Film editing/Analyzing film dailies/Morning Surprise


Table of Contents
This school is:
Narrative Film Production
The course is:
Basic film editing (editing a dramatic conversation)
This lesson is:
Analyzing film dailies - What can you learn from film dailies?
The pages of this lesson are:
1. Lesson summary - Analyzing & editing film dailies


24 Unedited Scenes Disk

Scene: "Out for a walk" Funny, short, needs matte painting
Scene: "The Assignment" Long and intense
Scene: "Ice Cream" Long but simple
12 scenes from the family reunion
Scene: "Taking Notes" A basic scene
Scene: "Morning Coffee" A basic scene
Scenes about Amy Good practice
Scenes about Jason Simple but good practice
Scene: "Morning Surprise" Needs 3D animation
Scene: "Doctor, Doctor!" Needs sound F/X and music
Scene: "The Girl and the Golden Jewel" Needs F/X, voice over, sound
Scene: "Wedding Bells" Funny, old, poor color, only 12fps
Scene: "The Big Bad Bell" A bit odd
Scene: "Open The Door" Totally weird, MOS - even needs dialog!!!


"24 Unedited Scenes"
from the
Star Movie Shop



Scene:
"Morning Surprise"




"Morning Surprise"

This scene seems surprisingly short. Yet, many things happens in this scene which is not obvious by just looking at the dailies.
The location
This story takes place in children's bedroom in the house of their mother and father early one morning. It also takes place in an airplane in the sky.
The characters
The two young ladies are sleeping. A man in a biplane wakes them.
The story
Unfortunately, this scene does not include the script. You have to guess what is happening:
  • The two ladies are sleeping and, as the director says, the sound of an airplane can be heard.
  • What the director does not says is next the audience sees a man flying a biplane.
  • Then the audience sees one of the ladies wake up.
  • Then the audience sees the biplane begin to dive.
  • Then the audience sees the lady say, "Oh, he wouldn't."
  • Then the audience sses the man drop a water balloon from the biplane.
  • Then the audience sees the lady get up and leave. Finally we hear the water balloon hit the house and the younger lady goes back to sleep.
The challenge
The story is very simple except for the missing footage. This is a low-budget movie so all the missing footage (a man in a biplane) is done with simple 3D animation.

Edit this scene

Order the disk
Order the disk from the Star Movie Shop. Remember, if you have earned enough points at the Wikiversity Film School, the disk is free. If you do not have enough points, the Star Movie Shop will accept PayPal. To contact the Star Movie Shop, you simply click here.
The Overview Movie
Start by looking at the overview movie for "Out for a Walk". (This QuickTime movie file is in a different folder than the film dailies. Don't get the two folders confused.) The overview movie shows you the important parts of the film dailies in chronological order.
Transfer the dailies
Copy all the film dailies (not the overview movie) to your hard drive. If necessary, convert the dailies to whatever format your editing program prefers. Import them into your editing program.
Calculate the missing elements
You cannot edit this scene with the missing footage. To start, create still frames (storyboard frames) for the missing shots. Then edit the scene together for a rough estimate of the timing of the missing animation shots. Since the timing will depend on the music, you must also create the music or at least a rough of the musical score.
Create the missing elements
Now that you know the timing of the missing animation, you need to use a program like Poser or DAZ Studio to create the animation.

Edit the scene

Finally you edit the whole thing together.
Submit your finished scene
This scene is worth 40 points for the scene including all the missing elements. Email me when you are finished.

Analyze the Dailies

Multiple shots in one
In this little story, the action goes from interior to exterior to interior to exterior. Yet, for all the interior shots, the filmmaker simply shoots one continuous shot which will be cut apart to create all the interior elements.

The next scene

Now look a scene which is extremely simple... or is it?

Contact your instructor