20

Triage

► Emergency Procedures

When asked to help with the editing of a motion picture where work has already been under way for many months, film doctors often find a producer or post-supervisor who, at his wit’s end, is anxious for someone who can alleviate the pain. Yet many of these filmmakers feel that, having suffered as much as they have, they can no longer afford the time or expense that had previously been allotted. But this is the moment when it is most warranted. If the film becomes releasable in the hands of the new editor and garners a decent return, then the producers will be more than compensated for the cost of the intervention. In any case, the skittish producer or director may ask for a trial period, such as two weeks.

Two Weeks

What can an editor do in two weeks? And what if, as is sometimes the case on low-budget indie films, the budget cannot support an extended editing period? How can the editor make the best of an exceedingly short assignment and still benefit the production? Think of this as the triage period. These are the emergency moments when a life hangs in the balance. Of course, as we need to remind ourselves when things get too intense, filmmaking is not generally a life-or-death profession.

Any good doctor knows that prescribing medicine before carefully diagnosing an ailment can lead to disaster. The same applies to film editing. It takes a certain amount of patience and understanding to properly diagnose an ailing scene, sequence, or film. Since we’re all used to watching movies, the viewer initially may respond by unconsciously filling in the gaps for her- or himself. If it seems that the good guy is too exposed as he runs from a barrage of automatic weapon fire, escaping without a scratch, the viewer may tell himself, “It’s hard to hit a moving target” or some other justification. But movies are not intellectual exercises. Movies move. The editor must become the audience—an extremely discriminating audience—and supply the answers by way of the edit.

In triage situations, such as the ER, a series of basic procedures are enacted. Vitals are taken, the patient is stabilized, any bleeding is stopped, and breathing is restored. For the editor, these first moments can hold the greatest promise. The initial screening when he or she is asked to offer an opinion is the purest. It is the best chance to perceive the problems. Your first instincts are usually correct. The editor asks herself, “At what point did I become confused?” “Why does the character do that there? Wouldn’t he do it earlier?” And so on. Like an ER doctor, the editor has a set of examinations to perform and operations to follow.

In discussing his reediting of Red Dawn (2012), Richard Pearson mentioned how it first became necessary “to stabilize the film.” The director wanted someone who had nothing to do with the script, someone who could come at it with no preconceptions. Even though the previous cuts were quite good, there were structural and character issues that first had to be resolved. When taking on a new patient, Pearson first watches the entire film, mindful of his initial impressions. Then he looks at all the deleted scenes, manufactures some new moments, and sometimes requests additional photography. “I think of that as aligning the spine of the patient. There are pieces that need to be aligned to make sure you have proper story and character traction, that everything is tracking,” he explains. Once the patient is stabilized, the editor can delve into more specific or detailed work.¹

Symptoms

As in medical triage, start by looking for symptoms such as confusion, slow gait, lack of interest, lack of affect. In many triage cases it is advisable to begin at the beginning … and at the ending. Concentrate on the opening and closing scenes. Most likely, the film got off on the wrong foot, and this misstep in pace, rhythm, character, or structure has rippled through the entire work. In some cases the ending has little bearing on the beginning. Or maybe it’s not in tune with the expectations set up by the particular genre.

The tracking of the plot, the characters’ emotional journeys, and their arcs are typical areas where issues arise. Is the story obtuse, meandering, or confusing? Is the structure predictable and excessively linear? Are the characters’ personalities reflected in the choice of shots? If time and cost are the primary issues, an inventive and insightful editor can help diminish damage and enhance the health of a cut by attending to these immediate story considerations.

A primary culprit here is the lack of focus on the main character. Films that begin with a variety of characters where each is given fairly equal treatment lose interest because the audience has no one in particular with whom to connect. If there are multiple stories afoot, such as in Babel (2006), Crash (2004), or Traffic (2000), those stories and their characters need to be broken out into separate chapters. But usually there’s one main character and his antagonist who need to be clearly represented. If this is established early on and the audience is clear whom they’re supposed to be watching, it will help clarify much of the later material.

Fully realizing a damaged ending may take more time than is allotted, but a couple of quick fixes can help alleviate some of the suffering. One of the more common dilemmas occurs in multiple or wrong endings. By revisiting the story’s opening, the editor discovers the original story conflict that needed resolution by the film’s end. If the ending does not bear a relationship to the issues raised in the beginning, there is probably something wrong. Also, if at an earlier point the protagonist’s problem or need has been overcome, then everything that happens after that point is probably superfluous and can be cut. Or else the resolution of the problem needs to be delayed.

Looking in the opposite direction, one discovers unfocused or sloppy openings. Remember, the first image that appears on the screen sets the tone for the whole movie. Beginning with a less than riveting shot or series of shots can damage what follows. Think thematically. Locate shots that reinforce the film’s overall meaning and visual concept. Never be arbitrary.

Pacing is a major issue that can be helped in a matter of weeks but usually takes much longer to fully realize throughout the entire film. Trimming here and there will accelerate a stalled pace and contribute to overall interest. A word of caution: Unless the time allows, a shot-by-shot recut for pacing of the opening scenes can sometimes hinder the overall film’s perceived momentum. The contrast of a well-conceived, energetically paced opening that after several scenes slams into the preexisting condition of a tired and plodding middle only exacerbates the problem.

Audio Issues

As with humans, the film may initially respond to technical intervention. Video and audio issues can damage otherwise workable scenes. Don’t underestimate the effect that poor sound has on the overall picture. Humans are sensitive to sound and react to inappropriate or inaccurate sound effects, as well as sounds that are too prominent or too faint. Who likes to be yanked out of a pleasant dream by a sonic boom or a hand shaking one’s shoulder? Bad sound has this effect. Listen for overmodulated or excessively low sound, dropouts, and misplaced audio. Carefully checking the audio meters as well as evaluating the subjective hearing experience through high-quality monitors will help fix this problem. In dialogue a common error occurs when the beginning or end of a word is cut off or the beginning of a new sentence is left hanging with nothing to accompany it.

