Story Telling

OF
OF
Storytelling Techniques for

Video and Cinema Editors
Great film editing comes down to decision making, and every decision
you make either strengthens or weakens the story. The secret to
being a great editor is knowing the results of the decisions you
make. What happens if you cut to a wide shot here, or fade to
black after this scene? How do you properly pace this scene, and
what roles do story arc and conflict play in your film? Great editors
know the answers to these questions. If youre a seasoned editor,
this book will change the way you approach editing.
Dive in and start learning the six components of film
editingStory Arc, Shot Selection, Pacing, Rhythm,
Audio, and the Narrative Perspectiveand
see the results in your next film.
Ross Hockrow
is an award-winning filmmaker,
innovative educator, and published
author. He has directed six feature-length
films and several award-winning short
films, the latest of which won the
Audience Choice Award for the 2013
48-Hour Film Festival in Providence, RI,
and Philadelphia, PA. His filmmaking
abilities stretch beyond narratives and
into commercial work for Fortune 500
companies Skype and Expedia. He also
directed a promotional piece featuring
Bill Gates. Ross, an Adobe-sponsored
speaker/editor, pioneered live filmmaking
education with his Get In Motion tour
in 2011the industrys first-ever
educational workshop tour created
exclusively for filmmakers. In 2014
Ross was selected to teach the first
filmmaking course on CreativeLive,
attracting over 40,000 viewers. Ross
recently completed the Out of Order
tour, which is dedicated to the brand
that includes a feature film, this book,
and continued education.
Storytelling Techniques for Video and Cinema Editors
If you find yourself reading this, chances are youre looking to

be a better film editor. Or maybe you want to learn from scratch.
Youve already completed the first steprecognizing the desire to
improve your skills in one of the most underappreciated crafts in
filmmaking. The next step is redefining what you think film editing
actually is and its role in the filmmaking process. Many assume
editing involves techie computer stuff such as mastering editing
software and understanding file compression. And sure, editing
has its share of tech knowledge requirements, but they add up to
less than 10% of what makes a good editor. The most important
editing tool is your mind.
OUT ORDER
OUT
ORDER
OUT
ORDER
OF
Storytelling Techniques for

Video and Cinema Editors
Contains two movies available for download, including the

full-length feature film Out of Order, with authors audio commentary
on specific editing techniques referred to throughout the book.
ISBN-13: 978-0-321-95160-1
ISBN-10:
0-321-95160-3
LEVEL: Beginning / Intermediate / Advanced
Peachpit Press
www.peachpit.com
CATEGORY: Digital Video / Film
COVER ILLUSTRATION: Justin Golt

COVER DESIGN: Aren Straiger
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Hockrow
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Ross Hockrow
oF
Ross Hockrow
Peachpit Press
Out of Order: Storytelling Techniques for Video and Cinema Editors

Ross Hockrow
Peachpit Press
Find us on the Web at www.peachpit.com
To report errors, please send a note to errata@peachpit.com
Peachpit Press is a division of Pearson Education
Copyright 2015 by Ross L. Hockrow
Senior Editor: Karyn Johnson
Development Editor: Corbin Collins
Production Editor: Danielle Foster
Technical Editor: Justin Edelman
Copyeditor: Kelly Kordes Anton
Compositor: David Van Ness
Proofreader: Liz Welch
Indexer: Valerie Haynes Perry
Interior Design: Danielle Foster
Cover Design: Aren Howell Straiger
Notice of Rights
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written
permission of the publisher. For information on getting permission for reprints and excerpts,
contact permissions@peachpit.com.
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The information in this book is distributed on an As Is basis without warranty. While every
precaution has been taken in the preparation of the book, neither the author nor Peachpit shall
have any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged
to be caused directly or indirectly by the instructions contained in this book or by the computer
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All other product names and services identified throughout this book are used in editorial
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other affiliation with this book.
ISBN-13: 978-0-321-95160-1
ISBN-10: 0-321-95160-3
987654321
Printed and bound in the United States of America
About the Author

Ross Hockrow is an acclaimed filmmaker, innovative educator, and
published author. He has directed six feature-length films and several
award-winning short films, the latest of which won the Audience
Choice Award for the 2013 48-Hour Film Festival in Providence,
Rhode Island, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Hockrows filmmaking abilities stretch beyond narratives and into commercial work
for the Fortune 500 companies Skype and Expedia. He also directed a promotional
piece featuring Bill Gates. An Adobe-sponsored speaker and editor, he pioneered live
filmmaking education with his Get In Motion tour in 2011the industrys first-ever
educational workshop tour created exclusively for filmmakers.
Hockrow has lectured in more than 100 cities during three international tours, and
he has taught platform classes at several major industry tradeshows, including NAB,
CES, and WPPI. In 2014, he was selected to teach the first-ever filmmaking course on
the CreativeLIVE online learning platform; the course attracted over 40,000 viewers. Hockrows well-received first book, Storytelling Techniques for Digital Filmmakers
(Amherst Media, 2013), led to a follow-up book on editing theory, which you now
hold in your hands. He recently completed the Out of Order tour, dedicated to the
Outof Order brand, which involves a feature film, this book, and continuing education.
Acknowledgments
A great deal of time, effort, and brain power went into writing this book. First, I want
to say that five years ago I started a mission. I was a young, self-taught filmmaker who
relied solely on my editing skills to be a good filmmaker. When I started out, editing
was really the only thing I could control from a budgetary standpoint because it was
just my brain and the computer. Camera and lenses didnt matter once the footage
was shot. Needless to say, I was a terrible director when I first started out, but I saved
many projects with editing. As I improved as a director, I realized how much editing
really shaped who I was as a filmmaker. I worked backwards. I became a great editor
first, and then slowly worked my way backwards to an understanding of filmmaking
after seeing the elements I needed on the editing board. Eventually, it all clicked.
Clay Blackmore and Jeff Medford offered my first opportunity to teach editing. In my
first tour of teaching photographers this new DSLR technology, I realized everyone was
very scared of editing. I didnt understand why at first, and then I perceived a massive
misunderstanding of editing. Because I was teaching photographers to be filmmakers,
their natural assumption was that editing film was equivalent to using Photoshop to
fine-tune images. But those two things couldnt be more different. Imade it my mission to make people see what editing really is and understand that it is controlled by
the brain via the choices you make while editing.
I can honestly say that I have accomplished that mission after three nationwide tours,
a CreativeLive appearance, and many conventions and master classes. None of that
really compares to this book, however. This book is part of a brand dubbed Out of
Order, which includes the movie that comes with the book and a tour (which, sorry,
already happened). This book is everything I believe editors need to focus on. For some,
it represents an adjustment to the way they think. Its a little bit like finding out the
world is round when for so long you knew it was flat. Dont worry, youll get used to it.
This book would not have been possible without the people around me helping me
do this. The first person I want to thank is Corbin Collins. Its funny because weve
never met in person, but he was assigned to be the editor for this book. When I submitted the first chapter to him and he told me to rewrite it, I felt like a 22-year-old
punk all over again (although it wasnt that long agoIm now 28). I said to myself,
What does this guy know? Then I reread his notes and realized, This is the guy who
is going to make this a book. Not me. I just know things. Articulating those things
into coherent sentences so that people can actually understand what Im saying is a
skill, and I didnt realize how hard it is. I started out in this business as a scriptwriter,
but writing a book is a totally different animal. Corbin pushed me to the limit with
Acknowledgments
every word, sentence, and description, and this book is just as much his as it is mine.
Without him, no one would understand what Im actually saying.
Secondly, I want to thank Karyn Johnson for giving me the opportunity to write this
book. As hard as it was, it was a pleasure, and without Karyn none of this would have
ever happened. Karyn could have selected any one of several filmmakers, and even
more teachers, out there. But she chose me. I hope this book reassures that choice. And
thanks to Kelly Kordes Anton, our copyeditor, who fixed and polished the final product.
Next, I want to thank Jeff Medford and Clay Blackmore for finding me in in the University
of Delaware library (illegally). I was editing low-budget rap videos, and they gave me
the opportunity to actually make a living being a filmmaker. As I sit in my new house,
only two days old, I cant help but think that without those guys Id still be sneaking
into the U of D library and editing videos for $100. I will forever be in their debt.
I want to dedicate this book to my dog Cleveland. Really? Am I going there? Yes, but
hear me out. Nine years ago, after playing high-stakes professional poker for three
years, I decided to take all of my money and start my film career. I thought, Why
not? I have so much of it, what could go wrong? Well, movies cost a lot to make, and
I didnt know how much until I burned through all of it.
When I met Cleveland, he was suffering from an undiagnosed sickness that no vet
could seem to figure out. Before I made any films, I spent countless dollars trying to
figure out what was wrong with this pup. Finally, we found someone who knew. From
that point on, Cleveland and I were inseparable. He sat at my feet for every mouse click
as I edited seven feature films; dozens of short, feature documentaries; music videos;
commercials; and everything under the sun. I brought him to shoots, meetings, and
even coffee shops to write.
Sadly, on January 10, 2014, he was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer. The vets said
he would be dead within two weeks. I thought to myself, Cleveland is a badass 100
pound pitbull, and nothing on the planet can kill him in 14 days. Sure, Ive saved his
life, but hes saved mine twice as well. Once we were hiking in a swampy park when
a snake popped out of nowhere, hissing; within seconds, the snake was dismantled
and we were on our way. The second time, we were attacked by a wild dog during a
walk, and I almost lost my right hand. Cleveland fought off the dog and stayed with
me until help came. After 22 stitches, I was back to editing that night.
But all good things must come to an end, and 48 hours from now my best friend will
be put to sleep. The date is May 23, 2014, and he long exceeded his 14-day death
sentence. Im dedicating this book to him because its the last project for which he sat
at my feet while I wrote, edited, or just thought. I havent made a film without him
being there for some part of the process, and this project is our final one together.
Contents
About the Author
iii
Acknowledgments iv
Prologue xi
Chapter 1 The StoryArc
Why the Story Arc Is So Important
Breaking Down Story Arcs
Video Example: The Pre-Nup 5

Drilling Down to Smaller Arcs
Connecting Arcs to Take the Viewers on a Ride
Reveals 8
Anticipation 9
Story Arc and the Viewer
The Ancient Roots of Story
10
Identifying with Characters
13
Exposition 14
Why Exposition Is So Important
14
Keeping in Mind What the Viewers Know at All Times
15
Introducing the Characters
17
Establishing the Characters Positions in the Story
20
Establishing the Setting
20
Establishing Mood
21
Establishing the Conditions and Conflict
22
Rising Action
23
Developing the Conflict
24
Connecting Characters and Conflicts
25
Building Anticipation
26
Leading to the Climax
26
Contents
Climax 27
This Is Your Brain on Climax
28
Goals of the Climax
29
Falling Action
32
Resolution 33
Why Endings Are Hard
33
Tying Up Loose Ends
34
Chapter 2 Conflict and Shot Selection
The Six Types of Conflict
37
39
Relational Conflict (Human vs. Human)
41
Social Conflict (Human vs. Group)
43
Situational Conflict (Human vs. Environment)
46
Inner Conflict (Human vs. Self)
48
Cosmic Conflict (Human vs. Destiny or Fate)
51
Paranormal Conflict (Human vs. Technology)
54
Shot Selection
56
Wide Shots
58
Medium Shots
63
Close-ups 65
B-Roll 71
Connecting Conflict and Shot Selection
71
Example Scene of Relational Conflict
71
Example Scene of Social Conflict
73
Example Scene of Inner Conflict
74
Other Elements Affecting Shot Selection
74
vii
viii
Contents
Chapter 3 Ordering Clips and Scenes
77
The Narrative Perspective: Point of View
80
Nonlinear Storytelling: TellingStories Out of Order
85
Why to Tell a Story Out of Order
86
Intercutting 88
Teasers 91
Vehicles 93
Multiple Stories, Common Plot Point
95
Telling the Story Backwards
96
Chapter 4 Pacing: Timing and Types of Cuts
Defining Pacing
99
101
Pacing Examples: Slow and Fast
101
Pacing and Effects on the Viewer
102
Principles of Pacing
104
Pattern 105
Symmetry 108
Flow 110
Timing 112
Timing of Cuts: The Pacing Formula
114
Speed of Conversation in a Scene
115
Length of Scene
116
Number of Characters
117
Drama and Mood
119
Types of Cuts
Chapter 5 Rhythm and Time
119
127
How I Learned About Rhythm
128
Viewer Digestion: TheViewersNeed to Process
131
Thinking Like a Stand-Up Comedian
132
Stopping the Story While the Film Rolls On
133
Contents
Separation: Techniques for Giving Viewers Some Time
134
Separation Between Parts of the Story Arc
134
Separation at the Scene Level
136
Transitions: GettingfromHereto There
138
Time: Managing the Illusion
139
Montages: Condensing Time
140
Slowing Down Time
144
Speeding Up Time
146
Tying in the Narrative Perspective and Story Arc

