for points where it feels time to ‘cut away’ Actions don’t go on too long so you should change often – remember the 4 sec averageduration between cuts in Psycho ? – and there are repeated actions so you would cut awaybetween them – for example we see the screen and the hands typing several times…youwouldn’t see them all one after the other, you’d see something in between – that is where(and when) you cut away to the other element.

3. Then work out how they might integrate.

Keep an eye on how many shots you have from each element You have more of 2 (people in office) than 3 (shady people). You would therefore expectto use long er running sequences focused on story element 2 (people in office) but don’t betoo sure!

When you film, your footage will be all mixed up according to your shooting schedule soit’s important that your storyboard is ac curate; good planning and understanding thebasics of continuity editing will help you to do this – add your creative ideas and you’re off!

Extra h elp getting started…

After you have separated the strands… 1. Start with the establishing shot

2. Where is the location? You need an interior shot for that location which is as closeto a master shot as you have (where the overview is established).3. Then work out what action might take place next – there’s a lot of typing on

computers and looking at screens for example! So sort out the typing and computer screen shots into smaller sequences – you will cut away to the other ‘shady people’in between the office shots – you have three office sequences ( A) and two shadypeople sequences ( B) (be careful though – there’s a twist!)

4. Decide how to integrate your mini sequences – your typing/screen sequences ( A)and your shady people sequence(s) ( B)

5. Use the details to help you – what is actually in the shot – look at detail and thinkabout the logical order of things – e.g. empty then full, open then closed