Once you’ve shot your project the next step is the edit. If you have planned your shoot well, then you’ll have a pretty good idea of what footage you have and where it goes in the edit.
Key thing at this stage is not to get into detail, but rather take the helicopter view and gather all the elements you need to start your first assembly edit and get organised.
Edit Bins/Folders
All NLE (Non Linear Editors) have the facility to set up bins or folders. Once you have copied your data across to your HDD (and made a backup!) set up your folders and give them logical names. These may include names like: Interviews; Interview B Rolls; Exteriors; Process sequences, etc.
Don’t forget folders for Graphics; Logos; Music; Voice over, etc.
Style Guides
It may also be a good idea at this stage to find out if your client’s business/organisation has a printed style guide for how their logo is to be used. You will also need HD copies of their logos as ‘eps’ files, or hi-res ‘png’. Getting all this sorted first will save pain down the line.
Your client may also have preferred fonts for titles, name supers, etc. Make sure you have these on your system. If you don’t, most clients will happily send you the font files.
Music
I like to research and download possible music tracks at this stage. Whilst you may not find exactly what you need, having some tracks to lay under the interviews will help create a ‘feel’ for your edit. (Sometimes this feel ends up being wrong, so you go searching for more tracks). I find this can often take the most time – but it is worth having some tracks selected.
Once you have set up your system, then you can start the edit.
Titles/Supers
There are thousands of ways (if not millions) to do titles and name supers. I usually start out by matching the clients style by using the same colours for super backgrounds, etc. Just like library music, there are hundreds of web sites that offer title and lower third templates. Again, the style you chose will usually be one that sits comfortably with your clients existing styles.
The Assembly edit
This is where you ‘chunk’ all the key segments together onto your timeline. For example, you may have a number of takes of an opening piece to camera, so lay them on the timeline and see which one works the best. You then proceed through the edit until you have all the key elements in place and in the right order. This edit will usually be at least twice as long (if not longer) than your finished edit, but this approach means you can go through this assembly bit by bit and start your fine cut.
Multicam interviews
I usually shoot interviews with at least two cameras, a mid-shot/close-up camera and a wide-shot, often on a slider. I sometimes also have a separate digital audio file. I always create a separate sequence/timeline for each interview which I then synchronise using PluralEyes.
Once it’s synched, I select the pieces I’m going to use and copy these into the right spot on the main edit timeline (leaving the interview sequence intact).
I also copy ALL cameras to the assembly sequence and make the decision as to which camera is ‘live’ in that timeline.
This saves cluttering up the main timeline and it also means I can go back to the interview sequence if I need to select a different grab.