Chapter 6 Editing Audio
150
155
Learning About Audio
157
Capturing Audio
158
Components of Audio in Film
159
Ambient Sound
160
Room Tone: The Sound of Silence
161
Justifying the Sound: What Was That?
162
Removing Ambient Sound for Effect
164
Sound Effects in Postproduction

Why You Can Exaggerate Sound Effects
164
165
Dialogue 167
Using Room Tone to Help Stitch Together Dialogue
167
Room Size and Reverb
169
Music 170
Selecting Music
170
Four Rules of Music in Film
170
Further Thoughts on Audio
173
Audio: Clean or Relative to Distance?
173
Cutting On Loud Sounds
175
Audio Transitions
176
Starting the Edit with Audio Help
177
ix
Contents
Chapter 7 The Editing Process
179
Beginning Again at the Beginning
181
Step 1: Dont Do Anything!
181
Step 2: Logging and Labeling Preliminaries
183
Using Evernote and Note-Taking Software
183
Asset Management: Browsing Footage with Thumbnails
184
Step 3: Downloading Footage
185
Step 4: Labeling Folders
186
Step 5: Logging Bins
187
Creating In and Out Points
189
Creating Bins
190
Scrubbing 191
Logging Audio
192
Lining Up Audio
192
The Logging Process
194
Step 6: Creating the Dump Timeline
195
Step 7: Building the Narrative Base
196
Narrative Base in Scripted Films
197
Narrative Base in Documentaries
197
Narrative Base in Event Films
198
Narrative Base as Structure
198
Final Thoughts
200
Appendix
Film and TV Show References
203
Index 213
Prologue
You might be asking yourself, Prologue? Why is there a prologue in a book about
editing video? This isnt exactly Game of Thrones here. Its a fair question. Or maybe
youre asking the question I always ask myself when I open a book with a prologue:
Do I have to read this? In this case, the answer is yes. This might be the single most
important text youll read in this entire book. Before we even begin to examine the
psychological filmmaking enigma that goes by the misleading name of editing, we must
first explore exactly what the goal of editing really is. I understand that Im going a bit
out of order herepun intendedbut this is the way it needs to be.
About This Book

As you can see from the first several sentences, this isnt your traditional, click-here,
drag-here, move-this-there type of book. The purpose of this book, and the out of
order concept in general, is to teach you how to approach editing primarily through
storytelling. Youll find this book is written as if the information, in and of itself, is
a story. It builds upon past knowledge as it lays the foundation of central concepts.
Before we can lay down that foundation, though, we need to get a few things straight.
There is a huge misconception that editing is primarily a technical skill. Its viewed
as a sort of trade that requires the same commitment to training as, say, a massage
therapist or nurse. I strongly disagree. While much of the editing training available
does rely heavily on a how-to approach, these tangible skills dont make you a good
editor. You learn a little editing theory, but a lot about technical issues such as the
editing process, types of cuts, how to make cuts, file compression, color correction,
and basic navigation of an editing program. The best thing you can do to be a great
editor, however, is learn how to think. The smartest scientist in the world is much
more useful if he or she knows how to conduct an experiment. Knowing the ins and
outs of an editing program makes you no more than a technical advisor. Although
its a respectable calling card, and there are many jobs in the industry for what we call
postproduction supervisors, its not the reason you picked up this book. The difference between an editor and a postproduction supervisor is that the postproduction
supervisor sees things in a technical languagea very black-and-white approach to
editingwhereas the editor sees many shades of gray. A good editor sees things that
are open to interpretation and change.
xii
Prologue
Now, of course, technical-minded editors have overseen amazing works of art, but
without using methods of storytelling in the edit room, they are merely messengers.
They follow a script. If a script is good, the pieces are well shot, and the director has
visionwell, two plus two usually equals four. However, an editor who approaches
the process correctly, with the mind of storyteller, can always add something to a
film, and any good director would welcome such an upgrade. And if youre usually the
one doing it alldirecting, conceptualizing, editingthen being able to think like
an editor is all the more important. I hope reading this book forever changes your
entire approach to editing.
Editing, Old and New

Before digital filmmaking became popular, or even possible, things were done on film.
The process of putting together a film is now much, much easier. Today, anyone can
use Adobe Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro. But before that, filmmaking was much more
difficult. There was an actual craft in cutting film. Sometimes, the best editor was a
combination of the mind and the craft. Now, its just the mind.
Many more editors are working now than back in 1970. Its evolution. The more people
can do it, the more people will do it, and the better the competition. This competition
breeds better editors, leading to better final results. I could teach my dog to push
buttons on a keyboard. What I cant teach my dog is to see a film in thousands of
pieces, and within those pieces, look at the chaos and the infinite combinations for
arranging those pieces to tell hundreds of versions of the same story. And I certainly
cant teach my dog to spot that one perfect final result. That is one of the secrets of
editing. Always know the direction youre traveling. You rarely want to begin editing
and not be sure of the final result youre trying to achieve.
Its very much like driving. Whether youre going to the store, the beach, or on a long
trip, what matters is how you get there. There are a few ways to get to the store, more
ways to reach the beach, and going on a road trip brings in new variables such as traffic and weather. Do you see where Im going with this analogy? Once you decide on a
destination, there are many ways to get there. So how do driving and filmmaking in
1970 tie in with the editing approach? Keep reading.
Somewhere between 1990 and 2000, editing became a digital process. Even when
shooting on film, editors would convert it to digital, edit it, and then convert it back
to film for print. My big problem with this era is that no one bothered to step back
and look at what happened. We changed the process of editing. We digitized it and
made it faster, easier, and more accessibleyet we still think about it in the same way.
Prologue
Does that seem wrong to anyone else? Back to the driving analogy: In that same time
span, we went from paper maps and asking for directions at gas stations to MapQuest
and eventually GPS. Makes traveling more efficient, doesnt it?
Now that editing is more efficient, you can keep your eye on the prize, which is getting
the most out of your footage. The first step to getting the most out of your footage is
getting the most of out of you. Crafting a story is not something you should be doing
while tired, angry, frustrated, or in the thrall of any other negative emotion. You need
to take a Zen-like approach. Your energy, whatever energy youre feeling at the time, will
translate into your film. If you dont believe that statement, please take my word for it.
Groove and Flow

You need to find what I call the editing groove. Once you find that groove, you should
not get up from your computer for any reason unless absolutely necessary. What is
the groove? It sounds like some made-up BS concept designed to be motivational.
Maybe. But I believe its real, and its possible today because the computer puts your
clips and everything else you need right at your fingertips. If you were cutting film,
that wouldnt be possible. This single fact, to me, changes the results you can get from
footage and makes editing better. The groove happens when youre consistently thinking creatively instead of constantly worrying about technical skills such as cutting film.
Once youve decided on a direction for your story, or an editing style for something
involving a script, youll begin editing. Where to physically start is something I discuss
in the book, but once you begin editing, youll start to gain a flow. That is, as you craft
your film, scene, short story, documentary, whatever it is, it will start to take shape.
One of three things will happen:
1. That film will take shape and be exactly what you envisioned it to be.
2. The film will take shape, and youll see that the direction or style needs to be
altered in order to achieve that quality you were originally hoping for.
3. The film will start to take shape, but you can see its not working, forcing you
to start over and go in a new direction. Editing is a lot of trial and error as far
as assembling pieces in the proper order.
None of the three options is better than the others, nor does one have a higher success
rate, but each offers a clear visual of what your film is going to be. Once youve seen
that visual, youll finally be creating based on something real rather than hypothetical.
xiii
xiv
Prologue
TIP Its easier to modify something that exists than to create something
fromnothing.
Youll find the philosophy behind that tip laced throughout this book because it applies
to several aspects of the editing process. The point is that once youre in the modifying
stage, thats when the groove begins. And when the groove begins, you want to extend
moments of enlightenment as long as you possibly can because those are, by far, the
most valuable editing hours. When I hit my groove, I do not get up until a rough cut
of a short film or scene is completed.
I used to say that editing is like a puzzle, and no one in his or her right mind would
try to solve a puzzle without the picture on the box for reference. As I developed my
own editing skills and style, I realized that statement was misleading. Sure, editing
is like a puzzle in the sense that youre combining pieces into a final masterpiece, but
editing has a few major differences. One of those differences is that youll only use
1020 percent of the pieces you have. Puzzles would be a lot more challenging if they
included a bunch of pieces you dont need! Another difference is that the image on
the outside of the puzzle box is set in stone while an image of a film in your head can
change like the wind. And lastly, just because a piece fits perfectly in a spot doesnt
mean it wont fit perfectly elsewhere. Thats something most puzzles cannot boast.
There is a psychological variable to every edit, and a lot of that comes down to pace
and rhythm (which are also discussed in this book). The key is to open your mind to
what editing truly is and understand that the variables involved will make or break
your entire film. Think about it this way. I could give the same footage to four different
editors and get four different products. But lets go further. It doesnt have to be an
event film, a wedding video, or a documentary for which the editor crafts the story
on the editing board with someone elses captured footage. I could give a scripted
conversation between two characters in a film to those same four editors and still get
four different scenes. How? Emotion and pace. In editing, its the little things that
make the world of difference. These include knowing when to cut to a facial expression, leave a breath of air between words, close the gap and speed up the dialogue,
and cut a meaningless line. Little things also include knowing when and where to use
close-ups and how long to hold a shot. Sure, the words spoken will be the same, but
the feeling each editor gives the viewers, and the entertainment value and interest
they command, will be drastically different.
Prologue
Conversation Is the Foundation of Editing

