Cutting Takes

Film Duration Limitation Issue

In the process of making the film more concise, my editor, sound designer, and I came to the conclusion that the issue was more than a few long takes in the film, but rather too much of an extensive plot for a one-minute comedy. We had a misconception of how long it would take to include our ideas. Even though they were all mainly short takes, it added up nonetheless! So, we had to convey our storyline differently based on what we had filmed.

Still from a scene we took out of the film that was intended to introduce the first opponent, with her expressing confusion on how to play the game. One-shots like this one were meant to contrast with the other opponent's confidence in the game, but the story was able to manage without scenes purposed to reveal character personalities.

Still from a scene cut out from the film, where opponent 2 is introduced as he talks on the phone and stares at opponent 1 (the confused girl) playing chess. This shot was also disregarded because the lighting was too strong on our actor.

Still from another scene that was removed from the film. Here, an over-the-shoulder tracking shot was attempted to capture the first meeting between the opponents.

How the Plot Changed

My role as director is to oversee the production process from all its dimensions and maintain the vision of the film. But, I was not able to do this entirely. While looking over my editor's progress with making a rough cut, it was apparent how many scenes he had to remove to make the film fit a minute. These removed scenes were put in to introduce each character's persona; a girl who has no clue how to play chess versus a smug chess expert. The first half of the film at first consisted of one-shots of the girl appearing confused and scared of her opponent and reaction one-shots of the chess expert laughing at her. However, this made the introduction too lengthy and my editor decided to remove the reaction shots, walk-up scene, and other clips from the film.

My job was to aid my editor in telling the same storyline but with the remaining clips. So, we looked over the film and focused on filling any gaps the audience may have with a single handshake scene. We realized this clip would allow the audience to establish the characters as 'opponents' in a simple and fast way. The girl reaches out for a first bump, but the boy proceeds with a handshake. It is the hesitation from the girl exhibited thereafter that we agreed still gave the idea that he intimidates her.

The handshake scene we decided would serve as the introduction of the opponents in a more concise way without any additional shots.

Due to removing the scenes purposed to display the characters' opposite personalities, when the girl has her 'comeback' scene, it is not easily inferred as one. This is because the scenes portraying her as 'nervous' and 'losing the game' were taken out. Had I had a better perception of time throughout the filming process, I would have ensured that we altered the beginning of the film to increase the clarity and humorous effects of her losing the game at first and suddenly taking the win. Regardless, we learned from this experience and moved forward with my sound designer so that the editing changes could be made up for with shifts in music (classical music as they play versus rock and roll music when the girl has a comeback and wins the game). 

Keep or Delete

Definitive Takes

After doing some editing research and making sure every clip was accounted for and sent to my editor for review, the next step was to create a rough draft of the film. To do this, my editor compiled all the clips from the film in the order they would go in if every take was used. This video was over four minutes long because it included most takes and was not trimmed tightly just yet, but brought the film to life for the first time. Watching this video as the director worried me. The plot we created for our film would take beyond a minute to portray and needed major revisions, but I put this concern aside and focused on simply choosing with my group what clips should be used if we did follow our original storyline, and go from there.

Screenshot of the duration of the film once all takes were put together, at a whopping 3 minutes over the maximum time allowed for this short film.

Breakdown of Bloopers and Choosing Takes

The genre we wanted our film to represent was comedy and during filming, we had so much fun — creating a lot of room for bloopers and many repeated takes. But some were actually left in the film, as many comedies do to produce a genuine comedic reaction from their actors. Besides reviewing bloopers when creating our rough cut, the decision to use a successful take over another one was based on our perception of how the cinematography looked, how our actors presented themselves, and most of all the contribution it had to the film itself. Takes that did not fulfill all three of these principles were cut out of the film.

An apparent blooper where we struggled to remain serious while shooting the film. This scene was meant to depict the meeting of the characters to introduce them as opponents, which we later decided could be implied from other scenes and discarded this exposition entirely.

Another failed take where our actors were unprepared. During the editing process, blooper takes were the first to be removed, but were still reviewed in the case of a possible trim resolving the point of error or if they created a comedic effect unintentionally, such as this one. The second take of this scene was used since we learned from the mistakes from the previous take.

However, some footage required discussion; here is take 1 of a specific gameplay move that we wanted the second opponent to portray as her "comeback" to winning.

We were not confident to use this take because of the chess piece hitting the camera. This was intentionally done to increase dramatic effects but was very quick and may not be perceived that way by the audience. The comedy genre utilizes unrealistic, dramatic actions and although this was an intense movement, we felt like we could do better to add more significance of the player's comeback.

