Creating a Short Film: 08 Editing

Course details

Learn what it actually takes to create a short film—from the brainstorming stage, all the way until opening night. Each installment of the 13-part Creating a Short Film series focuses on different aspects of the production workflow. Here, filmmaker Chad Perkins focuses on editing, providing real-world context by showing how the concepts highlighted in the course were applied in the making of The Assurance, the short film featured throughout the series. Chad starts with the basics of the editing workflow. He then goes over fundamental techniques, including how to select the right take, create a montage, and determine when to cut. Plus, learn how to reframe shots, create a rough cut, make rolling end credits, export shots, render for film festivals and theatrical screenings, and much more.

Learning objectives
Telling stories with edits
Syncing audio and video
Matching eyelines
Knowing when not to cut
Controlling the pacing
Controlling emotion with shot size
Working with audio
Creating a rough cut
Creating end credits
Rendering and output

Concepts

0. Introduction

01 - About this training series
02 - The Assurance
03 - Introduction to this course

1. Understanding Film Editing

04 - Telling stories with edits
05 - The history of film editing
06 - The editing workflow

2. Preparing to Edit

07 - Offloading footage
08 - Organizing footage
09 - Syncing audio and video

3. In the Beginning

10 - Understanding the script
11 - Finding an editing workflow
12 - Understanding timecode
13 - Working with high-frame-rate media

4. Editing Basics

14 - Selecting the right take
15 - Respecting screen direction
16 - Matching eye lines
17 - Understanding the 180-degree line
18 - Crossing the 180-degree line
19 - Creating a montage
20 - Creating an assembly edit

5. The Art of Editing

21 - Knowing when to cut
22 - Knowing when not to cut
23 - Cutting vs. using transitions
24 - Matching action
25 - Controlling the pacing
26 - Using establishing shots
27 - Including reaction shots
28 - Controlling emotion with shot size

6. Working with Audio

29 - Organizing audio tracks
30 - Working with multiple sync streams
31 - Editing dialog
32 - Utilizing room tone
33 - Editing voiceovers
34 - Cutting on plosives
35 - Editing at the sample level
36 - Cutting to a temp score

7. Refining the Edit

37 - Using J and L cuts
38 - Following the focal point
39 - Reframing shots
40 - Creating a rough cut
41 - Declaring picture lock

8. Creating End Credits

42 - Giving credit on your film
43 - Making rolling end credits
44 - Using higher frame rates for end credits

9. Editing The Assurance

45 - Intro to our rough cut
46 - The Assurance rough cut
47 - Evaluating our rough cut
48 - Re-editing The Assurance
49 - Removing significant things

10. Exporting to Other Processes

50 - Preparing to export
51 - Burning in timecode
52 - Exporting the edit to a colorist
53 - Exporting the edit to a sound designer
54 - Exporting the edit to a composer
55 - Exporting shots for visual effects

11. Rendering and Output

56 - Doing intermediate renders
57 - Rendering for film festivals
58 - Rendering for theatrical screenings
59 - Rendering to DVD and Blu-ray
60 - Rendering for the web
61 - Rendering a master to archive

Conclusion

62 - Becoming a better editor
63 - Previewing the next course
64 - Final thoughts