When I started as a filmmaker, I dove right into feature filmmaking by writing and
directing my first film. I was 20 years old and knew nothing about being a filmmaker.
I only knew I had ideas (who doesnt?). Ideas are one thing, but execution is something
else entirely. Because of the low-budget nature of this film, it was a dialogue-heavy
narrative. One scene from the climax, a conversation between two people, was nine
pages long. The general rule is that a page of dialogue in a script translates to about
a minute on film. We were looking at a nine-minute conversation! Much too long.
While editing this scene, my co-editor and I sat in the University of Delaware library
for weeks (we werent students, we just snuck in with fake IDs to use their state-ofthe-art editing suite). We tried different ways to cut the scene and nothing worked.
My co-editor suggested cutting the scene from the film completely. Ill never forget
what he said: If the beginning of the movie is good, and the end of the movie is good,
but you hate the middle, then start cutting things from the middle. Interestingand
correctconcept, but it was the wrong time to apply it. I suggested a compromise. We
reduced that nine-minute scene to six minutes. To this day, its one of the best conversations Ive edited in my career. Guess what we cut out by getting rid of three minutes?
Nothing.
Not one line was sacrificed. Not one facial expression was sacrificed. In that session,
we learned that a conversation in the real world, a conversation on paper, and a conversation on film are three totally different animals. It was then that I realized that
the conversation is the foundation for all of editing. Once you understand how to cut
a conversation, youll be able to edit anything. Youll be able to see the final structure
of a film even before its shot. These are the phenomena we will explore in this book.
Now, everything you think you know about editinghow to edit, the way you personally edit, or whatever youve heardforget it. I want you to learn the information in
the exact order in which it appears in this book. Chapter 1 is about the story arc, and
its your foundation. In every chapter after that, youll be adding information to your
current knowledge. Treat it as if its a puzzle. The more pieces you place, the clearer
the picture gets. If you can do that and add pieces to the puzzle as they are explained
in this book, in a designed order, youll be an editor by the time you get to the back
cover. Not only will you be an editor, but youll improve every time you edit, because
youll take each experience and add it as a lesson.
So, in the true nature of Out of Order in Chapter 1, lets go all the way back to the
beginning and answer the single most important question: What is a story?
xv
xvi
Prologue
Accessing the Downloads for This Book

Out of Order isnt just a bookits also a movie! The film is a character study drama
about the invention of digitized editing. It was created for two purposes: for entertainment and to create scenes that can be used as examples to teach the theories
discussed in this book.
Buying this book gives you access to two films of mine, a short film called The Pre-Nup
and the full-length feature film Out of Order. The audio narration version of Out of Order
is referred to throughout this book, with timecodes included so you can fast-forward
or rewind directly to the relevant section.
To access the downloads to this book, please follow these steps:
1. On a Mac or PC, go to www.peachpit.com/redeem.
2. Enter this code: 8C3E33623F09.
3. If you do not have a Peachpit.com account, you will be prompted to
createone.
4. The downloadable files will be listed under the Lesson & Update Files tab
onyour Account page.
5. Click the file links to download them to your computer.
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Chapter 4
Pacing:
Timing
and Types
of Cuts
100
One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four.
One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. By now, maybe you skipped most of that
because you couldnt imagine the purpose of it or you thought it must be some kind of
mistake. Or, maybe you trusted the book enough to read each number, which allowed
a rhythmic pattern to enter your head. The repetition forces you to stop reading and
start recognizing the shape of the words. Its
similar to speed-reading. Your mind forms a
flow, and after a few counts you begin to say
the phrase, one, two, three, four, the same
way each time.
Mastering pacing is
something you should
strive for.
Once the flow is formed, its hard to break

unless you give it a different flow. I used the
word rhythmic earlier. Please note there
is a major difference between pacing and rhythm of a film, as I use the terms in this
book. Pacing is the timing of cuts, the topic of this chapter. Rhythm is the flow and
separation of the overall story, which is covered in Chapter 5.
The purpose of the one, two, three, four count is to show you the foundation of what
pacing actually is in a film. The four principles of pacing are:
1. Pattern
2. Symmetry
3. Flow
4. Timing
Pacing is your single most important editing philosophy and is the hardest to grasp. I
could sit side by side with you for a year and you still might not master it. The key to
pacing is to understand the difference between good pacing and bad pacing. Mastering pacing is something you should strive for, but there will never be a day when it
comes to you automatically. At times you may be sharp, and at other times you may
be sloppy, but you are generally never going to be perfect.
Defining Pacing
Pacing is an abstract concept that takes practice, practice, and more practice. But dont
get frustrated. Im working on a music video right now and I had to recut it three times
until I felt the pacing was right. Thats the nature of editing. The important thing is
that I knew the first two cuts were not paced well and that the third cut was right. I
knew when to keep goingand when to stop. Thats what you need to understand
about pacing.
The biggest misconception about pacing is that it has anything to do with speed
(fast cuts or scenes) or time (length). Its often assumed that the faster something is
edited, the better the pacing is. Wrong, wrong, and more degrees of wrong. Something
that is cut fast can be perfectly paced. Something thats cut extremely slow can be
perfectly paced.
Pacing Examples: Slow and Fast

A lot of great editors believe pacing is managing and utilizing the space in a scene
space meaning dead air. Some of the greatest examples of pacing come from Quentin
Tarantino. The pacing of the conversations in his films really sets the bar for pacing. An
example that sticks out in my head is the basement bar scene in Inglourious Basterds.
For those who have not seen the film and are planning to, watch it right now because
a spoiler is to follow. In the scene, British and American soldiers, who are pretending
to be German, meet up with their German contact. She is a famous German actress
who is playing a card game with a few Nazi officers when they arrive. When a German
character recognizes that one of the British men is not German, the mission falls apart
and many people die.
That scene is a masterpiece when it comes to pacingyet the pacing is very slow. That
particular scene manages the space very well. There are long pauses between lines
of dialogue and it feels just right. The pacing builds intensity instead of diminishing
intensity. Yes, the great writing and acting help, but the editing is a crucial element.
In fact, the editing may be the key ingredient to making that scene, and all scenes like
it, the masterpiece it is. It comes back to what I said in Chapter 1 about the viewer
anticipating what will happen. In this scene in particular, the viewer has a pretty clear
understanding of whats going to happen, and the long pauses in the dialogue allow
them to relish the anticipation of the predicted outcome.
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Pacing ties directly into story arc and conflict. Youll notice in that scene that the
back-and-forth dialogue gets slower as the scene goes on. Whats happening is that
the scene gets slower as the outcome becomes clearer. Tarantino uses anticipation as
a means to manage the dead air in the scene. The pacing gives you plenty of time to
anticipate the many possible outcomes of the scene.
Pacing canand often doeschange. The pacing of a particular scene is for that scene
only. Pacing is a situational concept, which is why there are no magic bullet points
for getting it right.
A 10-minute dialogue scene in The Social Network also takes place in a bar, but it
couldnt be more different from the Inglourious Basterds scene. In The Social Network,
its very fast. And it, too, is a masterful example of the art of pacing. This film, by the
way, won the Academy Award for Best Film Editing.
Pacing and Effects on the Viewer

The speed of these two example scenes may be very differentone fast, one slowbut
both are paced perfectly. Pacing is situational. Its based on the desired feel, mood,
or outcome, and is an ever-changing phenomenon. There is no set rule. Its not as
if drama is paced this way and comedy is paced that way. There certainly are trends
(which I discuss later), but no rules. A scene may start out fast paced and yet slow
down right in the middle.
I have formulated an equation (discussed later in this chapter) that may help you
determine the proper pace at any given time. But first, you need to learn the importance of feeling the right pace. Most of the time it comes down to feeling and instinct.
Consider a heart-rate monitor. Slow indicates tension, fast means intensity or action,
and normal means, well, normal.
Slow Pacing
A slow heart rate represents things like tension or anticipation. Beep beep beep.
Those long spaces give you time to think. Whats happening? When will the next beep
come? Will the next beep come? Relate those beeps to the scene in Inglourious Basterds
and the dramatic pauses between lines. You have time to anticipate. You have time
to let your mind wonder about the possibilities. You can feel the tension in the room.
The slow heart rate can fall on the totally opposite end of the emotional spectrum
as well. You can also relate romance to a slow heart rate and rely on the very nature
of being in the moment to create that pace. Picture a couple lying in bed with dim
lighting. Theyre laughing, giggling, and talking about their future together. The long
spaces between their lines can let you project yourself into their moment, or think
of a moment that was similar in your life. The slow pacing is a good calling card for
romance because it allows the viewer to really feel whats happening in the scene.
Fast Pacing
A fast heart rate represents action or intensity. Beep beep beep beep beep gives you no
time to think; youre just perceiving the storyline at an alarming rate. A great action
scene or otherwise intense scene should actually raise the viewers heart rate.
My best friend is a neuroscientist who loves nothing more than a good experiment.
We did a little testing of our own and discovered that the way a film is edited has
physical effects on the viewer. We found the effects to be most apparent during action
sequences. We monitored the heart rate of several subjects in three age groups, all
with similar health histories. (Apparently, that matters in a scientific studywhich is
why I needed my friend or else I would have just used random people.) We had them
all watch the same movies in the same environment and noticed a spike in heart rate
during the action sequences. The spike was relatively substantialan average increase
in heart rate of 9 percent. It wasnt on the level of a workout, but there was a common spike among them all at the same point in the film. That may not seem like a lot,
but if you consider that the subjects were sitting in chairs and not doing any physical
activity, its pretty impressive.
Then we showed them all an action sequence from a different film, out of context,
and nothing happened. That suggests that context, or the lead-in, matters for emotional investment. And then we did a third
test: We showed one test group an action
sequence with poor pacing and we showed
another test group the action sequence with
perfecting pacing. The results were amazing.
The viewers who watched the film with proper
pacing had the physical response. The ones
who watched the film with improper pacing showed no spike in heart rate whatsoever.
It was a fascinating test, and one day I hope to do a real study and publish the data.
But for now, my point is this: Pacing affects the viewer physically. And note that the
lead-in to scenes also has an effect on how successful certain moments will be.
Pacing affects the

viewer physically.
Fast-paced scenes should keep viewers on the edge of their seat. There are different
levels of fast. There is fast dialogue cutting, and then there is car-chaselike action.
Obviously the action sequence with no dialogue, or limited dialogue, will be much
faster, but keep the heart rate monitor in your mind. For the sake of argument, lets
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say that a fast cutting dialogue scene would hit 90 on a heart rate monitor, and an
action sequence would range from 120 to 150. (Please note that these rates represent
our scaled measurement, not a viewers actual heart rate. Just know that the viewers
heart will be beating a little faster than normal.)
Normal Pacing
Normal is the constant in the equation. Normal equals nothingno drama. Normal is
your normal heart rate in everyday life. Normal is you getting dressed. Normal is you
eating breakfast. Normal is important because when something not normal occurs, you
recognize it. Normal is the gray area between black and white. A good film is normal
much of the time. Its the flat parts of the rollercoaster between the ups and downs.
This is why pacing changes all the time. Lets say Jenny is outside working in the
garden, minding her own business (normal). We hear a child screaming from inside
the house, and Jenny pauses to listen. (At this point, the slow heart rate amplifies
the anticipation.) Then the scream happens again, and Jenny runs inside and finds a
burglar robbing the house. (Fast heart rate.) That one scene could take you through a
spectrum of emotions and heart rates, and the pacing (timing of cuts) should match
each part of the scene.
Now that you have a general idea of what pacing is, its time to break down the principles of pacing.
Principles of Pacing
Remember the four key elements of pacing: pattern, symmetry, flow, and timing.
All four elements dont need to be presentor be a focal point of the timing of your
cutsall the time. However, at least one of the four elements must be present in
pacing. By the time you finish this chapter, if you watch any movie, trailer, television
show, music video, commercial, or even a news story, you should be able to identify
one or more of these principles at play in the cutting efforts.
Are all editors working today good? No. Does everything you see on television and the
movies work? No. But for the most part, you will see these principles presentand the
better the film, the more youll be able to spot. Depending on the type of film, youll
probably find one element more present than the others. For example, movies rely
heavily on timing and flow, whereas music videos are very much a product of pattern
and timing. Symmetry is found in movies, but its a lot harder to spot than timing.
Symmetry can take place over a grand scale in a film, while timing happens constantly.
Symmetry is very prominent in great commercials. Can something be properly paced

and be missing one of these principles? Yes. But when it comes to these principles,
the more the merrier.
Now, lets explore these principles one by one.
Pattern
Pattern is a recurring editing style in a film that mirrors itself in key moments that
require close viewer attention. A very basic example of this is the film Any Given Sunday. To me, its one of the best edited films of all time and that is largely because of its
pattern. The film is about football and the politics that go with the game. The editor
throws the pattern in your face by cutting to a shot of the crowd each time a player
forgets about politics and focuses only on the game. The editor then takes that shot
of the crowd and crossfades it into a similar shot of the crowd from a long time ago
a time where only football mattered, and politics in the game did not. (A crossfade
consists of slowly fading two images together; it is discussed in Chapter 5.) Its a love
of the game moment that draws you in. The editor uses this pattern in key moments in
the film, when big plays happen that change the course of the story. Thats an extreme
example of patterna recurring editing style that has its own meaning.
Generally, the use of pattern is rare and hard to recognize, but it can be extremely
valuable. Most editors dont consider pattern to be an element of editing. They think
its just a crafty way to make the viewer pay more attention to a particular element
of the story. But to me, pattern always exists in editing. The real questions are: Are
you aware of the pattern? and Are you in control of it? Or are you merely a creature
of habit who cant help but repeat similar editing tendencies throughout the story?
Pattern and Style

