Film editing/Analyzing film dailies/Wedding Bells


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:
"Wedding Bells"




"Wedding Bells"

This is a fun scene from a very old TV melodrama.
The location
A restaurant in Dallas, Texas.
The characters
The lady plans to marry the man. The man is both the hero and the villian of the TV drama.
The story
The man is not good. He will make the lady very unhappy. Last night, the man was visiting another lady. Now, he wants to postpone the wedding. She is too dumb to realize there is a problem. (This is a melodrama. It is not realistic.)
The challenge
This is a very simple conversation. However, editing it is not simple. Who do you look at? The reactions of the actor who is listening is often better than the expressions of the actor who is talking. This is a great conflict. Do you show this by rolling the picture edits (creating "L-Cut" which will be explained in a future lesson) or by inserting reaction shots? Not an easy decision.

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 eagerly accept PayPal. To contact the Star Movie Shop, you simply click here.
The Overview Movie
Start by looking at the overview movie for "Wedding Bells". (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 all these clips into your editing program.
Edit the scene
Editing the cnoversation is easy. Always start by looking for the best audio (of the people talking.) Once the audio (along with the picture) is edited, you will lock the audio and roll the picture edits to find the best visual transition for each edit of the conversation thereby creating "L-Cuts".
Submit your finished scene
This scene is worth 10 points. Email me when you are finished.

Analyze the Dailies

Learning to relax
Professional actors can have fun! Filming is long and boring. The actors kept the action going. Allow them to have fun.

The next scene

This next scene ("The Big Bad Bell") is unusual.

Contact your instructor