Three-Point Lighting by Bill Olson

Editing a show is the process of assembling separate pieces of video and audio to create a coherent whole. Whether your show is a documentary or a fiction-narrative, there are things you can do to make your editing appear smoother, less awkward.

Be aware of motion. A car zooms by, a person sits down, a safe falls from a window. Catching the very start or end of a movement, lasting a fraction of a second on screen, leaves a discontinuity in the viewer’s mind that seems jolting. It’s usually best to use either the whole movement or none of it.

A similar problem occurs if we catch just the start or end of a camera movement – a pan, tilt, or even a zoom. Again, use either all of the movement or none of it.

In retro-repetitive motion, an object moves in one direction and back again. This process, then, continues. The completion of motion in one direction is a cycle. A man raises the hammer up (one cycle), he pounds the hammer down against the nail (another cycle), he raises it up again (yet another cycle). If the movement is rapid and repetitive, such as sawing wood or pounding in a nail, place the in-point of your edit at the start of a motion cycle and your out-point at the end of a motion cycle.

Cutting to or from repetitive motion midway through a cycle may not be awkward if the motion is very slow or fast.

If there are many people engaged in the same retro-repetitive motion task, but not in unison, the in- and out-points can probably be placed anywhere, unless the viewer’s attention is on one definite subject.

Sometimes a shot includes audio you need, but the camera was turned on too late to avoid awkward movement by the subject or camera. This is a good place for a cutaway.

Cutaways are shots of people, things – or whatever might be relevant to your show – that you insert into a longer shot or as a bridge between two shots. They can add visual interest or help illustrate a point. But they can also cover up problems.

Cutaways should be related in some way to the subject, otherwise the viewer could (and should) ask, “Why am I seeing this?”

Good luck – Smooth sailing and smooth editing!

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