Pattern can happen on a small scale or a large scale, and using pattern can help you
develop a style. In fact, pattern is branding. Who are you as an editor or filmmaker?
Ihave a pattern. I use the jump cut a lot (cutting to a different frame in the same clip,
which is explored later in this chapter). I do it in every film I make without thinking about
it. Its just something I do.
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Example: Breaking Bad

I discussed Breaking Bads use of the teaser in its nonlinear story approach in Chapter3.
If you havent watched Breaking Bad, the show began every episode with a teaser. Six
successful years of storytelling and captivating an audience, and the teaser was the
pattern. The power of this pattern became very evident with the ending of episode 8,
which capped the first half of Season 5, Part 1. (Eight episodes aired, and then one year
later the next eight aired.) The ending of episode 8 was a flash-forward to the series
finale of Season 5, Part 2, which would not air for another year. Well, during that year
speculation swirled about the show and how it would end. Just Google Breaking Bad
ending predictions to see the thousands of blog posts written predicting how it would
end (as far as I know, not one of them was right). This was a flash-forward pattern
on a grand scale.
Example: Quentin Tarantino and Inglourious Basterds

Another example of pattern on a slightly smallerbut still grandscale is the masterful
slow-paced scene in the basement pub in Inglourious Basterds. (The director, Quentin
Tarantino, has his own patterns as a filmmaker. It doesnt take long to determine
youre watching a Tarantino film.) The reason he can get away with this, or any of
the long, drawn-out dialogue scenes in his movies, is that we know someone is going
to die at the end of the scene. Inglourious Basterds opening scene runs just shy of 20
minutesthe slowest opening scene Ive ever experienced. Not many people can get
away with showing a guy chopping wood, washing his face, walking inside, waiting for
the Germans to show up, and then having a conversation in real time, and keep the
audience on the edge of their seat. Tarantino conditioned us from his first film all the
way to this film to know something amazing would happen to conclude this insanely
slow-paced introduction. He didnt let us down either. It was a slaughter.
If youve seen any of Tarantinos films, you know this as you know the sky is blue. On
a grand scale, pattern is storytelling in and of itself.
Example: Martin Scorsese

Martin Scorsese is another pattern-oriented filmmaker. His films have the classic
look of long takes (long, drawn-out shots that never cut). In every Scorsese movie
theres at least one elaborate take that seems borderline unachievable by anyone else.
Its his signature. He is old school in that his films arent overedited (too many cuts)
as a lot of films are in todays digital world. Whenever I see a long Steadicam shot of
someone walking through a room with a few hundred extras, I know Scorsese is the
brain is behind it.
Example: David Fincher and Fight Club

Now, theres one filmmaker who has no signature, and that is David Fincher. I think
Fincher is the best filmmaker alive, and arguably to ever live. This is because you cant
always tell youre watching a Fincher film. Instead, he puts the story above everything
and everyone. You cant help but respect that. For everyone else, it seems, the story is
secondary to the style. They make the movie, their way, in their vision, and in their style.
This is not a knock on everyone else, myself included, but praise for David Fincher for
the simple fact that he doesnt repeat himself. If Fincher does have a pattern or style,
its that he focuses heavily on the pattern of the story and film hes makingand not
on any overall style or preference. He creates different patterns in each of his films.
Lets talk about Finchers movie Fight Club. I believe it is the greatest movie ever made.
The layers go very deep, and so does the pattern. There are so many hidden patterns
edited into this film that it took double-digit viewings for me to catch them all. Unless
you know the story, you dont know that Edward Nortons character is talking and
interacting with himself the entire film. But once you find that out and go back and
watch the movie again, that fact is right in your face over and over again. The first
and loudest example of that is when Edward Norton is narrating the line If you woke
up in a different time, at a different place, could you wake up as a different person?
Then a shot of Brad Pitt on an electric walkway appears. Im not sure I noticed this
shot at all the first time I watched the film because the walkway is so crowded. But
now, thats the answer to the ending.
Pattern is one of the things that make this film what it is. For starters, Brad Pitts
character, Tyler Durden, flashes onscreen in a single frame several times before he
appears in the film. This is not in the book Fight Club, which the film is adapted from.
No, this is an editing decision made to reference Durdens night job as a screen projectionist, where he splices frames of inappropriate images into family films. Showing
Durden himself spliced in similarly is nothing short of genius. As Edward Nortons
character says, No one knows they saw it, but they did. Pattern links those two
things in the story.
Now, rewinding a bit in that scene, the film explains how Durden does this. At this
point, it mentions that movies dont come all on one reel, they come on a few. And
Durdens job is to change the reels in the middle of the movie. Edward Norton says,
Its called a changeover, the movie keeps on going, and no one in the audience has
any idea. This is interesting because when the reveal happens during the climax of
the film, he repeats the line again, and the pattern occurs. What pattern? Well, the
pattern of the way he says the line, and the pacing of the scenes and shot selection
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are identical. It brings home a visual familiarity that gives the viewer a subtle sense of
djvu, thus enhancing the climax. The same dropout of music happens, and you see
the cigarette burns referred to in the original scene. The patterns in this film are endless.
Another thing Fight Club has a lot of, related to pattern, is symmetry.
Symmetry
Remember Chekhovs gun from Chapter 1? If you show a gun in chapter 1, it had
better fire a shot by chapter 3. Thats symmetry. Editing should mirror the storys
symmetry and also create its own. In the story arc, the downslope is kind of a mirror
image of the upslope. It goes up to the climax, then comes down. That kind of symmetry should go as deep as you can take it into the finest detail in your film.
Remember, each scene is its own arc, too. This means each and every moment in your
film is symmetrical, just like the overall story. Another word for symmetry in the context of storytelling is balance. You cant have light without darkness. You cant have
happiness without sadness. You need to travel from one extreme to the other. The day
starts dark, the sun rises in the east, and then sets in the west. What shape does that
make? An arc. And during that day the arc can take us on a wild rollercoaster ride. It
could rain. It could snow, sleet, or hail. It could be beautiful or gloomy. The options
are endless, but balance is inevitable. There is a psychological need for balance in life
and in film.
The visual serendipity of having an even balance of wide shots and close-ups has an
astounding effect on viewers. This symmetry ensures you achieve the maximum amount
of emotional opportunity in each viewers mind. The wide shots balance the close-ups,
and the medium shots are neutral. The more even the scale of that balance, the clearer
the emotional goal becomes. Understanding this is controlling it. If you choose to tip
the scales in favor of one or the other, you need to be conscious of it and know what
youre accomplishing by doing so. Using more close-up shots than wide shots means
youre heavily focusing on characters and their emotions. In this case, youre trying
to achieve your emotional goals through expression as opposed to action. Its intense.
When you favor wide shots, youre making a conscious effort to make the viewers feel
as if theyre a part of the scene or in the room.
If it seems like Im explaining shot selection again, Im not. The point here is what
youre accomplishing with specific combinations of shots. First you learn one punch,
and then you learn a combo. Everything in editing is intertwined. Concepts bleed onto
each other. Shot selection is really about selecting the right shot at the right time;
pacing is about the timing of cuts and balancing the types of shots. Symmetry, one
of the four principles of pacing, is the bridge between the concepts of shot selection
and pacing. (Keep in mind that we havent even explored the timing of cuts, which is
the implementation of pacing. Were still talking about the principles.)
Lets take symmetry even deeper, remaining aware of the arc and starting with the
exposition (the beginning). Lets say that when you establish your conditions in the
exposition, you use a specific shot combination to introduce a concept. Jenny walks
into a bar and tells the bartender about her money problems. To establish this, you
approach it in a standard way: You establish the bar with a wide shot, single Jenny out
with a medium, and then use the close-up when she delivers the line, Im broke. Then
Jenny slides a twenty-dollar bill across the bar and asks for a refill. For this shot, you
choose an overhead, shooting straight down on the bar, featuring the top of the two
characters heads and the money. Then you punch in close on the twenty-dollar bill.
You end with a close-up of Jenny, smiling and saying, I would spend my last dollar
on this drink, I need it so bad. Jenny winks.
Your shot combination and order is crucial here. Later in the story, Jenny starts a
business, makes millions, and gets married. Then she gets divorced, loses most of
her money, and the movie ends with her depressed at the bar. Guess what happens
next? Jenny slides a twenty-dollar bill across the bar and says, I would spend my last
dollar on this drink, I need it so bad. This is where symmetry plays a role in editing.
Youve conditioned the viewer to see this moment a certain way, so if you present it
the same way, it will have a much bigger impact. You want the same shot order and
the same shot selection. I will go as far as to say that each shot should be the same
duration. Films do this all the time, and you dont even realize it.
Symmetry can happen in all kinds of ways. Repeating music, using color grades on
key moments, and adding sound effects are all ways to cue the viewers to think Ive
been here before. When the viewers feel something familiar, you should be accounting for that in the pacing. Sometimes a cue can come from other sources, and you
may need to use the pace to cue the viewers, which means approaching pacing for
the scene that it is in and not with the goal of symmetry in mind. These concepts are
explored in later chapters.
NOTE The key to symmetry is familiarity. When viewers are familiar with a
moment as they enter it, youve accomplished a great deal in your story. It
means you told them something, they remembered it, and that information helps
tell your story later on. Thats impactful storytelling and editing. There isnt a
story in the world, good or bad, that doesnt have balance. In film, editing is one
of the key ways to achieve that symmetry.
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Flow
Ask a random filmmaker for the definition of pacing. The answer is likely to involve
some sort of action. The most common response I hear is, It just moves, while the
person snaps his or her fingers. While that is a basic understanding of pacing, what
the person is really describing is a small but very important element of pacing called
flow. Its easier to understand flow when its faster, but the films that flow the best
are slower. And with the slower ones, its harder to achieve flow.
A great way to learn flow is by editing music videos. If you are just starting out as
a filmmaker and havent done much editing, start editing music videos. This is not
because theyre the be-all and end-all of film editing, but because editing music videos
can teach you some really good habits. It shows you how to cut to the music and integrate that into the editing of a film. It also can teach bad habits. Relying on cutting to
the music is a crutch that can cripple your pacing, so be careful when you try to take
the music video approach to any other type of narrative. (The exception is a montage,
a collection of short shots edited together to condense space, time, and information,
discussed in Chapter 5.)
These days, most videos dont have much of a story. Its sad but true. I dont do many
of them anymore. When I first started out as an editor, I did a lot of rap videos. They
were basic with people rapping to the camera in five or six cool locations. I didnt
know any better, and it forced me to be a good editor. In some situations, editing is
all you have to make something remotely acceptable. I believe every editor should
work on at least three music videos. You can only take them so far, but its an exercise
in flow. Because theres no story, you usually have one speed: fast. So it flows like a
river from start to finish with fast cuts all the way through. This can teach you the
value of a single frame.
With a story, however, you need to take your flow and move it into storytelling.
You also need to understand that a story has many different speeds. Some parts
are fast and some parts are slow. Understanding the flow of the river is what helps
you determine what cutting speed to use. The speed of the actual narrative is a good
indicator of cutting speed. Whatever the speed of the story or the arc is, you want
to match it. Flow means making hard choices. You may end up cutting redundant
lines. You may shorten or lengthen pauses. You may take a facial expression from
one part of the scene and move it to a different scene because you want to alter the
speed of the cutting. You dont edit a film exactly how its shotyou trim the fat
and beef up the meat.
I compare the ending of scenes or moments to texting. If youre texting a friend back
and forth, it could look a little something like this:
You: Hey what r u doing tonight?
Friend: Nothing, u want to get together?
You: Yeah I get off work at 6, happy hour doesnt end until 9, want to go?
Friend: Yeah lets do it, u r buying the first round.
You: OK cool. Ill have the cold beer waiting for u.
Friend: OK
Thats a standard conversation. The part that drives me insane is the response OK.
Really? You wasted a whole message on that? Thats how you need to treat film flow.
If it doesnt move the story forward, cut it. The OK contributes nothing to the story.
You can make the argument that its closure to the scene. When it comes to the beginning and ending, try thinking of each scene as a piece of the bigger story. You dont
need closure in every scene. A scene can just end before we, as an audience, see it end.
Goodbyes with Meaning

