On this show, it was not uncommon for the crew to shoot some takes with both angles and only camera on others, so at first it didn’t alarm me. However, if I had looked at the lined script more closely, I would have noticed right away that the footage was missing it’s equal pair.

We checked the on site and off site backups. It was gone.

What? How could that have happened?

Easy. The assistant was sloppy and she had backed up the same piece of footage twice. D’oh.

I don’t blame myself for the mishap, but I do wish I would have caught on to what was going on sooner. The lesson for me in this cause is check your lined script as you are first going through your scenes, not when you are just looking for your desired shot.

Make sure your assistants are qualified. Train them. Talk to them. Don’t do their job for them, but mentor them. Luckily, this isn’t one of those shows where someone had to be fired because of it (in fact, it was a stand in substitute that just won’t get hired back again). We got along without it, but every time the director watched the episode he expressed his wish that he could just have that footage back again.

I worked with some great people and hope to talk more about the workflow someday in the future.

Summary Statement: Drawing from the ideas of Eisenstein and Pudovkin on film editing creating emotion for propaganda and Browne’s ideas of the director making a specific moral order, controlled toggle perspective involves the meaning from specific notions and clues given to the viewer by the author. The filmmaker uses editing to draw the audience into the deeper meaning and intended message of the film. A prime example is crossing line and frequency of cutting in films. The director has a vision in mind to use editing as an object to allow the viewer to emulate the position of their protagonist by throwing them into a world of frequent cuts or by playing with the reversed perspective normally not in invisible editing.  In other situations crossing the line, crossing the axis primarily established in the first shot of a scene, can be used to create deeper meaning in a film or add to the moral order, thus giving it more emotion and advertising the message.

Theoreticians: Eisenstein, Pudovkin, Browne, and Walter Murch

Practitioners: J.J. Abrams (M:I 3, Lost, Alias), Doug Liman (Bourne Identity), “24”

Buzz words/phrases: Crossing the Line, Visible Editing, Intended Visual Cues

View of text: the director, or technicians involved in the film, leaves visual clues and or cues for us to understand intended messages.

View of creator: Trace of personal touch is left in showing intended message or giving viewer a clue not available to people inside the story, but available to the viewers.

View of spectator: Abnormal filmmaking structure or design is used intentionally to grab attention of the viewer to the seriousness of the scene.

View of “reality”: There is an omniscient feeling rather than the idea of a singular eyeball seeing the action.

Beté noir: Viewer falls into unrecoverable state of confusion because of disorientation.

Determinant: Montage editing.

Transcendence? Meaning of a scene, and the overall film, depends on the personal style of the director, editor, and DP.

Danger: Director uses cuts unintentionally leading the viewer into expectations unfulfilled.

Summary Statement: Intellectual, artistic, and or experienced filmmakers use editing, to clue, cue, or invite the viewers to understand the concepts and meanings that can be revealed by paying attention.

Additional notes from 2010: I showed a clip of Click to illustrate my point. Adam Sandler goes into Bed, Bath & Beyond and then after wandering for a minute, lands on the bed in store. Bam, cross the line cut and he meets the spooky twilight zone-esque character played by Christopher Walken.

Pre Cut

Post cut

Tolerance from Post Fifth Pictures on Vimeo.

Tolerance placed at the San Diego Children’s Film Festival and the Kids First Film Festival.

The Teller’s Tale features a great cast and crew and can be read about more thoroughly at JaredRCook.com.

Watch \"The Teller\'s Tale\"

Bryce Randle worked as the first assistant editor on this film, working in HD off of the DVCPRO HD footage shot on the Vericam. Bryce also created titles for the film, cleaned up shots with his visual effects knowledge and was an additional editor after the final cut of the film was submitted from editors John Lyde & Wynn Hougaard.

Singles 2nd Ward

Violette is a dramatic short about the everyday life of a young girl who finds joy through helping a stranger. Edited by Bryce Randle, the piece was shot on 35mm film by Cole Webley of Saint Cloud Film. The short was directed by Aline Conti of Corsica, France and produced by Ashkan Memarian of Orange County.

We finished with this cut of Violette in December 2008.