Non-Linear Video Editing Self Taught – 2001
- Posted on 23rd August 2016
- in Entertainment, entertainment books, Final Cut Pro, Hollywood memoirs, New York City, Video Editing, Video Production, Video Production & Editing
- by Ben
“Non-Linear” is the descriptive for
video editing
in a computer, it’s a kinda self-defining moniker. Video editing on tape and (especially) film editing were both linear processes whereby you put your movie together in procedural A to B to C steps. Video editing with software – in my case Apple’s Final Cut Pro (FCP) – allows you to manipulate your footage in a multitude of (non destructive) ways and not only save everything (the non destructive aspect) but to see it all instantly. You need a lot of practice to get good at it.
Here’s a video editing excerpt from Waiting for Elizabeth.
“My next challenge was to set about learning more of the capabilities of FCP. Reading about it was insufficient. I needed to create a project on which to experiment. Back in March I’d had a shoot for Joe, the ice sculptor, when he did an installation for the opening of the Del Frisco Steakhouse, an upscale restaurant on Sixth Avenue near Radio City. Not your usual carved-in-ice representations of real life, these pieces were abstract; both frivolous and powerful. I had not done an edit of the footage … so this seemed good material to use for a self-training exercise.
“Music was always my starting point for an artistic edit. By ‘artistic’ I mean free of agenda, a piece created for the sheer joy of doing it and the pleasure of watching it. And in this case the additional reason was learning how to use my new tools. I selected a five minute chunk out of the middle of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, a performance by Andre Previn. To me it’s the quintessential New York concerto.
“Anyhow I puttered around with the piece for a couple of weeks when I wasn’t busy with paying jobs. I’d envision some look I wanted then play around with the FCP bells and whistles until I figured out how to do what I had envisioned. It soon became apparent that the ice footage wasn’t sufficient alone to get the feel the music gave me so I looked through other stuff I had, found this and that and kept on tweaking. Looking back I really have no idea how long I worked on the piece but I learned a lot and ended up with something I was proud of.
“A couple of years later I recut the piece to a performance by my Hollywood High pal, Lincoln Mayorga and the Moscow Symphony. Interestingly the overall lengths of the two renditions were within one second of each other but internally the phrasing was quite different, hence the editorial rhythm adjustment. What surprised me was that after working with FCP for two years and many, many edits I made virtually no changes – other than the aforementioned rhythm – in the edit. Here is a sample of Rhapsody in Ice.
Video Editing: Rhapsody in Ice
“In May I sent a copy to Joe and [his girlfriend/assistant] Nora and became the aloof Joe’s New Best Friend. Over the next three months they ordered over $1,200 worth of dubs [still VHS then] for use as publicity pieces. And I was invited to their 4th of July East River Fireworks watching party. …
“They lived and worked in a loft in DUMBO – an acronym for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass – in Brooklyn and had a clear view of Macy’s annual spectacular pyrotechnic display. I decided to ride my bike. Seemed a good idea at the time but when I got to the Brooklyn Bridge the pedestrian/bicycle path was closed because of the fireworks. Say what you will about ‘New York’s Finest’ but we have the most reasonable guardians of the law of any city I’ve ever seen. You can talk to a NYC Cop and they will listen. After cursorily being denied access to said passageway I explained my situation including the fact that there was no other way I could reach my destination. When my request was passed up the chain of command to the sergeant I was allowed to ride across the closed bridge.
“After consuming copious quantities of cannabis, charcoal-charred burgers and beer… my bike ride home that night was fraught with peril due to my own – and the throngs of pedestrians on the bridge and streets’ – chemically altered states of consciousness. My Guardian Angels must have been on the case because I arrived home pooped but unscathed.”
Lots more video editing adventures await when you click here and get Waiting for Elizabeth.
Tags: Brooklyn Bridge, FinalCutPro, Ice Sculpture, Lincoln Mayorga, Non-Linear Video Editing
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