Film editing

The participants of the "Animated Debate" project have never before dealt with film editing. Therefore, before it was started, we had conducted the conversations about the art of picture story - telling. We analyzed the particular, subsequent phases of work with the film and the applicable means of expressions with their functions. All theories were supported by the practical examples, going from the practice to the theory - this way of work reached the workshop participants in the most relevant way.
We talked about it that to make a viewer interested with a story that we want to tell them, it is necessary to change the set (size - scale) in which a particular situation/picture is taken (filmed). In this case, the theory was illustrated by putting together the drawings of the pencil storyboard in different configurations. Rearranging the pieces of paper is a simple, but efficient method of showing the role of editing in a film.
Using the example of the part of the storyboard, we can see how important is the order of takes. If we see the row of the faces near the window, the face of a Little Shoemaker, and later bees in the window and over the women's heads, all as the first frame, we will obtain the effect of anxiety and we will say that a Little Shoemaker was watching how the bees came through the window and attacked the women.
If we change the order of takes and the frame with women comes first, and then coming bees over the women's heads and the surprised face of a Little Shoemaker appear, it suggests that the bees came in with a defined purpose.

Storyboards Comparison

In the same way we could discuss the role of "directions" - the important element of the film language. The direction shows for example, from which side of the frame a character should enter and leave, so that the impression of him/her going somewhere was created; also the directions makes the rules for the directions of looks, so that the people whose close-ups are edited one after another, look at each other.
If the horses shown in the example go right, we know that they go in the same direction and they go together. If they go in the opposite directions, we suggest that they diverge.

Storyboards Comparison

During making the colourful storyboard, we paid special attention to the after-effects of colours. Their continuity or the counterpoint was analyzed by comparing the changeability of colours on the subsequent drawings.

"Hercules" storyboard

The storyboard was always the fundamental point of reference during making the animated scenes of the film. We used in both its computer (scanned drawings) and drawing version. The storyboard was treated as the base of all information about the film. It was not the instructor who was responsible for what the decorations should look like, where the character should come from, what takes should be still done. The answer was always in the storyboard.
In case of our animated films, the order of scenes and takes as well as the majority of effects which would result from the editing, was already planned in the phase of the storyboard.

"The Pansies" storyboard

That is why editing was limited to the import of recorded motion phases, determining the appropriate time, arranging the takes in a planned order, and combining them together.

The examples shown below illustrate how to import the frames which were created during the animation to the editing programme. The films show what the animation where the frame lasts
a) one second
b) 1/20 second looks like. There one can see that the proper animation, that is one where we cannot see the separate frames, but we do see the motion, is the animation where the phase of motion lasts for example 1/20 second.

the work demonstration

a/ final effect
b/ final efect

Next, the computer "counted" the planned effects, that is it did everything which had been planned in the editing programme. All editing (film editing) programmes are fundamentally different than regular computer programmes. If we write in a word processor and we save our work, then we can see the ready text in any time. If we make some changes in the image editing programme, regarding the colour or the size of the photography, and we save the work results, then the photography will be ready.

Things are different while working on the picture and sound editing, here we work on the "image" of our film, but not on the ready film. It is as if we first made the plan of what we would like to achieve as the final result in this programme. When the work plan is ready, here comes the time for "counting" (rendering) - the computer does what we have planned and it saves it as the final result. Only then we can say that the film is ready, we can watch it and evaluate the produced animation.

If the animation lacked stops (that is the characters moved without any pause, for example to underline the look), then the time of this motion phase had to be lengthen. In case of electronic editing it is very easy.

If a character moved too quickly or to slowly, it was obligatory to change the lasting time of all frames. But in case of the evident mistakes in characters or objects' animation the whole animation had to be changed.

The ready takes could be brightened, dimmed, or colour correction could be made.

the work demonstration

The film projection without the sound was the test of its legibility. Such projections took place after each scene production. And always there was an accompanying discussion about the accuracy of used means of expression (film sets, the pace of characters' motion). After watching and approving all orderly arranged scenes, it was possible to think about the sound - add sound effects and music.

the work demonstration

Next, one had to work out the content of the initial and final credits

the work demonstration

Good practice, both for the instructors, as well as for the workshop participants, is watching a part of a feature film without the sound for several times. Only then we can perceive the editing cuts, the planned lengths of takes, the use of sets or camera motions. Next, it is worth seeing the same film, but with the sound - then the meaning of the sound in a film can be analyzed. Such practice was a necessary break for us during the often monotonous work on animation.

In the film assumptions of the "Animated Debate" project, editing was to be simple, linear, and based on a few elements (fading in, dissolving, sharp cut, and fading out). We knew it was perfectly sufficient to obtain the intended result. Because it is the simplicity and creative discipline (imposed limits) which are most frequently the source of the correct story-telling, not only with the picture.

- the demonstration of fading in
- the demonstration of dissolving
- the demonstration of sharp cut
- the demonstration of fading out

The fact that editing in case of the animated film is so easy does not exempt us from learning its basic rules, because good editing is undoubtedly art.

Film editing in practice