Take 2 of the same gameplay but exhibited at a higher energy level, resulting in the surrounding game pieces to fall over from the hit.

This take was the one we decided to incorporate into the film because it creates more humor than the first take for its obvious gameplay dramatization. We also wanted to have slowed-down shots in the film and the fall of the chess pieces coincides with this effect.

Further Cut Outs

Choosing one take for every scene still left the film on overtime, so my group and I communicated what scenes we felt were unnecessary to convey the same narrative. My editor made several videos from this feedback, some versions without certain scenes and others with it to see how it comes together as a whole. This helped me as a director to have influence in the editing process, being able to add suggestions to what could be shortened more and see a variation of how the storyline can be presented instead of just one. He also expressed to me that the cuts looked choppy and the story did not flow at the beginning for this reason, so we pondered removing the introduction and adding fade transitions between the clips that contrasted heavily with one another to increase the cohesiveness of the film. Overall, these conversations as a group helped us create a rough draft we all approved of and were happy with as a midpoint for the post-production film progress.

It's a Wrap

Post-Production Journey

Filming pick-ups went smoothly and now that filming is over, editing has become the top priority for my group. We decided to distribute the clips using our iPhone's AirDrop feature as a quick way for us to view the footage. The purpose of doing this was to allow all of us to go over the clips my editor would be working with. We collaborated with my editor outside of our meeting periods; helping to comment specifically on what clips should stay in the film and what is unnecessary by having all the footage on our own devices. 

Implementing Editing Tips 

To develop a general knowledge of editing, I watched a "Beginning's Guide to Video Editing" video that my instructor recommended. This video was highly informational for the organizational style it suggested and for giving an overview of basic editing tools.

The video I watched to provide me with the basic fundamentals of editing. 

"A-Roll" was used to group headshots together and "B-Roll" for footage of objects and landscapes. To review the film clearly, this method proved beneficial. I created two albums titled with the same terms and separated the footage based on what was being shown so that the next step of editing (deciding on definitive takes) could be done with ease.

The albums I created to divide the clips according to whether characters or objects are being shown.

When discussing reaction shots of the film's characters with my group, I could open the album titled "A-roll" and find these clips neatly grouped away from the rest of the film, isolating certain scenes to discuss with my group for revision. Looking back, this is something I wish we had done earlier as we reviewed the film throughout production days. Once editing began on the first day back, I realized some of our reaction shots had auto-focus on after production had already wrapped up and I think by grouping shots this way, we would have noticed this error from having the reaction shots side by side and done them again. Nonetheless, I learned how important it is to group film this way during the process of not just editing, but production periods going forward as a filmmaker. 

Another editing tip discussed in the video was to edit scenes backward; putting the last takes of a scene first instead of how it was filmed (chronological order). This thought process here is that if we redid takes for a scene multiple times, the last one tends to be the one we put the most effort into because of the learning growth experienced in the takes beforehand, therefore they are usually the definitive takes. I was able to rule out takes more quickly with my group and compare the same scene done in various takes more efficiently. To support my editor as director, educating myself on editing techniques, no matter how basic, developed my understanding of his role to work better alongside him and sustain the vision we originally had for the film during this editing process.

Film Crew Synergy

Proactivity as a Group

After filming days, I reached out to my film crew in a group chat we made for open communication at the beginning of the film — more specifically to target my editor and sound designer's roles. I encouraged my editor to create a rough draft of what we had so far and send it to my group, that way myself and my cinematographer could have an idea of how the presentation is coming along, and my sound designer could start to search for sound effects and music. Doing this review together helped to develop our thought process of revision to ensure that we head into pickup day knowing exactly what the film still needs; to decide on definitive takes and what shots need to be redone, if any.

A text I sent to get my group prepared for what needs to happen next filming day. It was important to bring up to them what I perceived as missing so that my editor especially could review the takes as well and let me know.

My editor suggested revision to the planning agenda based on what he compiled as an unofficial rough draft for us to review. I decided to make the agenda collaborative so that each person from my group could freely add to it according to what would help them with their role the most.

Having a planning agenda to follow prepares my group and I to work more productively on the next shooting day and beforehand as well. With it, my editor and sound designer have begun to work on post-production needs as we go, furthering the understanding we have of our own film and its weaknesses so we can resolve them early on. Setting forth a summary of our objectives as the director for each day regarding the film has improved the way we work together and the film itself in ways I never would have expected — because when I do, I receive feedback that solidifies the planning and inspires creativity amongst my group!

