Chapter 33 Editing

"This is the last reel, and the audio and video synchronization of the film has been processed." Ronald breathed a sigh of relief.

After a day's rest, Ronald returned to the editing room and spent more than ten days synchronizing the sound and picture. Finally, together with two female colleagues, he synchronized 120,000 feet of film and tape.

Fortunately, the main shots of the entire film were shot with a single camera, so it was easier to find the slate images and sounds.

Only the explosion scene was shot with two cameras. It was very difficult to synchronize the film and sound, so Ronald had to find two female assistants to help him.

Larry, a veteran editor, has been working on the editing machine with the two directors for several days. While their assistants were waiting for the audio and video synchronization to be completed, they began editing the film.

Of course this is to save time and streamline operations.

These days, Ronald often saw them operating the huge editing machine on the other side of the room, which made him want to go and watch.

He finally got the chance today.

When he walked to the corner where the two directors were working, he heard a rumbling noise. An old Moviola editing machine, like a heavy sewing machine, was sitting on the ground. The gear transmission made a loud rumbling sound, coupled with the sound of film reeling, it looked like a giant beast.

There were three people gathered in front, discussing something. Allen, who was 2 meters tall, stood in front of the machine, and Joe Dante was talking to Allan while touching his hair. Editor Larry was waiting for their decision.

"Let's change the film for this shot," Allen instructed Larry.

Ronald hurried forward to help Larry move the film, learn how to load the film and audio tape into the machine, and lock the mortise and tenon. Director Allan flipped the switch to forward gear and stepped on a pedal.

"Boom...clack..." The sewing...editing machine started up. Ronald heard the sound of hitting the plate. Director Allan stared at a small piece of frosted glass above the machine, inside which was a projection of the film. Only Allan and Joe Dante standing next to him could see it clearly.

"The screen is so small, I can't see anything..." Ronald was a little frustrated and stepped back to observe their discussion. Occasionally, he continued to help carry the films and tapes.

Allan stared at the frosted glass screen and stepped on the stop pedal. Then he opened a hatch and made a mark on the film with a pen. "Come and take a look," he stood up and gave way to Joe Dante.

Joe Dante stepped forward, flipped the switch to reverse, rewound the film, flipped the switch back to normal, and stepped on the start pedal.

"Snap!" Joe Dante also pressed the stop button and opened the hatch. Then he cranked the handle and looked back and forth a few spaces and saw the mark made by Allen.

This shows that they both have the same judgment: "Yes, I feel that this time we should cut it here as well."

Editor Larry stepped forward, pulled a guillotine-like handle, and cut the film and tape with a snap.

"Ronald, collect the cut films and record the numbers." This is Joe Dante, teaching himself how to work again.

Ronald hurried forward and carefully packed the cut films and recordings in a plastic bag. Then he took a large workbook on the table, wrote down the numbers of the cuts, and placed the cut films and recordings in the filing box in order.

The films used for editing are specially developed by the photo processing factory. Each frame has a unique number. These cut films and tapes need to be carefully recorded and preserved.

The job of an assistant editor is so boring. Ronald can't see the image, and he doesn't know why the director made such an edit. Why did he cut here instead of there?

He can only archive the cuts, like a coroner.

After working for a few hours, Ronald felt quite bored, so he took out his newly bought Stanley stainless steel thermos, poured some hot black tea he had prepared in advance into the cup lid, and started drinking.

The aroma of black tea attracted the two directors and the editor, and everyone looked over. So Ronald went to get some disposable paper cups and poured a cup for everyone, and everyone took the opportunity to sit down and rest.

"Ronald, how does your new job feel?" Joe Dante asked with a smile while drinking his tea.

"It's a bit mechanical, to be honest, and I don't quite understand editing yet."

"It's simple," Joe put down the cup, pulled Ronald to the Moviola editing machine, "Look here." Then, he turned on the switch.

Ronald leaned his head forward and saw the frosted glass on the observation window, reflecting the film image like a small TV. The synchronized sound was read by the magnetic head, converted into electrical signals, and restored to sound in the speaker.

"Then step here," Joe instructed Ronald to step on the stop pedal.

With a snap, the image on the frosted glass froze.

Then, Joe Dante opened a small window in the middle of the machine. "This is the same frame you saw on the frosted glass."

Ronald bent down and compared the two images, nodding his head in understanding.

Then you make a mark with a pen. Joe pulled the guillotine over and motioned to Ronald, "Just press it, the film will be cut, and the audio tape here will also be cut at the same place."