My brother, a lawyer, asked me why people never say goodbye at the end of phone
conversations on TV. They just hang up. Its a waste of time to say goodbye. Its much
quicker to hang up, I responded. Its as simple as that. Every second is valuable. Every
word that isnt accomplishing something is a second your viewer could give up on you.
That is why we let the viewer assume the goodbye without showing it.
Saying goodbye, however, can be a major plot point. Maybe a woman is saying goodbye
to her father on his deathbed. In that case, its an emotional goodbye that will stay with
the character for the rest of the story. Here, you linger in the moment as long as you can
because youre capitalizing on the emotional.
The lesson here is that its not about the words spokenits about the context theyre
spoken in. A person saying goodbye at the end of a casual phone call doesnt compare
to a woman saying goodbye to her father on his deathbed. Even if the words are the
same, the context of the moment calls for a different pacing.
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TIP One of the best things you can do as an editor is edit your scenes with this
philosophy in mind: Enter in the middle of the scene and leave before its over.
When you enter in the middle of the moment, viewers are already playing catch-up.
That gives their minds something to do. Theyre establishing a backstory in their
minds with information youre giving them. The same thing works for the ending.
Leave before its over, and the audience gets to infer the ending with the information
you gave them. This feeds the idea that the film is a collaboration between filmmaker
and viewer.
Dont finalize things. Now, take this with a minor grain of salt. What I mean is every
conversation in your story doesnt need to come to a complete close. Watch any movie
at random and count the number of scenes that end with some sort of finalizing line
(such as OK, goodbye, see you later) or a character walking out of the scene. You wont
find manyor any. Thats because of flow. The editor made the choice to trim the fat.
Timing
Timing refers to deciding when to make a cut. Timing is the sixth sense of an editor.
Knowing exactly at which frame to cut from one clip to the other is learned by experience. Experience is the key to good timing. Being able to say, Ive been here before
is the true measure of greatness. The main problem with that is that youve actually
never been there before. You may have been in similar situations, but not the same.
Before becoming a filmmaker, I was a professional poker player. You might be thinking, Wow, those careers seem vastly different. Yes, they certainly offer different
lifestyles, but the mental focus, attention to detail, and importance of past experiences
are quite similar. In poker, they say youll never be in the same situation two times.
Its true. The room, the cards, the money at stake, the people in the hand, the time of
day, the build-up to that handall of those details come into play during any given
hand. Its a true ripple effect. It may seem like youve been in this situation before,
but its not the same.
Thats true of film as well. Youll never actually be in the same situation twice. All you
can do is take each situation for what its worth and log it into your mental library
as to how such situations play out. Youll call upon your mental library in each and
every decision you make. Some call that instinct, and sure, instinct plays a role. But
history also plays an important role in the decision of when to cut. Being good at
pacing doesnt mean being able to sit down with raw footage and make a beautifully
paced film on the first try. Pacing is about trial and error. Its about looking at a film
and saying, No, we need to start over. For quick turnarounds, same-day edits, and
the like, just know that a rushed film will never reach its true potential. Edited films
almost always require a period of mental processing. You shouldnt spend 12 hours
editing a film and then immediately judge your work. You need some distance. You
need to take time to process.
Pacing is being able to look at a film and know that its improperly paced. Being a disciplined editor means having the patience to re-edit a film until it feels right. (Youll
explore the timing of cuts later in this chapter.)
Spotting Cues to Timing

When the word timing is used in the context of pacing, its referring to using the
cues as a means to cut. Cues can come from anywhere, but usually they come from
your characters. If a character looks at something, chances are your next shot will be
what he sees. It seems like the same idea as the narrative perspective, but the lag time
between when the character looks at something and when you show what he sees is
timing. How long you delay what the character sees will determine its emotional impact.
The cue comes from the moment as well. If she looks into her wallet to see how much
money is inside, holding on her face for three seconds before you show the wallet is
probably not a good idea because shes just checking. However, if we as the audience
know how much money she has, and shes checking her wallet to find out money has
been stolen, then you would hold on her face to capture her reaction.
This ties back to the narrative perspective discussed in Chapter 3. When I talked
about showing what characters see, I never specifically covered when or if they should
seethings.
Example: Timing in Action

Lets say Mary and Sally are sitting in the dining room eating dinner. The story is told
from Marys perspective. Sally asks Mary, What time is it? As the editor, you should
show Sally asking the question. Then you show Mary looking at her watch. Do you
show the actual watch? No. The only reason to show the watch is if the time of day is
important to the story. In this case, Mary simply replies, 5:30. Showing the watch
would be bad timing.
If several shots of the watch were filmed with the intent of using them, you may feel
like you need to show the watch. But dont be distracted by what you have. Why is this
a case of timing and not shot selection? Well, its always a case of shot selection, just
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as its always a case of narrative perspective. The pacing will be destroyed if you show
the shot of the watch because the viewer doesnt need a visual reference to something
that doesnt matter. In short, no matter where you time the shot of the watch, it wont
be timed properly. Its a shot set for failure.
Sometimes, editors get lost in the shots they have and feel like they need to use
everything. Lets continue the scene. After the time is established, Mary and Sally
hear a loud bang in the kitchen. Sally gets up and runs to the kitchen. She looks in
the kitchen and says, Oh no, youre not going to believe this. Mary, walking slowly
behind, enters the doorway and sees broken plates on the floor.
The shot sequence and timing would be as follows: You show a shot of the two women
reacting to the bang. In the same shot, Sally gets up. You show Sally reacting to what
shes seeing in the kitchen, and then her line to Mary. You do not show whats in the
kitchen at this point. Thats bad timing. There are three reason not to do that here:
Youve created a moment of anticipation. The viewers are asking themselves,

What is it?
The story is told from Marys perspective; if she hasnt seen it yet, neither
have you.
Once youve seen what made the bang, the story is over. Everything after
that doesnt matter.
Now Mary enters the doorway and reacts to whats in the kitchen. Focus on her reaction as long as possible. Then, in the frame before you feel it becomes redundant, cut
to what Mary sees. That, in a nutshell, is timing.
Timing of Cuts: The Pacing Formula

Pacing is the timing of cuts. This section helps you determine the proper timing of cuts.
Dont confuse this with the concept of timing as discussed earlier. Timing is a singular
moment while the timing of cuts refers to a plural concept. This means determining
an average cut time through the scene. The equation youre about to learn is not an
exact scienceits a guideline to help you analyze the type of pacing you need and
analyze whether the pace youve created is correct. Ready? Here it is:
Speed of Conversation + Length of Scene + Number of Characters + Drama + Mood = Pace
Ask yourself, Whats my goal? Whats the scene trying to accomplish in terms of
feelings of the viewer?
The following sections discuss these elements of the equation in detail. Remember,
each one is only one element of the equation. Each part of the equation plays an equal
role in determining what the pace should be.
Speed of Conversation in a Scene

When I say the speed of conversation, Im referring to an actual conversation in a scene.
The conversation is the foundation for all of editing, as discussed later. (If a scene doesnt
have a conversation, then substitute scene for conversation, and the scene would center
on the unfolding of events.) Even in a music video, the lyrics act as a conversation.
The speed of conversation means the natural speed in which characters in the scene
communicate back and forth. If the scene is an argument between two characters, it
would have a much faster back and forthfaster cuttingthan if twocharacters are
talking about the weather. The pacing of the scene reflects the speed of the conversation.
OUT OF ORDER MOVIE Take a look at timecode 1:15:19 in the Out of Order
movie. Focus on the pacing of the scene: It starts out slow and builds throughout the scene, and then drops back to a slower pace by the end (Figure 4.1).
It follows the natural flow of the conversation. However, the part you should be
focusing on here is that as the speed of the conversation picks up, the cutting
speed also picks up.
F igure 4.1 The conversation starts slow and then speeds up.
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Its best to look at the natural flow, or intended natural flow, of the conversation
and use that as a basis. For example, wedding vows naturally have a slower back and
forth. Usually, the vows are used as the climax of a wedding film, so you may want
to find ways that the pacing is faster than the organic flow of that conversation. A
trick I like to use is moving into an intercutting sequence (see Chapter 3 for more on
intercutting). I use footage from other parts of the wedding, making the vows last
longer but with faster cuts.
If you didnt want to interrupt the vows, you could simply use a faster cutting speed
during the vows. The key is to include reaction shots from the audience in addition to
the bride and groom talking. You dont always have to show the person who is talking.
Once their vows are covered with B-roll, you can actually change the speed in which
they talk by elongating or shortening the pauses between words.
The speed of conversation is always the first element of a scene I consider. The original intention is always the constant. Youre either trying to re-create, go faster, or
go slower, but the point is the original intention gives you a reference as opposed to
working from an abstract idea.
TIP The speed of the conversation will have an effect on the average cut
time. A slow conversation should average fewer cuts per second than a
fasterconversation.
Length of Scene
The length of scene is another indicator of pace. The following is not a rule, but a guideline: The longer the scene is, the faster the pacing should be to help sustain interest
and make things feel shorter than they actually are. Unless your name is Quentin
Tarantino, youre not likely to generate interest in a dialogue scene that lasts eight
minutes. Generally, the longer the scene, the faster the pace should be.
Consider two guys talking about the weather. How long do you think you can get away
with that before your audience turns on you? Forty-five seconds to a minute might be
the longest anyone could stand a scene like that. Thats not very long, but it goes hand
in hand with the speed of conversation theory. If you have two guys talking about the
weather, the speed of the conversation is most likely slower, and a 45-second scene
matches with the slower pace. Now you should be seeing how the pieces of the equation start to align. With characters arguing, the scene could easily last two to three
minutes, and it would require a faster pace.
Let me throw a monkey wrench into this situation, however. Lets say you have a
two-minute scene of two characters talking about the weather, and you want it to
feel properly paced. What do you do? First,
hope this never happens. Second, one thing
you can count on is that if a story takes two
minutes to talk about the weather, then its
a very important story element. The weather
may be affecting the characters travel plans
or even threatening their lives. These things
lead to intensity, which in turn leads to a
faster pace. That aligns with the length of
your scene.
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Ive yet to make a film