Adapting on Set

Expect the Unexpected

On our second day of filming, I had a discussion with my group on how we have to work efficiently since a majority of the production should be nearly completed by the end of the day. But, the weather again had other plans! When we headed out to our location, it was nothing like how it was the first day. The sky was dark and cloudy, and rain began to drizzle as filming went on.

I decided that we should push through and continue filming, but apply the same principle used on the first day of filming; take advantage of the weather to film shots that relate to the atmosphere. The focus here became the losing scenes, where our 'chess expert' suddenly faces a turning point in the game, so, grey and gloomy weather fit perfectly. My film crew's sound designer and I worked closely on developing shots in the shot list that could work with the murky weather, adding ones we felt would act as smooth transitions between the storyline's progression. Having to adapt to unexpected circumstances outside, I learned the significance of reviewing film progress before and during production days as the director. Knowing what we have accumulated was important for me to suggest the direction for what scene should be filmed next or exactly how the shots should be done to reduce inconsistency between the filming from each shooting day.

Utilizing Filming Tools

Initially, we planned on filming the chessboard pieces being moved by the actors in close-ups parallel to the board, but to increase the dramatic effect the close-ups have, we decided to angle them slightly towards the player whose turn it is and blur the background around the chess pieces. This isolates the movement and clarifies who out of the two players is having their turn. Using Adobe Premiere Rush allowed us to control the intensity of the blur and shortening the legs of the tripod created a leveled and stable closeness to the chessboard to get amazing shots.

The tilted close-up of the chess pieces as our actor begins to make his move.

Full view of the tripod's position used to achieve chess board shots.

Moreover, we agreed to add various angles to the chessboard gameplay, including aerial shots to add points of interest. It took us some time to learn how the tripod should be positioned on the table without being seen. Our instructor suggested that we change the height of the legs, extending the back one out to support short legs in the front to avoid tripod visibility in the shot. After this explanation, we realized how we overthink too much! It was a simple solution that gave us really nice shots in which we lined the board up with the rule of thirds. Being director has 

The wrapping up of our chessboard aerial shots of gameplay.

Innovating in Crunch Time

Rolling!

On the first day of filming, the lighting outside could not have been brighter. Even though the reason behind choosing the location we did was for its shade, the sun shined through and lit up every shot we attempted. This worried me because the storyline could appear confusing if our other filming days had contrasting weather. But, I wanted my group to feel encouraged. The story in our film is meant to be comedic, so why not have the lighting change to create dramatic effects? When the 'chess expert' in the film begins to lose, those scenes could be recorded on another day when the weather is more cloudy. However, the brightness of the weather on this day was perfect for the 'winning scenes' because of the sun's association with positivity and new beginnings. So, we decided to shoot scenes out of order that would correspond with the weather.

Getting the hang of the switch between each scene took some time, as we struggled to decide what to start filming next and how to use the equipment. Up to this point, it was easy to visualize how we wanted the shots to appear, but doing them was a whole different story! The ground of our location was unleveled, so shooting in the lineup of the rule of thirds was tedious for our cinematographer at first. We tried different angles with the tripod and were able to get straightened shots. To ensure our expectations for each shot were being met, I had each member of my group take a turn to stand behind the camera and see a practice version of a scene. This allowed us to express any concerns we had for each shot immediately; such as any substantial background distractors, if the lighting was too strong, changes needed in actor facial expressions, and even whether the shot's placement was correct. By doing so, we were each able to be involved in the filmmaking process which better allowed for ideas to flow.

The perspective in which each member of my film crew had a turn to view and discuss for approval.

Exploring Weaknesses & Overcoming Awkward Hurdles

As an actress in the film myself, when it was my turn to pre-check our shots as director, we had a stand-in actor play out the scene for me. This experience gave me whole ideas of what was lacking overall, specifically from my friend and me as actors in the film. Comedies rely heavily on dramatic, absurd facial expressions and sound. Each time I saw the scenes played out, my ideas to improve their execution expanded. I had a hard time letting go of embarrassment when having to act, so I communicated this with my group and they helped make me more comfortable by instructing me very specifically on what they needed from me as the scenes went on. This helped me and our other main actor to focus on what the task was instead of any awkwardness and we ended up having so much fun!

An example of the creativity that blossomed from combatting our initial issues as a group was to have the opponents in the film show contrasting personalities as much as we could — even in their first impressions of one another. When leaning into a handshake, our chess expert is met with a fist bump from the opposing player humorously. Making big decisions like that is a part of being a director, as I oversee the production and present to my film crew what I think could fill in any gaps we have in the story or its presentation. Overall, our innovation as a group in unexpected situations grew the confidence I have in our film starting on day one. these details in scenes created room for our sound designer and editor to have several opportunities to add comedy.

