Like the previous scene, this is a simple scene which is great for practicing dialog editing.
The motion picture
The scenes of the family reunion are from a motion picture which was made based on a popular television show. The family reunion takes place about ten years after the end of the TV series and all of the children have grown up and left home. Now they return for one last family gathering in the old house.
The characters
In this scene, we learn about the youngest daughter who has returned from Europe. Early the next morning, the mother and the daughter have a conversation over coffee.
The story
The daughter cannot sleep because of jet lag so she is up making coffee. However, she is not making the normal coffee but rather she is making a special coffee for herself. She offers her mother a cup from Switzerland and they sit down and talk. The mother tells of her life, getting married and raising a family while she was very young. The daughter wonders what she should do with her life.
The challenge
In this story, the mother and the daughter have a simple converstion. Your challenge is to keep the conversation flowing as naturally and warmly as possible. Therefore, your major task is to get the dialog to flow naturally.
Edit this scene
Loan only
This disk is available from your instructor for a one month loan.
The Overview Movie
Start by looking at the overview movie. You need QuickTime Movie Player to view this movie (and the dailies.) The overview movie shows you the more important parts of the film dailies in chronological order.
Transfer the dailies
Copy the dailies (not the overview movie) to your hard drive. If necessary, convert the dailies to whatever format your editing program prefers. This will probably require QuickTime Pro. Import them into your editing program.
Edit the scene
Start by looking for the best audio. Once the audio (along with the picture) is edited and lock the audio. Then simply roll the picture edits to find the best visual transition. (Note: See below for some special written instructions. I reviewed these instructions and found a few of the frame numbers are incorrect so be careful.)
Music needed
Only a small amount of music is needed. Can you see where? Maybe even a Swiss yodal.
Notice that all of the first shots are of the mother. The mother does all of her lines before the daughter. The daughter is not as experienced as the mother so the daughter is still practicing her lines while her back is to the camera. If the daughter makes any mistakes, the audience will not know about the mistake when the camera is pointed at the mother.
Above all, notice how few takes are necessary for this scene. The actors are very well prepared for filming the scene. Compare this with filming you have done. Are your actors as well prepared BEFORE you begin filming?
Special Written Instructions
Download special editing instructions for "Morning Coffee".
To learn more about editing this scene, you can download step-by-step PDF instructions. These instructions are not on the disk.
The Star Movie Shop prepared these step-by-step instructions which you can download at http://www.starmovieshop.com/pdfs/m_coffee.pdf. I think that you will want to download these instructions and print them out before you begin editing the scene. (Please note! I looked at the instructions and found at least one error so be careful. Not all the frame numbers are accurate.)
The next scenes
Next are a series of scenes about the store keeper, his wife and their run-away daughter.
