Zak Forsman
Major Contributor
am i going blind, there's no actual "editing" forum beyond the NLE specific ones, right? okay seeing as how I am currently neck deep in editorial on Heart of Now with my editor, i thought it might be a good idea to go back and refresh my understanding of the fundamentals. the first book I returned to was "In the Blink of an Eye" by Walter Murch. In it, he outlines the Six Elements of a Good Cut, as seen below:
1) EMOTION 51% - it is true to the emotion of the moment
2) STORY 23% - it reveals a new dimension of the story
3) RHYTHM 10% - it occurs at a moment that is rythmically interesting and balanced
4) EYE-TRACE 7% - the location and movement of the audience’s attention to a specific point within the frame
5) 2-D PLANE OF SCREEN 5% - helping audience perceptually understand placement, geography and direction of movement within a scene (180 degree line rule, etc)
6) 3-D SPACE OF ACTION 4% - it respects the 3 dimensional continuity of the space as it actually exists (where people are in the space and in relation to one another)
he recommends this list as an order of importance, meaning that if you have to sacrifice one, it shouldn't come before anything higher on the list... ideally. and the percentages are admittedly a bit arbitrary, but his point is that "Emotional Continuity" carries greater weight than all the others combined. anyway, it's good, fundamental info and i thought i'd share. if there is a more appropriate forum for this, please move it there. peace.
1) EMOTION 51% - it is true to the emotion of the moment
2) STORY 23% - it reveals a new dimension of the story
3) RHYTHM 10% - it occurs at a moment that is rythmically interesting and balanced
4) EYE-TRACE 7% - the location and movement of the audience’s attention to a specific point within the frame
5) 2-D PLANE OF SCREEN 5% - helping audience perceptually understand placement, geography and direction of movement within a scene (180 degree line rule, etc)
6) 3-D SPACE OF ACTION 4% - it respects the 3 dimensional continuity of the space as it actually exists (where people are in the space and in relation to one another)
he recommends this list as an order of importance, meaning that if you have to sacrifice one, it shouldn't come before anything higher on the list... ideally. and the percentages are admittedly a bit arbitrary, but his point is that "Emotional Continuity" carries greater weight than all the others combined. anyway, it's good, fundamental info and i thought i'd share. if there is a more appropriate forum for this, please move it there. peace.