Production Hiccups

Miscommunication & Its Impact

When finalizing our pre-production portfolio and preparing for our first day of shooting, we had some communication issues. My cinematographer had a setback in delivering her shot list, which is significant in the film's production as it is a guideline for how the film will be told. This caused us to rush the list last minute in a way that I was unhappy with as director, but showed me how I must stay in closer contact with each person developing the film with me. It is easy to assume everyone is on track with doing their job. However, it makes production a whole lot smoother in the long run when I am diligently checking in on aspects of the production to see it as a whole — not just from my perspective. Going into filming days, I have this clarity established and the shot list therefore has to be modified.

Although the main object in the film is a chess board, my film crew and I ironically forgot to have a discussion on who is bringing in what is considered the main topic of the film itself. We were so caught up in finalizing our production portfolio, that we exerted little energy into the physical preparation of the film such as prop responsibilities, notifying our cast, and overall, asking more questions to one another! When this disorganization unraveled, I had to break the silence as to what the plan would be going into filming days.

Screenshots of me texting my group clarifying the Mis en Scene aspects of the characters (what each person should wear and keep in mind) as well as confirming prop availability.

Scouting Filming Locations

Choosing a Filming Spot

Before settling on a location, my film crew and I discussed the options we had outside down to the point of light the area would receive and potential background distractors the setting could have. I was immediately drawn to a bench table with lots of shade created from nearby trees because as director, I am in charge of the storyline we created to stay consistent, and a big part of that is its presentation. If we chose a very open area, the weather could completely change our film. The location being surrounded by trees created a shade that could prevent drastic changes in lighting that may occur between filming days.

This location sparked an immediate interest for us to use as the sole location in our film.

Possible Complications

After spending some time at that location, we witnessed many bystanders in the background passing by in the garden section behind the fence. It was also apparent that a branch hangs quite low by the bench our actors will sit at, potentially taking away the point of interest from them onto the greens of the shrubs and trees. This caused us to consider our other options, which led us to an area with a white wall and benches facing toward it. 

A location we pondered switching to use.

My film crew and I admired the area because of its lack of possible bystanders in the background. There was little to no activity near it and had the potential to be the setting for the film for this reason. We discussed moving the benches to face one another and bringing in a table for the 'opponents' to play chess on, but the first location was still distinct in our minds and was also an easier spot for filming because the table was already present.

Reviewing and Making Changes

After some consideration, I decided to review our storyline with my group. The setting should connect with our film's content and have a meaningful impact on it in some way, so questions were asked such as, "If we were to position the camera facing each opponent, does their background contrast one another?" At the beginning of creating characters, what we wanted to emphasize was the difference between each stereotyped comedic character in our film; a know-it-all and an average, laid-back character. I wanted to pull elements of this contrast to light with our setting, which brought me back to our first pick because of the lack of background color variety in the second option. The greens of the trees contrast with the frontal view of the table and could easily be eliminated with a shallow focus shot or the Mis en scène of our actor's clothing, by using bright colors to cancel it out. The relation of this contrast to our characters allowed my group and I to make a decision on our film location; the first bench table option — with some creative revisions!

Casting Call

Casting Roadblock & Resolution

Choosing individuals to act in our film was a bit more complex than anticipated. It was not only a matter of choosing people, but also having to instruct them on what the film would entail, what to bring, and what we needed from them. At times throughout this selection process, friends we wanted to use were unavailable, so I decided to take on one of the main character's roles to resolve the casting issue and speed up our production. I figured I would know exactly how to convey the story since my group and I came up with it ourselves. As director, acting in it would allow me to be more included in filming, rather than standing and observing. However, the value of observing as a director is significant — to be looking over all areas of filming to ensure the story is being told the way we intended. To balance both aspects, I discussed with my group having me step away and take over as an onlooker when my character was not being filmed. 

Further Considerations

Having no prior acting experience, I suggested to my group that we use a friend of mine as the 'opponent' I will be going against in the film so that it would be more comfortable for us as the main actors to work together. This is unrealistic to the natural film setting, but as our first short film having connections with one another would allow for more genuine emotions to reflect into the film. Watching the romance comedy film, 50 First Dates, 2004, Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore have an amazing friendship off-screen that radiates in their acting on screen. Following that same casting consideration, we decided to cast a close friend of mine and the rest of my film crew as extras.

Still from 50 First Dates, 2004, showing the chemistry between actor Adam Sandler and actress Drew Barrymore.