where every scripted
scene made the final
cut of the movie.
You may be thinking, What if I have a scene with two characters talking about the
weather that lasts two minutes and its not important to the story at all? Then your
solution is easy: Cut the scene. Hard choices need to be made. Ive yet to make a film
where every scripted scene made the final cut of the movie. Talking about meaningless
weather sounds like a great scene to cut.
Number of Characters
The number of characters is another important element in the art of pacing. The more
characters you have, the more vantage points you have the opportunity to show. Its
a game of numbers. If you have two characters in a room talking about the weather,
youre pretty limited in what you can show. Because talking about the weather doesnt
generally result in an intense, fast conversation, the pacing is going to be slower. But
if you have six characters in a room talking about the weather, then all of a sudden
the pacing can be amplified.
OUT OF ORDER MOVIE Take a look at 1:04:44 in the Out of Order film. Two
people in a room are talking. Immediately following this scene, seven people in
a room are talking. Notice how the pacing drastically switches between the two
scenes just because of the number of characters (Figure 4.2). The conversation
isnt more intense, and the speed of the conversation hasnt changed. It comes
down to more characters and their reactions. Try counting how many times it
cuts to a character who isnt talking.
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F igure 4.2 More characters leads to a faster pace and more cutting.
Think about two people in a room talking about the weather; youll likely have three
usable shots. A wide shot, a two-shot of both characters, and a medium shot of both
characters. Its unlikely that you would have a close-up of either character because
using close-ups would produce a repetitive-looking scene that offers no visual stimulus.
If theres no intensity in what the characters are saying, as a viewer I need the visual
stimulus of wide and medium shots because the context of the moment is equal to
what theyre saying.
I have a theory I call 3s company that says once you add a third person to the scene,
you immediately gain an opportunity to show a significant number of shots that you
couldnt have before. Lets say you add a third person to the weather conversation
scene. Now you still have the original three-shot opportunities, but you also have
five more to add to that list. You now have a wide three-shot of all the characters. You
have a medium shot of the third character. You also have a combination of two shots
showing two of the three characters. This third character offers more shots, which
leads to more cuts, which leads to faster cuts, which leads to a faster pace. Heres the
best part about the third person: They dont even have to talk. All they have to do is
react. If they react to whats being said in the scene, then theyre a part of the scene.
According to the 3s company theory, the more characters you have, the more vantage
points you have an opportunity to show.
Drama and Mood

Drama is associated with what you want the viewers to feel. Drama is something you
can control. Mood, on the other hand, is something the characters feel, and its totally
out of your hands. (That is up to the story.) These two concepts dont always line up
sometimes they do and sometimes they dont. Think about a comedy, for example.
Physical comedy refers to pain. If a character slips and falls in a dramatic way, hes
going to feel pain. The viewers wont feel pain, thoughtheyll just laugh. Drama is
between you and the audience; mood is between the characters.
You can have three different characters in a scene who all feel different emotions, while
the audience is feeling something different from all the characters. The major thing
that comes into play here is the narrative perspective. If youre telling the story from
a particular characters perspective, your hands are tied.
Back to the weather conversation. Three characters are in a two-minute scene talking
about weather. Two of the characters are joking and the third character is scared. The
viewers should associate with the funny characters. Three characters (Number of Characters) + a two-minute scene (Length of Scene) + a fast-talking conversation (Speed of
Conversation) + wanting the audience to laugh (Drama) + the mixed emotions of the
characters, laughter and fear (Mood) = a faster-paced scene. Almost all the elements
point to a fast pace, and the point that brings it home is drama.
TIP Comedy tends to have a faster, poppy pace. Its not quite as fast as action,
but its faster than most genres. (Poppy refers to popcorn cutting, discussed in
the next section. It just means that the cutting happens at the ends of lines.
Simply put, whenever a character is talking, you can see them. This doesnt
mean any genre has a particular cutting style; its more of a current trend.)
Types of Cuts
Many different types of cuts are available when you hit the editing board. A cut isnt
just a cut, unless its whats known as a hard cut. When choosing the type of cut to
use at any given time, your decision will depend on four things: genre, length, style,
and pacing. Some genres favor certain types of cuts, which are covered in the following sections.
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The thing to remember is that there is never really a right answer. After all, editing is an
art form, and you can go in whatever direction you choose. I can only offer guidelines
on choosing the types of cuts that follow the pattern of where editing is today. Fifty
years ago the trends were much different.
TIP Pacing will always be your biggest indicator of what cut to use and
howtotime it.
Hard Cut
A standard cut, or hard cut, means simply cutting from clip A to clip B as shown in
Figure 4.3. You can see here that a hard cut in the middle of this conversation would be
seamless. Theres no question about where we are. However, if you want to transition
to another part in the story, because of the jarring hard cut that its name suggests, it
doesnt give a viewer much time to acclimate to the new scene. This is why most hard
cuts are contained within a scene and not used to go from scene to scene.
F igure 4.3 In a hard cut, the most commonly used type of cut, you cut from
clip A to clip B.
Hard cuts are quite commonly used, especially in television. Usually, they are used
when going from scene to scene. Often a transition isnt needed to make a smooth cut
to another moment in your film. The main advantage of hard cutting is that it gives
the viewer zero time to process or question.
I always weigh the use of a hard cut based on what Im trying to achieve in the viewers
response. If I want them to be in moment A, and then instantly be in moment B, I use
a hard cut. To make this work, youll obviously be depending on the audience members
to transition themselves to that moment. If youre traveling to a different time in the
story, a hard cut isnt a good idea because its perceived to be the same time period.
Idiscuss the concept of time in Chapter 6.
The exception to this recommendation is if youve established the jumping around in
time in advance. In that case, a hard cut is useful because the audience knows instantly
where they are and the story moves much faster. Using a hard cut is entirely based
on the context.
Jump Cut
A jump cut cuts from a frame in a clip to a later frame in the same clipor to a clip
that looks very similar. The two shots in Figure 4.4 show what a jump cut looks like.
In most cases, I dont recommend jump cuts. If a scene has someone giving a speech
on a stage, you wouldnt just cut to a later point in the speech in the same shot. You
need to cover the cut with a B-roll shot or cut to a different angle of the speech to keep
the visual fluidity. However, at times you can use a jump cut for stylistic purposes.
Thats something I tend to do quite a bit.
F igure 4.4 In this example of a jump cut, the frames look similar because theyre
from the same exact clip. The image on the right, however, comes from much later
inthe clip.
In the stylistic format, a jump cut can mean one of two things:
Passing time
Repetition over time
Lets start with the idea of passing time. Say that a girl tells a boy, Wait here. Ill be
right back. The girl exits, and the camera fixates on the boy as he waits. The point of
your story is that the girl takes forever to come backor maybe doesnt come back at
all. You need to give the viewers the impression of time passing, without forcing them
to sit there and watch him wait in real time. This is an ideal time to use a jump cut.
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OUT OF ORDER MOVIE At timecode 00:08:04 in the Out of Order film you can
see a great example of a jump-cutting sequence as books stack higher without
the frame changing (Figure 4.5). This is an example of using jump cutting to
pass time in a visually interesting way.
F igure 4.5 Books magically start to stack as the character works.
One way to create this type of jump cut is to lock your camera down and never move
it. Then, have your subject run through a variety of actions and poses that are associated with waiting. Maybe he twiddles his thumbs. Then he paces back and forth. He
does a few jumping jacks. He stretches. He lies on the ground. You record all that in
one long clip, make cut points in the parts you dont want, and then condense the
long clip down into its many parts. In the playback, it looks like the subject moves
around doing all these different actions, but the shot never moves. This trick gives
the audience the impression that a lot of time has passed, but it only took you a small
amount of time to do it.
Another way to do a jump cut involves repetition over time. This is the exact same
idea, with less need to lock the camera down. Personally, I would still lock it down for
seamless purposes, but its totally acceptable and even trendy to give it a fly-on-thewall look. Lets say this same boy goes into a clothing store to find an outfit for the
big night. You set up your camera over his shoulder as he looks in a mirror and tries
on 20 different outfits. You record one long clip and then cut out the dead space. Its
the same idea as the other jump cut, except the camera isnt locked down. You might
use this same technique in a dialogue setting when a character is doing a repetitive
dialogue delivery. Maybe its a series of jokes or funny faces. The point here is that
a character repeats an action in a variety of ways, and you choose to showcase them
all, one after the other.
L-Cut and J-Cut

Editors also need to master L-cuts and J-cuts. A J-cut occurs when the audio from the
next clip is heard before the video. An L-cut is when the video switches before the
audio. The names of these cuts come from the shapes they make on the cutting timeline:
J-cut means you hear the audio before you see the video that matches with
that audio. It doesnt mean youre staring at a black screen. It just means
youre looking at clip A while hearing the audio from clip B.
L-cut means youre still hearing the audio from a shot but youre seeing a
new shot. The viewer is looking at clip B while still hearing audio from clip A.
Heres an example of a J-cut: A character says his line, and the other character starts
to say his linebut the camera remains on the first character. Then, in the middle of
the other characters response, it cuts to that second character. The J-cut is the key to
creating good conversational dialogue. (Remember, conversations are the foundation
for all of editing.)
A good way to practice editing is to take a conversation between two characters and
try to edit it together in the most seamless way possible. You cant do that without
L-cutting and J-cutting because they make things more conversational. You are
accustomed to seeing J-cuts and L-cuts because every drama show on television uses
these techniques.
The question isnt really about whether you should be L-cutting or J-cuttingits about
the timing. You can find clues to the timing in the conversations grammar. When do
you cut from one character to the other in a conversation? Listen to the dialogue and
try to find the punctuation (such as commas) and beats in what theyre saying.
For example, look at this sentence: I drove to the store, and when I pulled in the
parking lot, guess who was standing right there?
That sentence has two break points delineated by commas. You could use one or both
commas as cut points. You might cut once at the first comma, and cut back at the second
comma. Doing so offers a conversational flow to the scene and includes the character
who is not talking as part of the response. If no natural commas occur in the dialogue,
try to find the pauses in the dialogue. Use those moments as your cut points.
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Remember these three things:
For cut points, you can use multiple commas, one comma, or none. If youre
cutting to another character during a sentence, use the commas as your
reference point for cuts.
Cutting to the other characters reactions is what adds conversational flow

and reminds the audience that this is a conversation. By cutting to an
expression, youre creating the conversation. This is why the conversation
is the foundation of editing. There doesnt even need to be a response. By
simply showing that other character, you have created the response. Its so
important to practice this because you do it in editing all the time.
Not every piece of dialogue offers this opportunity. A character saying

