We Can Fix That in Post! 5 Phrases an Editor Lives By
With the ease and commonality of high-quality cell phone cameras, more companies are shooting their own videos for social media. While itâs easier than ever to shoot the footage you need without hiring a videographer, the convenience can come at a cost.
After sending your fresh shots along, how many times have you heard from the post-production house, âWe canât work with thisâ? Often, the fault lies in an innocent mistake youâve made while shooting. An editorâs least favorite phrase is, âWe can fix that in post.â Luckily, weâre here today to tell you 5 favorite phrases of an editor, phrases an editor lives by. Follow the tips below to avoid being the bane of the post-production house and to ensure you have an excellent looking finished project.
1. "Garbage In, Garbage Outâ
Non-production folks tend to think that video editors are all wizards, capable of taking something awful and making it incredible with a wave of our wands. But the number one thing to remember when shooting is: âGarbage in, garbage out.â
This is a phrase production people use to remind themselves to get things done right the first time. If your video is shaky, poorly lit, or has noisy audio, you can bet your finished product will be shaky, poorly lit, with noisy audio. Thereâs only so much correcting that can be done to shots. So, before you call âAction!â look at how your shot is framed; can you see the subjectâs eyes clearly? Can you hear them well? If the answer is no, try adjusting your set-up to maximize these factors. The production house will thank you, and your final product wonât look like you hired your nephew in middle school to do it.
2. âLess Isnât Moreâ
We would much rather sort through tons of footage than not have enough to work with. Make sure you shoot multiple takes of the same lines, better yet at multiple angles. This may seem like a lot of added work on yours and the talentâs parts, but you wonât be kicking yourself the next day after reading a message saying the talent flubbed a line or that a car drove past and the talent couldn’t be heard. If you shoot everything at least twice, youâre doubling your chances that you will have workable footage. If you shoot everything wide, and then do a close-up as well. That way youâre ensuring that the editor has something they can cut to if the first shot isnât working out. Your talent would much rather spend an extra fifteen minutes in front of the camera than to have to come back a day or two later and do reshoots.
3. "Cutaways Save the Day"
Always shoot more than just the onscreen talent. This goes hand-in-hand with the shoot more rule. If you take the time to get extra footage (called b-roll), it can make a world of difference to your editor and to your finished product. After youâve shot all your dialogue, get some detail shots of whatever your talent is talking about. Shoot it from multiple angles. Most importantly record each shot for at least 10 seconds without moving the camera so the editor has plenty to work with. Having these extra shots is useful when you need to make a cut that wonât look good on screen. It also makes your video look more dynamic by giving the viewer something else to look at. Itâs much better to have too much b-roll than too little. This is also a great time to flex your artistic side a bit; donât be afraid to try things out!
4. âShoot for the Editâ
This rule can be a hard one to remember; weâre not all Stanley Kubricks or Alfred Hitchcocks. We donât always think of things in terms of the visual. When youâre shooting your video, youâre probably more concerned with getting the lines right, but the devil is in the details. You need to shoot for the edit. That means hitting record ten seconds before saying âactionâ, your talent waiting three seconds before beginning their lines, and holding their composure for at least three seconds after finishing their lines. If youâre making a video with more than one location, you need to shoot your talent walking out of one shot and into the next. You need to sit back and think, âOkay, if I just mushed these two clips together, would it look natural?â
This also goes back to #2. You might think you have everything you need, but thereâs always a chance your talent is holding their hands one way in a shot and differently in the next. We call this continuity. You want there to be a continual flow between shots so things donât look jumpy or stilted. Take a few seconds to review your last clip before shooting your next clip.
5. âDonât Write More Than You Can Chewâ
Even if your talent is capable of delivering your lines perfectly, you donât want to put long and complex material in front of them for a number of reasons. Itâs always best to break the material down into smaller chunks and change the shot between each section. Doing so gives the talent more flexibility with their delivery, and by changing your angle in between lines you make your final edit more dynamic. No one wants to be lectured, and your viewers are more likely to maintain interest if theyâre visually stimulated. Think about any movie or TV show youâve seen in the last five years. Itâs very rare that a shot sits on screen for more than fifteen seconds. You can lose your audience if youâre not making a cut every 5-10 seconds. Multiple angles (#2), b-roll (#3), and a more dynamic edit (#4) will keep your audiencesâ attention. Save the rolling soliloquies for Shakespeare; instead opt for bite sized sentences with movement along the way.