Shoot like you watch, edit with natural flow

In recent years feature films at the cinema have become longer and longer. Many scenes that really should have been consigned to the cutting room floor are now quite often left in. The result is often a film that outstays its welcome. Long periods of flat pacing end up dulling what could otherwise be a great story. Directors editions of films are now even longer as a result!

This is a problem that compounds many a production today; from the lowliest training video right the way along the chain to the biggest blockbuster. The art of tight editing, pacing, and being able to be impartial to the footage that you have shot is gradually being eroded.

As the owner of a small production company I often both shoot and edit the projects that I am involved in. Quite often shots and dialogue that I would by instinct usually cut out of a production end up staying in due to the insistence of the client. The client is always right, apparently! But this should not stop us from instilling a discipline into the way we shoot and edit productions in general, and taking every opportunity to impliment it.

Shoot as if you are the audience. Shoot to edit.

Almost everyone involved in video has heard the term "shoot to edit" before. It is an often used term that is forgotten on a daily basis! For many people the idea of shooting to edit is to take shots in such a way that it gives the editor a good selection of shots to choose from, as well as observing courteseys such as allowing 5 seconds at the head and tail of a shot. This is all very well and good, and certainly instills a good initial discipline for shooting video with. However the idea of shooting to edit can be taken further.

For smaller production teams; those who often operate the camera as well as editing, production watchability can be increased many-fold by thinking a little bit more like your audience. It is my belief that every single video and film can be made into something that is interesting to watch. It is only mindlock that says, for instance, that a safety training video has to be serious and presented by someone with all the charisma of a plant pot! Something that many peope forget, both production companies and clients, is that if the intended audience is bored then the message will not get through, and the money that has been spent on the production will have been wasted.

In fact towing the line in this way can be detrimental not only in terms of audience attention, but it can also make the audience dismiss the message if they have been paying attention. At some point we have all seen a safety training video of some kind. With their bad acting straight out of an amateur version of Casualty and their drab uninteresting editing and composition, the effect is sometimes rather humourous, in the wrong way.

I'm not for a moment suggesting that we should all make our videos look like something from MTV. However there are certain things that we should all take into consideration, and it starts right from the initial conception of the production.

One of the biggest causes for dull video is subject matter that really could have been better communicated in other ways. So the one of the first things to consider is whether or not a video is actually the best way to deliver the message. Another huge contributor to dull productions, as I mentioned in the opening lines of this article, is allowing it to outstay its welcome.

Quite often a client will want a video that lasts 15 minutes when in fact 2 minutes would be more than enough. If your video footage isn't saying anything then ditch it. Are your interview subjects saying similar things over and over? Then cut them out. Is what they are saying really adding anything to your production? You must be ruthlessly analytical about such things. You or the client might like what they are saying, but is it really actually relevant to the subject matter? On many an occasion someone has sat in on an editing session with me and I have had to point this out. Of course sometimes the client will insist that something stays in, but in general make every effort to stay on message.

Is there too much talking? Video is a visual medium and the sound should compliment this. When there is lots of talking an audience will often switch off. Narration and interviews should reinforce the visuals. Don't have narrators point out the obvious. Let your production breath a little.

Pacing

This brings me onto pacing. Editing should be performed like a musical piece. Listen, for example, to any well composed orchestral music, or indeed any well composed music. Many people will try to split their productions up into three sections. The beginning, the middle, and the end, and the pacing will often remain pretty constant throughout. This is a sure fire way to put your audience to sleep! Don't just open with a piece of cheesy corporate music before presenting half an hour of dull men in suits speaking in business jargon. Add drama to your production, and let the pace speed up and slow down like a good piece of music. Let your production breathe. Lead into segments, and lead out. Don't just bombard your audience with constant information. Allow them time to let the information you have presented to them sink in. Ask your audience a question and let them dwell on it in their minds before presenting solutions.

This orchestral cinematic style of editing for factual programming can be seen in all its glory in most new BBC productions. Witness the success of Top Gear, a programme that was originally as dull as ditchwater now transformed into an emmy award winning show that is respected across the globe. They don't just take a car on a basic test drive while telling the audience about how the engine works. Instead they shoot the car tests with a theme. They stylise the shooting, and the present the test in a way that makes you feel what the car is all about. Talking is often not needed because the visuals tell you everything you need to know. It should come as no surprise that many people who enjoy Top Gear have no interest in cars at all! This is because the programme makers at Top Gear have realised that they can take a specialist interest and make it totally accessible to everybody by making it fun, and by shooting the segments in an interesting way.

Too many production companies fall into the trap of making video by numbers. "Its only a corporate video. They won't notice if we make any extra effort" is a statement that I have heard from a lot of independent production companies. This is the wrong attitude to have by a long, long stretch. Video is a business for many of us, but the reason why many of us started a video business in the first place was because we enjoyed making videos! Why stifle that by turning video production into a chore?

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