"That's the meaning of your work in sync with the audio and the picture. When we edit, we only need to look at the picture and don't have to worry about the sound. Or vice versa."

Ronald nodded repeatedly, looked around at the editing machine, tried it twice, and reluctantly got off the machine.

The design of this machine is quite clever. When a person stands next to it, his eyes are aimed at the frosted glass, and under his feet are two start and stop pedals, which are similar to the accelerator and brake of a car.

"Cut the pieces and connect them with the connectors. You already know how to use them."

"The film numbers at both ends must be recorded," said editor Larry.

Ronald quickly took the work record book and walked forward to write down the number.

After drinking tea, director Allan, editor Larry, and Joe Dante started editing again. The three of them played the film back and forth, then discussed a cut point, cut it, and asked Ronald to record it. Everyone gradually cooperated tacitly.

However, the efficiency of editing has not increased much. Editing is typically a slow and meticulous job. Every decision must be watched and discussed repeatedly.

Sometimes, we would find that something that had already been edited was not right, so we had to take out the cut parts and connect them and then edit it again.

Whenever this happened, Ronald would step forward, carefully peel off the transparent tape on the editing point, then check the work records to find the cut footage, and then use transparent tape to restore the film and tape.

This went on over and over again, and by the end of the day, Allen had only edited about 10 shots.

Ronald calculated that a 90-minute feature film would have about 400 shots, so it would take a month to edit. In addition to the sound mixing, it would take more than March to complete the editing of the entire film.

Preview, playback, discussion, editing, ...

As time went by, the film took shape day by day. At each editing point, the director made sure the transition was natural.

That morning, it was almost lunchtime. The editing team finally got to the scene Ronald was in charge of shooting. Director Allan specifically asked Ronald to come forward to learn how to find the editing point.

"Once you start, just when you feel the need to cut the shot, press the stop pedal. Don't think about anything else; just rely on your intuition." Joe Dante began to teach on the spot again.

Ronald rubbed his hands and stood in front of the editing machine impatiently.

Looking through the frosted glass, a relatively dim picture comes into view.

This shot is of Riff and Kate, two best friends who were punished by the principal to stay in school. The two comfort each other in the sunset and slowly walk towards it.

Ronald still remembers that this was the last shot he took. He was very proud of the shot and put a lot of thought into the use of light. At first, he used direct light to express the friendship between the two besties, and then used backlight to create the outline light.

The contour light is also called the Jesus light. It diffuses a circle of golden light around a person's hair, and the lens is very poetic.

This is the best shot I have ever taken.

After playing the video several times, Ronald was completely immersed in his footage. When he felt that his two best friends had walked for about the same amount of time, he stepped on the stop pedal.

Then he picked up a pen and made a mark on the frame where the film stopped. Ronald stepped back, cleared the camera, and asked Director Allan to come forward to check.

Allan also came. This shot was not difficult to edit, just leave enough time for the two people to move forward in the sunset.

After pressing the stop pedal, Allan also picked up a pen and made a mark. Then he cranked the handle and began to look back and forth for the mark Ronald had made. Very good. The director's choice of editing point was only ten frames different from mine, less than half a second. This shows that the two of them had the same judgment on the editing point of the shot.

Ronald was a little happy that the first edit seemed to be correct.

"Very good, Ronald, you do have some talent. Joe, come and see too." Allen admired Ronald very much.

It was Joe Dante's turn to watch. He rewound the film a little bit and then played it again. "Hiss, this shot..."

"What's wrong, Joe? Is there anything wrong with the editing points chosen by Ronald?" Alan asked curiously.

"Tsk," Joe Dante rewound the film further and asked Alan to come forward and "look from here."

"Well, there seems to be something wrong. You're right, Joe."

Alan called the editor Larry again and said, "Take a look at this part."

Ronald was a little puzzled. He didn't notice any problems when he was shooting himself or when he was showing the sample films.

"Is there something wrong with the way I shot it? Was it not right?" Ronald asked.

The shooting of low-cost films is often rushed, and it is common for any bloopers in props, scenes, shooting, and sample footage to be discovered during editing without being noticed.

Ronald was a little worried. This was the best shot he had taken, not counting the scenes in his dreams. Could something have gone wrong?

"It's not a mistake, Ronald, come and see."

Larry pulled him in front of the Moviola editing machine and rewound the video one minute. "Play it all over again from here. Do you find any problems?"