Course Introduction & Overview

• Instructor: Leah, editor with experience on documentaries and narratives
  • Focus on stories about women, coming of age, and people navigating power institutions
  • Teaching experience: 5th summer at this institute, also teaches at LMU
  • Background: Harvard (social theory), UCLA MFA, worked on documentary “Unbroken” for 3 years
• Course structure: Creative and technical aspects of editing
  • Classes Mondays and Thursdays
  • Lab next door in Lacrone Media
  • Will use Premiere Pro (computers provided with software installed)
• Student comfort films shared: Wide range from Gladiator to Spirited Away, Social Network to Avatar

A Film is Written Three Times

• Pre-production: Writing stage
  • Script writing, casting decisions
  • Creating music playlists, location scouting
  • Storyboarding and shot lists
• Production: Shooting stage
  • Weather, timing, and location constraints
  • Actor input and improvisation
  • Equipment failures and permit issues
• Post-production: Editing stage
  • Editor sees footage with fresh eyes like audience will
  • Final storytelling decisions made here
  • Can completely change the story from what was shot

Filmmaking Approaches: Malik vs. Bong Joon-ho

• Terrence Malik (Tree of Life approach):
  • Shoots massive amounts of footage
  • Completely rewrites film in editing process
  • Captures spontaneous moments, whispers lines to actors on set
  • Story: Adrian Brody’s role in “Thin Red Line” reduced to side character in edit
• Bong Joon-ho (Parasite approach):
  • Extensive storyboarding and pre-planning
  • Shoots what he storyboarded with minimal changes
  • Uses storyboards to communicate vision and reduce anxiety
  • Acknowledges this can lead to “mannerism” but provides structure

Post-Production Stages

• Acquisition:
  • Digital Image Technician (DIT) transfers all footage
  • Quality checking to ensure no corruption
  • Overlaps with production period
• Organization:
  • Assistant editors make material easy to find
  • Apply basic color correction (LUT)
  • Critical for efficiency regardless of footage amount
• Review & Selection:
  • First time seeing footage - give full attention
  • Can take days to months depending on material
  • Sometimes done with director present
• Assembly Edit:
  • Using script as guide to create first cut
  • Generally considered “editor’s cut”
  • Often much longer than final version
  • Directors commonly have “meltdowns” at this stage
• Rough Cut:
  • Foundation building, identifying what works/doesn’t work
  • Major experimentation phase
  • Show to other filmmakers, not general audiences
  • “Director’s cut” often created here
• Fine Cut:
  • Focus on details: individual frames, audio adjustments
  • Getting consistent positive feedback
  • Show to non-filmmakers for emotional response testing
  • Trailer houses typically get footage at this stage
• Picture Lock:
  • No more changes to edit timeline
  • Allows multiple teams to work simultaneously
  • Sent to color house, sound mixing, VFX
• Finishing:
  • Return to high-resolution files
  • Replace temp music with final compositions
  • Combine all elements