THE ART OF EDITING, SM2002
School of Creative Media, City University Hong Kong
Professor Shannon Walsh, Semester B/2016
Classroom: M1052 & Lab M7060
Time: 9 – 11:50 am
COURSE DESCRIPTION & AIMS
Editing is a fundamental component of filmmaking. It is an art of composing space (as totality or fragment, continuous or discontinuous) and time (linear or non-linear) through the arrangement, assembly and interaction of images (static or dynamic) and sounds (on screen or off screen). Editing includes storytelling, rhythm, tempo, and emotion. A good editing sense is absolutely necessary to creatively structure a cinematic work. Creative works on film, video and image-related media all acquire meaning and impact through montage: the juxtaposition of images and sounds. This course will teach students the basic knowledge and concepts of editing, and develop their editing sense in practical editing assignments.
GRADING
APPROACH
The course is composed of two parts, theory and practice. For theory, lectures will be given with illustrations from films. For practice, students will be assigned editing exercises throughout the course to ensure that they apply and realise what they have learned in class. Students will present their editing works in critique sessions for feedback and comment by their peers.
RECOMMENDED READING
- The Technique Of Film Editing, Karel Reisz, Gavin Miller
- In the Blink of an Eye, Walter Murch
- The Technique Of Film And Video Editing, Ken Dancyger
- The Story of Film, Mark Cousins
LESSONS
January 13
INTRODUCTION & HISTORY OF EDITING
- PERSEVERANCE, INTUITION, FEAR, FAILURE
- Submit Groups: Exercise 1 – ACTION CONTINUITY
CONSTRUCTING DESIRE & SCULPTING IN TIME
- Critique: Selected work from ACTION CONTINUITY
February 10
NEW YEAR CLASS CANCELLATION
February 17
TIPS FOR USING FCPX/ AUTOPANO 360
- Guest: Editor BOBAN CHALDOVIC
February 24
RHYTHM, PACE & EMOTION : Focus on Walter Murch
- HANDOUT: Exercise 2 – SHOOT FOR THE EDIT
March 2
- Guest: Producer/Director/Actor/Editor Jason TOBIN
- HANDOUT: Exercise 3 – MUSIC VIDEO
March 9
- DEADLINE: Exercise 2 – SHOOT FOR THE EDIT
- Critique: Selected work from SHOOT FOR THE EDIT
- DEADLINE: Exercise 3 – MUSIC VIDEO
- HANDOUT: Exercise 4 – TRAILER
- Critique: Selected work from MUSIC VIDEOS
April 6
GENRE: SUSPENSE & UNRELIABLE NARRATION – A focus on Hitchcock
- Guest: Dean RICHARD ALLEN
April 13
FINAL CLASS CRITIQUE
- DEADLINE: Exercise 4 – TRAILER
- Critique: TRAILERS
ATTENDANCE
Attendance of lectures for this course is required. If you miss more than 3 classes without a valid reason, it may result in an automatic failure of the course, in line with SCM school policy.
PLAGIARISM
In this course there is ZERO TOLERANCE for plagiarism and discovery of plagiarism could result in failure of the course. This includes sharing work with other students or collusion with other students to submit for grading the same projects.
For editing projects, this means that when you have appropriated other source footage, you must give citations, and plagiarism in editing means that you have used edits which another editor has made. Said in another way, EVERY CUT IN YOUR SUBMITTED VIDEO WORK MUST BE YOUR OWN.
What is plagiarism?
According to the Cambridge Dictionaries Online, to plagiarize is “to use another person’s idea or a part of their work and pretend that it is your own”. In Cambridge advanced learners dictionary (2010). Cambridge Dictionaries Online.
So it is any act of using someone else’s ideas, words, concepts, images, sounds, edits, formulae or data without acknowledging the source, either intentionally or accidentally. It is therefore a dishonest practice of claiming credit for something you did not do.
How can you avoid plagiarism?
To avoid plagiarism, one should always provide information of the sources used, i.e., you must document or cite the sources of information which you have consulted or used in writing your paper, or editing your work. Therefore, it is important that you keep records of all sources that you have consulted so that you will be able to provide proper citations later.
A citation refers to the basic information about an information source (e.g., a book, an article, a media resource) sufficient for identifying the source. For example, a citation for a book usually includes the author, title, publisher, and date of publication.
Read more on Library » Research Guides » Citing Sources of Information
The Art of Editing SM2002 