In terms of dialogue, it is crucial to hear it. Though this may seem obvious, it is not always the case. Ensuring clarity often means something as basic as adjusting the volume. If the original sound was recorded too low, the volume may be deficient even with the audio mix tool maxed out at 12. In this case it is possible to push it further by altering the scale to allow more headroom (see Tech Note). Most nonlinear editing systems give multiple options for adjusting volume, including a sound mixer, keyframing, and an in-track volume bar.

If music plays behind the dialogue, it may require lowering the music to allow the dialogue to come through. The inclination to push the dialogue up in order to overpower the music tends to multiply the signal and produce a loud, even noisy mix. When effects are added as well, sounds that were originally clean and audible by themselves become distorted.

Also, the sudden absence of sound, particularly where an MOS shot is left without filling in the ambience, can be disconcerting to an audience. Though not always apparent on a conscious level, these flaws and inconsistencies create an unconscious disturbance in an audience.

In the past, editors did not usually mix the audio themselves. Even for a temp dub the film required the skills of sound editors or, at minimum, rerecording engineers working with 35 mm single- or fullcoat sound film on multiple rolls corresponding to each reel of the picture. Today, both Avid and Premiere offer up to a hundred individual audio tracks (though not all can be monitored at once), along with sophisticated audio tools that allow equalization, filters, compression, and so on. Avid, the proprietor of ProTools—the state-of-the-art sound editing system—links to some of the most powerful audio tools in the industry.

As the editor builds his picture cut he can assemble multiple effects and music tracks, and modify them through an audio mixer or by the use of keyframes. In this way the temp dub is carried along with the picture cut and updated on each subsequent version, available to be laid off at any time.

Filters and equalization tools also allow an opportunity to clean up tracks that may be hampered by noise such as a fluorescent hum that, occurring around 60 Hz, can be notched out. The sound packages also give the opportunity to enhance the reality by futzing a voice through a telephone or loudspeaker.

Not only do sound volume and clarity make a significant impact on the life of a film but also placement. Anything out of sync is going to call attention to itself and distract the audience. But careless placement also plays a significant role. In this case the culprit might be a music cue that ends a couple shots too early. Or a temp cue that is merely chopped off rather than music edited so its natural ending occurs at an appropriate point in the film. When all else fails, however, the simple inclusion of a prominent sound, such as an explosion, a door slam, or a gunshot, can cover the awkward end to a music cue. The introduction of this new audio information takes sudden precedence over the music. By the time the new sound has culminated, the audience has forgotten about the previous music.

► Video Ills

Similarly, video presents an inherent set of issues to be considered. If the color and density continuously shift within a scene, the viewer may unconsciously get the impression that the scene is ending and a new one is beginning. Footage that is not properly rendered or is incompatible creates jumps or hesitations that pull the viewer out of the story. Anything that does not directly pertain to the story and characters or overall style becomes a distraction that invites the audience to remove themselves from the film. In that way, placing banners or other nonessential on-screen notations in a rough cut interrupts the viewer’s involvement in the film. Where the editor feels the need to make notes, Avid’s marker system allows an easy, unobtrusive way to hide reminders throughout the timeline.

Alterations in color and density also harm the perception of a cut. No matter how smooth the editing may be, when a shot that is too green and bright is placed directly next to a shot that is too red and dark, the seamless feel of the movie is interrupted. Taking advantage of the color correction tools on most professional nonlinear editing systems helps alleviate this problem.

Tech Note

Over the years the question of the perfect tape splice has been debated. Since each 35 mm film frame is four perforations (abbreviated: perf) in length, the placement of the tape on the film determines how much or little of the splice the audience will see when it’s projected onto a 40-foot screen, where any irregularities, including bubbles and dust, grow into gigantic monsters. The debate hinged on whether two-perf, four-perf, or eight-perf splices (Figure 20.1) were the least intrusive. To this editor, the eight-perf splice proved best.

The eight-perf splice with its strength, along with the fact that it needed to be placed on only one side of the film, the celluloid side, and that it covered the entire A side and the B side of the cut, made it perfect for exhibiting a rough cut. Its only disadvantages were that it captured microscopic bubbles that had to be removed, and if the film found its way back to the editing bench, it was harder to break open the splices for further trims. On the other end of the spectrum appeared the Inviso splice, which placed tape on both sides of the film but outside the 1.85 aspect ratio, making it virtually invisible. Unfortunately, it would often fail after the initial screening, exposing the adhesive and making the film catch as it unspooled. The standard two-perf splice was more obvious since it produced a tape line on the top and bottom of the screen when projected. The other effective splice, which didn’t require back-splicing on the film’s opposite side, was the four-perf. Though it could be seen, the fact that two-perfs extended into the A side and two perfs into the B side of the splice meant that a faint line appeared briefly in the middle of the frame. This was much less distracting than the animation of a line jumping from the top to the bottom of the frame.

Figure 20.1 Various types of splices

The actions described in this chapter will quickly help stem the bleeding and put a film on the path to good health. Generally, however, it takes longer to proceed from what would be a quick polish to a full restructuring and renewal. With the speed of nonlinear editing, however, it is more likely today to accomplish a reasonable facelift in a short period of time. What might not necessarily occur are the deeper discoveries and realizations that materialize when one lives with a film and its director for an extended period of time. These are the kind of realizations that separate truly profound work from everyday productions.