Hello! does not offer this same technique. You would never want to cut
in the middle of a word. That situation is where popcorn cutting comes
intoplay.
All the types of cuts are used in all genres, but drama is where youll find L-cutting
and J-cutting used the most.
Popcorn Cut
Popcorn cutting, which is generally reserved for comedy, is very simple: If a character
is talking, they are onscreen. There are no reaction shots while someone else is talking. An extreme version of popcorn cutting is that to show a characters reaction at
a key point in the middle of the dialogue, you show the reaction, break the dialogue,
and then cut back to the character speaking. Popcorn cutting is also sometimes used
in fast-paced dialogue.
Pacing is an ever-changing phenomenon. It changes with the times, and can change
right in the middle of a scene. The most important thing is to learn to be able to tell
the difference between right pacing and wrong pacing. Once you know that, its a
matter of trial and error.
Cutting on the Action

Considering the story arc and conflict are at the top of the list of important things
in editing. This is not because theyre so utterly important to the actual craft of an
editor, but because theyre important to the decision making of an editor. Its also
because theyre overlooked by most editors. Cutting on the action is the single most
important technique when it comes to making films visually seamless.
The best kind of cut is one the viewers dont see. Of course, you can see every cut, but
some you notice and some you dont. Cutting on the action is the best way to hide a
cut. Cutting on the action is exactly what it sounds like: When action spreads across
two or more clips, the editor makes a cut in the middle of that action.
Note that action is just another word for movement. For example, Figure 4.6 shows
a man drinking. Your eyes go directly to the movement (youll have to imagine the
movement in the still image). Always remember that in film: The viewers eyes go
tomovement. So when viewers watch the completion of an action across two clips,
they dont pay attention to the cut.
F igure 4.6 Notice how your eyes are drawn to movementthe man drinking.
Cutting on the action means making your cut points in the middle of movements
suchasthis.
Heres the best example I can give: Consider a pitchers wind-up in a baseball game.
Say you are filming with two cameras (or maybe one camera and you film the same
scene twice). Your ideal cut point is in the middle of the pitchers release of the ball.
As soon as his hand gets to the top of his release, thats when you cut from one clip
to the other. The hand motion is happening so fast that your eye is trying to find the
finishing of the movement. The searching for movement across clips occurs instantly.
You can use this method on any type of shot. If you have a wide shot of a man setting
a glass on a table, you can cut to a close-up of the glass as it hits the table in the middle
of the movement. The movement can be fast or slow, big or small. As the editor, try
to find the action and use that as a basis for cut points while factoring in everything
else, and your cuts will be seamless.
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Index
Numbers
3s company theory, 118
21 Grams, 95, 204
25th Hour, 53, 204
A
action, cuts on, 124125. See also falling action;
rising action
Acts 1-3 of stories, 4
Adobe Bridge, using, 184185
Affleck, Ben, 204
aha moments, 35
ambient sound
explained, 160
removing for effect, 164, 166
room tone, 161162
timecode 00:17:49, 160
Anderson, Dwight, 182
antagonist, 4243
anticipation, 9
building, 26
creating via audio, 177
explained, 23
Any Given Sunday, 204
conflict, 145
pattern, 105
rhythm, 129
social conflict, 45
time control, 145
Argo, 48, 204
Aristotles unified plot (diagram), 10
A-roll, 71
audience digestion, 131, 133135. See also
separation
audio
ambient sound, 159164
breakdown, 173
capturing, 158
components in film, 159160
corneal reflex, 175
cutting on loud sounds, 174
dB (decibel), 175
dialogue, 159, 167169
headphones, 158
justifying, 162163
learning about, 157
logging, 192
music, 159, 169172
recording in quiet rooms, 158
sound effects, 159, 164167
timecode 21:21, 163

using to create anticipation, 177
voiceover, 160
audio clips, fading together, 176
audio editing, leveling, 156
audio engineering, 156
audio help, starting edits with, 177
audio recorder, using for room sound, 162
audio recording
clean, 174
relative to distance, 173174
The Social Network, 174
voices, 174
audio tracks, playing, 159
audio transitions
constant power fade, 176
exponential fade, 176
gain fade, 176
audio wave, peak in, 174175
The Aviator, 205
inner conflict, 50
multiple conflicts, 40
shot selection, 75
Avildsen, John G., 210
B
Babel, 95, 205
backwards storytelling, 96
balance. See symmetry
Bay, Michael, 174
Benioff, David, 208
The Big Bang Theory, 130, 205
bins
creating, 188, 190191
and sub-bins, 186
Blow, 166167, 205
Bourne series, 166
Breaking Bad, 205
climax, 27
final episode, 31
flash-forward teasers, 9293
pattern, 107
pilot, 133
as puzzle to solve, 16
breaking the fourth wall, 83
Bridge, using, 184185
B-roll, 59, 71
BulletProof, using, 184
214
Index
C
Cameron, James, 212
changeover, relevance to pattern, 107
character arc, example of, 19. See also story arcs
characters. See also main character
arcs of, 13
connecting to conflicts, 2526
developing, 1819
identifying with, 1314
introducing, 1719, 34
number of, 117118
omitting introduction from resolution, 34
positions of, 20
The Pre-Nup example, 17
requirements, 3940
Chekov, Anton, 30, 108
climax
and brain function, 2829
Breaking Bad, 27
connecting to beginning, 3031
editing process, 182
goals, 2932
intense moments, 2930
leading to, 2627
misconception, 27
occurrence of, 4
relationship to plot points, 27
role in story arcs, 45
turning the corner, 3132
clips. See also ordering clips
handles, 190
viewing in and out points, 189
close-ups
best practice, 66
conflict, 7071
CU and ECU (extreme close-up), 65
emotions in groups, 6869
foreshadowing, 68
key elements, 68
objects, 68
overview, 65
protagonists, 6667
timing, 6566
using, 66
Cocaine Cowboys, 94, 206
Cohen, Rob, 207
conditions and conflict, establishing, 22
conflict
The Aviator, 40
basis of, 3940
connecting to characters, 2526
cosmic, 5153
determining, 39
developing, 2425
explained, 39
Hells Angels, 40
human vs. destiny or fate, 5153
human vs. group, 4345
human vs. human, 4143
human vs. self, 4851
human vs. technology, 5455
importance of, 22, 39
inner, 4851
multiple, 40
versus negativity, 42, 44
paranormal, 5455
reinforcing in close-ups, 7071
relational, 4143
relationship to plot, 39
as requirement, 49
rules of, 40
and shot selection, 57, 7173
situational, 4648
social, 4345
connection versus reaction, 25
conversations
flow of, 112, 116
speed of, 115116
Corben, Billy, 206
corneal reflex, 175
cosmic conflict
25th Hour, 53
Dj Vu, 53
examples, 52
Gravity, 53
overview, 5153
timecode 1:20:54, 52
Cosmos, 94, 206
Crash, 95, 206
crossfades, 105, 138139
Cruz, Penelope, 166167
CU (close-up). See close-ups
Cuarn, Alfonso, 208
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, 93, 206
cuts. See also timing cuts
on action, 124125
determining, 120
hard, 120121
jump, 121123
L- and J-, 123124
popcorn, 124
D
Dallas Buyers Club, 45, 206
The Dark Knight, 43, 206
dB (decibel), measurement of, 175
Dj Vu, 53, 207
Demme, Ted, 205
Depp, Johnny, 166167
Index
dialogue
audio mixing, 168
close-up shots, 167168
medium shots, 167168
pauses between, 131
room size and reverb, 168169
using room tone for, 167168
wide shots, 167
dip to white, 139
Dobkin, David, 212
documentaries
Sicko, 94
Survive and Advance, 96
downloads for book, accessing, 5, 41
drama and mood, 119. See also moods
dramatic pauses, 102
dump timeline, creating, 195196
Durden, Tyler, 107
exposition
avoiding repetition, 24
awareness of viewers, 1517
character positions, 20
conditions, 22
conflict, 22
constructing, 16
explained, 14
goals, 1617
importance of, 1415
introducing characters, 1719
The Matrix, 14, 137
moods, 2122
narrative base, 15
The Pre-Nup example, 6, 1415
settings, 2021
ECU (extreme close-up), 65

editing
impact of story arcs on, 78
purposefulness of, 4
editing board, 8
editing process. See also logging bins
asset management, 184185
beginning, 181
bins and sub-bins, 186
climax, 182
downloading footage, 185186
dump timeline, 195196
Evernote note-taking software, 183184
Expedia event film, 199200
exposition, 182
falling action, 182
finding the story, 181182
labeling folders, 186187
labeling preliminaries, 183185
logging audio, 192
logging preliminaries, 183185
narrative base, 196199
overview, 180
resolution, 182
rising action, 182
rough cuts, 201
story arcs, 201
summarizing, 201
using thumbnails, 184185
Eisenstein, Sergei, 141
emotional shape, 8
ending stories, 31
endings, difficulty of, 3334
Evernote note-taking software, 183184
Expedia event film, 199200
Fab Five: The Texas Cheerleader, 207

fade to black, 138
fading to black, 130, 134
falling action. See also action
concluding, 3233
goals, 32
versus rising action, 33
The Fast and the Furious, 1112, 207
Fight Club, 207
first-person narrative, 8081
inner conflict, 51
pattern, 107
telling story backwards, 87
tying up loose ends, 3435
filmmakers, relationship to viewers, 9
films. See also TV shows; video examples
21 Grams, 95, 204
25th Hour, 53, 204
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, 93
about war, 44
Any Given Sunday, 45, 129, 145, 204
Argo, 48, 204
The Aviator, 40, 50, 75, 133, 205
Babel, 95, 205
The Big Bang Theory, 205
Blow, 166167, 205
Bourne series, 166
Breaking Bad, 205
Crash, 95, 206
215
216
Index
films (continued)
Dj Vu, 53, 207
Fight Club, 3435, 51, 207
Forrest Gump, 79, 93, 207
Game of Thrones, 164
Gladiator, 129
The Godfather, Part III, 164, 208
Goodfellas, 87, 208
Gravity, 53, 208
Hells Angels, 40
The Hunger Games, 142, 209
Inception, 55, 92, 209
Inglourious Basterds, 101102, 209
J. Edgar, 93
Jaws, 12, 209
Mad Men, 209
The Matrix, 14, 35, 5051, 92, 210
Moneyball, 55, 133, 210
Out of Order, 55
The Prestige, 43, 210
Pulp Fiction, 129
Remember the Titans, 45, 210
Rocky films, 210
Sicko, 211
The Social Network, 43, 93, 211
Star Wars, 92, 211
Stomp the Yard, 129
This Is the End, 48, 211
Titanic, 47, 212
Transformers, 174
Wedding Crashers, 138, 212
Fincher, David, 107, 206207, 211
first-person narrative
editing, 150151
Fight Club, 8081
Goodfellas, 80
The Matrix, 80
overview, 8082
riding along with main character, 8284
timecode 39:12, 81
flashbacks
and intercutting, 8990
as teasers, 92
flips. See story arcs
flow
of conversation, 116
conversations, 112
explained, 110
learning, 110
texting example, 111
folders, labeling, 186187
Foley sound effects, 164167
footage
browsing with thumbnails, 184185
downloading, 185186
Ford Coppola, Francis, 208
foreshadowing, 68
Freytag, Gustav, 10
Friends, 130
G
Game of Thrones, 141, 164, 208
Gilligan, Vince, 205
Gladiator, 129
goals for films, reexamining, 151
Goldberg, Evan, 211
Gonzlez Irritu, Alejandro, 204205
goodbyes, meaningfulness of, 111
Goodfellas, 80, 87, 208
Gravity, 53, 208
gun reference, 30, 108
H
Haggis, Paul, 206
handles, using with clips, 190
hard cuts, 120121
Hells Angels, movies, 40
Hock, Jonathan, 211
Homeland, 74, 208
House of Cards, 83, 208
Hughes, Howard, 40
human
vs. destiny or fate, 5153
vs. environment conflict, 46
vs. group conflict, 4345
vs. human conflict, 4143
vs. self conflict, 4851
vs. technology, 5455
I
in and out points
changing, 190
creating, 189
inciting incident, 11
Inglourious Basterds, 101102, 106, 209
inner conflict
The Aviator, 50
example, 74
examples, 49
Fight Club, 51
The Matrix, 5051
overview, 4851
instinct, mixing with pattern, 5657
Index
intensity in films, dealing with, 144145

