Narrative dialog editing/Follow Dave:Edit the Scene

This school is: Narrative Film Production

This course is:: Fundamentals of narrative film editing
This lesson is:: A quick overview of narrative dialog editing

The pages of this lesson are:

Lesson Summary - What is dialog editing?

Lesson Page - "Follow Dave?" Editing Workshop CD

Lesson Page - Analyze the dailies

Pop Quiz - Guess how many takes? - 4 points

Lesson Page - Select an editing program

Lesson Page - Edit the scene

Editing the scene

Open the disk

Looking at the disk index: There is a lot of stuff on that small disk. You should already have:

Watched the "Start Here" movie.

This educational (animated) movie gives you a quick overview of the entire film editing process for a dramatic conversation.

Watched the "Sample with Music" movie in the "Watch Me Second folder.

This movie seems to break all the rules you just learned. There are gaps between the actor's words which have been filled with narrative music.

Studied the other two movies in the "Watch Me Second" folder.

The version without music or sound effects is the edited scene before any narrative music or sound effects were added. You will notice huge, ugly pauses in the dialog. Yet, when the music or sound effects is added, the gaps seem to disappear and the rhythm of the conversation seems to be natural. If you don't understand why this works, email me.

Printed the "Follow Dave - Storyboard" pdf file.

Reference material for when you begin editing the scene.

Skimmed the "Movie Set Tour" pdf file.

Fluff to keep the kids happy. Still it might be interesting.

Skimmed the "Film Editing Instructions".

Step by step instructions with lots of pictures. If you edit the scene, you can try following all the decisions which are explained in the written instructions.

Skimmed the "Film Scoring Instructions".

More for people who want to create film scores.

Print the "Shot List".

With only six clips, this is not necessary but it might come in handy.

Open the clips

Looking at the clips: Locate the six film dailies clips in the folder called "Clips Ready For Editing". These are:

Scene 17, Take 1 - Master Shot
Scene 17, Take 2 - Master Shot
Scene 17A, Take 2 - Close up
Scene 17A, Take 3 - Close up
Scene 17B, Take 7 - Reverse Master Shot
Scene 17C, Take 1 - Close up

Open the instructions

Print the pdf file: There are over 80 pages of colorful instructions which very slowly walk you through the editing of the scene. This is exactly the same instructions that you saw in the animated movie "Start Here" but in a print format which you can more easily follow. With the printed instructions, more of the logic of editing this scene is explained.

Follow the basic steps

Audio first, picture second: Remember to select the best clips for each piece of dialog. When the audio is perfect, adjust the video. This is what you saw in the "Start Here" movie.

Send me a copy: When you are finished, send me a copy. You will earn points.

Open Source

All of the documents on the "Follow Dave?" Editing Workshop are distributed with the GNU Open Source Document License.

Share the disk with your friends. Use the frame numbers to compare your edits of the scene.

The next lesson

Once you have finished editing the scene called "Follow Dave?", you are ready for 24 more scenes.

Analyzing and editing film dailies for 24 scenes

Contact your instructor

Your instructor for this film editing class is Robert Elliott. You can email me by clicking here.

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