Brian Emery

In this seminar, we will focus on the tools of digital editing and how they can be used to achieve the filmmaker’s desired artistic results. Weekly assignments will range from editing a simple narrative scene with limited “coverage” to more complicated work editing scenes from feature films, television, and short films. Class discussion will navigate between the ever-changing technical landscape of postproduction to more aesthetic interests that emerge from various readings, including books such as Walter Murch’s In the Blink of an Eye, Bobbie O’Steen’s The Invisible Cut, and Christopher Bowen’s Grammar of the Edit. Technical instruction will focus on media management, import and organization, utilization of keywords and smart collections, basic editing, split editing, sound editing, color correction and color grading, export, and delivery. The class will balance time between step-by-step technical demonstrations and discussion of postproduction topics and techniques, screening, and critique of student work. This is not a “conference” course and has no conference work or individual conference meeting time outside of class. There will be opportunities during class time for individual attention during some class sessions. This course requires no previous editing experience. All footage will be provided.

This course aims to guide students in editing a rough cut of a student film that they intend to picture lock, color grade, and sound mix as the core of their work for the semester. A rough cut is an opportunity for a new jumping-off point. Dailies will be re-examined for “hidden gems,” little moments that may have been filmed unexpectedly or captured between takes. A deep review of this material can help the editor fully flesh out a moment that the director may have wanted but was not fully achieved on set. Is this shot too long? Is this scene necessary? Is this emotional beat realized? The work of the editor is not to cut just to cut but often not to cut and to hold a shot.  As editor Walter Murch says, “The editor is actually making 24 decisions a second: No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No...Yes!” The aim of this class will be to do a deep-dive into an existing student project and make it as good as it can be. Students will polish a rough cut to picture lock by the midpoint of the semester so that color grading and sound mix can be the focus of the second half of the class and completed in time for the final-class screening. This is not a class that will tolerate the bulk of a student’s work to be completed at the end of the semester; rather, your work must be completed in stages over the course of the semester. Collaboration with students in other filmmaking courses will be encouraged and fostered. This is not a “conference” course and has no conference work or individual conference meeting times outside of class. There will be opportunities for individual attention during some class sessions. The class will use both Adobe Premiere and DaVinci Resolve: Premiere to edit; Resolve for color and sound. Adobe Creative Cloud subscriptions will be provided to students, and the software will be available for use in the Ziskin Digital Media Lab. The software is cross-platform and available for both Mac and PC. Students who do not have a rough cut of a film ready to cut may join the class with permission of the professor, with the aim of editing an available stock film.

In this course, we will examine the art and craft of motion-picture editing, from both an aesthetic and a practical viewpoint. We will explore how the combination and order of shots manage to convey both information and emotion. We will ask if a cut works and, if it does, why it works. Just as importantly, we will ask why a cut does not. This course will serve students pursuing editing specifically but also filmmaking in general: Editing is the language of cinema. There will be screenings of films, both professional and student work, with an emphasis on their editing style. Examples may be drawn from films such as, but not limited to, Citizen Kane, Touch of Evil, Rope, Vertigo, Jaws, The Godfather, Raging Bull, Amadeus, Requiem for a Dream, The Hurt Locker, Birdman, The Babadook, We Need to Talk About Kevin, and Arrival, among others. When possible, two different versions of a film will be shown to discuss how different editing choices affect the film’s emotional impact. We will also explore the tools of digital editing and how they can be used to achieve the filmmaker’s desired artistic results. Weekly assignments will provide students with the necessary building blocks and skill sets to see a project through from a hard drive of footage to a picture-locked film. Assignments will range from mastering assistant editing techniques to editing scenes from feature films and television, short films, as well as commercials and short documentaries. Technical instruction will focus on media management, import and organization, utilization of keywords and smart collections, basic storyline editing, split editing, sound editing, color correction, export, and delivery.

This course aims to build upon the work of the fall semester. It is expected that students will ideally have a rough cut but, at a minimum, access to a completely shot student film that they intend to edit as the core of their work for the semester. Students who did not take the fall course but who do have a film ready to cut may join the class with permission of the instructor. A rough cut is an opportunity for a new jumping off point. Dailies will be re-examined for “hidden gems,” little moments that may have been filmed unexpectedly or captured between takes. A deep review of this material can help the editor fully reveal a beat, flesh out a moment, or realize an emotion that the director may have wanted but was not fully achieved in the initial rough cut. Is this shot too long? Is this scene necessary? Is this emotional beat realized? The work of the editor is not to cut just to cut but often not to cut and to hold a shot. As editor Walter Murch says, “The editor is actually making 24 decisions a second: No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. Yes!” The aim of this class is to do a deep-dive on an existing student project and make it as good as it can be. Students will polish a rough cut to picture-lock by the end of spring break so that the color grading and sound mix can be completed in time for the final class screening. Collaboration with students in other filmmaking courses will be encouraged and fostered. Specialized guest artists will be brought in as needed and where possible to provide expertise in focused areas. For the ambitious student, conference work may include editing multiple peer filmmaking projects from other production classes, re-editing films on which a student has worked, serving as an editor on the Sarah Lawrence College Web Series project or editing other material shot previously. Students will have the opportunity to screen their current projects in class and receive feedback, which will also show the class how a project evolves and comes together through editing over the length of the semester. Class participation is critical and expected. Students in this course will primarily edit using DaVinci Resolve.

This course aims to build upon the work of the fall semester; however, it is expected that students will have a rough cut of a student film that they intend to edit as the core of their work for the semester. Students who did not take the fall course, but who do have a rough cut of a film ready to cut, may join the class with permission of the professor. A rough cut is an opportunity for a new jumping-off point. Dailies will be reexamined for “hidden gems,” little moments that may have been filmed unexpectedly or captured between takes. A deep review of this material can help the editor to fully reveal a beat, flesh out a moment, or realize an emotion that the director may have wanted but was not fully achieved in the initial rough cut. Is this shot too long? Is this scene necessary? Is this emotional beat realized? The work of the editor is not to cut just to cut but often not to cut and to hold a shot. As editor Walter Murch says, “The editor is actually making 24 decisions a second: No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. Yes!” The aim of this class will be to do a deep-dive on an existing student project and make it as good as it can be. Students will polish a rough cut to picture-lock, so that the color grading and sound mix can be completed by the end of the year. Collaboration with students in other filmmaking courses will be encouraged and fostered. Specialized guest artists will be brought in, as needed and where possible, to provide expertise in focused areas. For the ambitious student, conference work may include editing multiple peer filmmaking projects from other production classes, re-editing films on which a student has worked, serving as an editor on the Sarah Lawrence College Web series project, or editing other material shot previously. Students will have the opportunity to screen their current projects in class and receive feedback, which will also show the class how a project evolves and comes together through editing over the length of the semester.