intercutting
avoiding overuse, 90
concurrent scenes, 90
explained, 88
filming for, 91
and flashbacks, 8990
order, 91
timecode 03:20, 88
J
J. Edgar, 93
Jaws, 1112, 209
jump cuts
passing time, 121123
repetition over time, 121123
timecode 00:08:04, 122
L
L- and J-cuts
characters reactions, 124
cut points, 124
dialogue, 124
example, 123
explained, 123
using, 123
Lawyer Interview clip, 184
Lee, Spike, 204
length
of scene, 116117
of story, 7475
leveling, role in audio editing, 156
lighting, wide shots, 6061
logging
completing rounds of, 194
in and out points, 189190
logging bins. See also editing process
lining up audio, 192193
logging audio, 192
overview, 188189
process, 194
scrubbing, 191
source screen, 189
Lucas, George, 211
M
Mad Men, 74, 209
main character, riding along with, 8284. See also
characters
major plot arc, The Pre-Nup example, 6
The Matrix, 210
exposition, 14, 137
first-person narrative, 80
inner conflict, 5051
resolution, 35
separation, 138
universes setting teaser, 92
medium shots
context, 64
emotion, 64
overview, 63
Miller, Bennett, 210
Moneyball, 55, 210
montages
defined, 135
overview, 140144
Rocky films, 140141
self-contained, 142143, 148
space and time, 142
transitional, 143144
moods. See also drama and mood
enhancing with music, 172
establishing, 2122
Moore, Michael, 94, 211
movies. See also TV shows; video examples
21 Grams, 95, 204
25th Hour, 53, 204
about war, 44
Any Given Sunday, 45, 129, 145, 204
Argo, 48, 204
The Aviator, 40, 50, 75, 133, 205
Babel, 95, 205
Blow, 166167, 205
Bourne series, 166
Breaking Bad, 205
Crash, 95, 206
Dj Vu, 53, 207
Fight Club, 3435, 51, 207
Game of Thrones, 164
Gladiator, 129
Goodfellas, 87, 208
Gravity, 53, 208
Hells Angels, 40
Inglourious Basterds, 101102, 209
J. Edgar, 93
Jaws, 12, 209
Mad Men, 209
The Matrix, 14, 35, 5051, 92, 210
Moneyball, 55, 133, 210
217
218
Index
movies (continued)
Out of Order, 55
Pulp Fiction, 129
Rocky films, 210
Sicko, 211
The Social Network, 43, 93, 211
Star Wars, 92, 211
Stomp the Yard, 129
Titanic, 47, 212
Transformers, 174
music
characters and cut points, 171
cutting to, 172
hiding mistakes, 171
mood enhancement, 172
pacing and cut points, 171
scores, 170
selecting, 169171
songs, 170
sound, 172
sources, 170171
websites, 171
N
narrative base
completeness, 199
documentaries, 197
editing, 199200
event films, 198
explained, 15
scripted films, 197
as structure, 198
narrative perspective
explained, 8, 78
first-person, 8082, 150
and rhythm, 150
second-person, 80, 8284
third-person, 80, 8485
tying in with story arc, 150152
Nolan, Christopher, 206, 209210
nonlinear storytelling. See also
storytelling roots
explained, 78
Fight Club, 87
intercutting, 8891
overview, 8586
rationale, 8688
stories and plot point, 95
story arcs, 87
teasers, 9193
telling stories backwards, 96

vehicles, 9394
Norton, Edward, 107
notes, taking with Evernote, 183184
O
oral storytelling, 11
ordering clips. See also clips
narrative perspective, 78
nonlinear storytelling, 78
story translation, 78
Out of Order, 55
out points, 189
out-of-order storytelling
explained, 78
Fight Club, 87
intercutting, 8891
overview, 8586
rationale, 8688
stories and plot point, 95
story arcs, 87
teasers, 9193
telling stories backwards, 96
vehicles, 9394
P
pacing
changing, 102
counting one to four, 100
defined, 128
dramatic pauses, 102
effects on viewers, 102104
explained, 100, 113
fast, 103104
flow, 110112
importance of, 100
mastering, 100
misconception, 101
normal, 104
pattern, 105108
practicing, 101
principles, 100, 104105
versus rhythm, 139
rule of, 139
slow, 102103
slow and fast, 101102
symmetry, 104105, 108109
timing, 112114
pacing formula
3s company theory, 118
documentation, 114
drama and mood, 119
length of scene, 116117
number of characters, 117118
Index
speed of conversation, 115116

timecode 1:04:44, 117
timecode 1:15:19, 115116
Pacino, Al, 145
paranormal conflict
examples, 55
explained, 54
Inception, 55
Moneyball, 55
Out of Order, 55
perception of main character, 5455
Parker, Sean, 135
pattern
Breaking Bad, 106
changeover, 107
crossfades, 105
Fight Club, 107
Inglourious Basterds, 106
mixing with instinct, 5657
in pacing, 105108
recognizing, 105
and style, 105
using, 105
plot, relationship to conflict, 39
plot arcs, 15. See also story arcs
plot points
Goodfellas, 87
omitting from resolution, 34
positioning in arcs, 87
relationship to climax, 27
plot structure
five-point, 10
three-point, 10
point of view. See narrative perspective
popcorn cuts, 124
preliminaries
labeling, 183185
logging, 183185
The Pre-Nup
anticipation, 9
characters, 17
climax, 6
conflict, 22, 24
exposition, 6, 1415
falling action, 6, 3233
major plot arc, 6
plot arc, 15
plot point, 8
resolution, 6, 35
reveal, 8
rising action, 6, 23
Project Mayhem, 35
project notes, taking, 183184

protagonists
defined, 41, 43
third-person narrative, 6667
Pulp Fiction, 129
Q
questions, checklist, 97
R
reaction versus connection, 25
Reed, Philip
arc of story, 13
falling action, 3233
relational conflict
antagonist, 4243
The Dark Knight, 43
examples, 42, 7173
hero, 41
overview, 4143
The Prestige, 43
protagonist, 41, 43
relative importance, 73
versus situational conflict, 4647
timecode 1:26:49, 72
villain, 42
resolution
best practices, 34
characters, 34
difficulty of endings, 3334
plot points, 34
requirement, 3435
tying up loose ends, 3435
reveals
explained, 8
reverb and room size, 168169
rhythm. See also time
defined, 128
fading to black, 130
Gladiator, 129
learning about, 128130
and narrative perspective, 150
narrative perspective, 150152
versus pacing, 139
Pulp Fiction, 129
separation, 134137
shooting to edit, 129
Stomp the Yard, 129
219
220
Index
rhythm (continued)
story arcs, 150152
transitions, 138139
viewer digestion, 131133
rhythm and time. 152 See also time
rising action. See also action
anticipation, 23, 26
as buildup to climax, 28
characters and conflicts, 2526
conflict, 2425
versus falling action, 33
goal, 24
leading to climax, 2627
moving into, 24
requirements, 2324
robber in The Pre-Nup, 1718
Rocky films, 140141, 210
Rogen, Seth, 211
room tone, 161162, 167168
Ross, Gary, 209
rough cuts, 201
S
scenes
advancing using B-roll, 148
entering in middle of, 112
excluding from final cut, 117
Schoomaker, Thelma, 75
scores versus songs, 170
Scorsese, Martin, 106, 205, 208
Scott, Tony, 207
scrubbing, 191
second-person narrative, 80
breaking the fourth wall, 83
overview, 8284
Seinfeld, 130
sensory deprivation, 21
separation, 137. See also audience digestion;
viewers
achieving, 136
applying creativity to, 136
controlling, 137
explained, 134
fading to black, 134
length of, 137
The Matrix, 138
montage, 135
between parts of story arc, 134136
at scene level, 136137
settings, establishing for exposition, 2021
shooting to edit, 129
shot selection, 38
The Aviator, 75
B-roll, 71
close-ups, 6571
and conflict, 57, 7173
focus of, 57
importance of, 56
inner conflict, 74
instinct and pattern, 5657
knowing rules, 57
length of story, 7475
medium shots, 6364
order of shots, 7475
science, 57
social conflict, 73
and symmetry, 108
wide shots, 5862
Sicko, 94, 211
situational conflict
applying, 47
Argo, 48
examples, 47
human vs. environment, 46
overview, 4648
versus relational conflict, 4647
rule, 46
This Is the End, 48
Titanic, 47
slow motion, 145
social conflict, 73
Dallas Buyers Club, 45
examples, 44, 73
overview, 4345
Remember the Titans, 45
war movies, 44
wide shot, 73
audio recording, 174
movies, 43
pacing, 102
separation, 135
vehicle, 93
songs versus scores, 170
sound. See ambient sound; audio
sound effects
Blow, 166167
Bourne series, 166
exaggerating, 165167
Foley, 164167
in postproduction, 164167
timecode 1:02:13, 165
source screen, 189
space and time, considering in montages, 142
Spacey, Kevin, 83
Index
Spielberg, Steven, 209

stand-up comedian, thinking like, 132
Star Wars, 92, 211
Stomp the Yard, 129
Stone, Oliver, 204
stories
acts, 4
with common plot point, 95
emotional shape, 8
ending, 31
finding, 181182
idea of, 8
purpose, 79
putting bows on, 34
stopping while rolling film, 133
telling backwards, 96
telling in order, 87
telling out of order, 79
story arcs. See also character arc; plot arcs
arcs within, 13
climax, 45, 2732
comparing to roller coaster, 3
connecting, 78
diagram, 4
exposition, 4, 1422
falling action, 5, 3233
focusing on, 35
identifying with characters, 1314
ignoring, 3
impact on editing, 78
importance of, 3, 201
resolution, 5, 3335
rise of, 3
rising action, 4, 2327
tying in with narrative perspective, 150152
understanding, 4
and viewers, 913
story length, considering for shot selection,
7475
story translation, process, 78
storytelling as collaboration, 9
storytelling roots. See also nonlinear storytelling
cultural traditions, 11
evolution, 11
five-point plot arc, 10
maximizing influence, 1113
maximizing potential, 1113
three-point plot structure, 10
Survive and Advance, 96, 211
symmetry
importance to pacing, 104105
key to, 109
principle of, 108109
and shot selection, 108
T
Tarantino, Quentin, 101, 116, 209
teasers
flashbacks, 92
flash-forward, 9293
overview, 9192
universes setting, 92
using, 9193
texting example of flow, 111
third-person narrative, 80, 8485
thumbnails, using to browse footage, 184185
time. See also rhythm; travel time
B-roll for advancing scenes, 148
condensing, 140144
control in Any Given Sunday, 145
controlling illusion of, 140
defined, 128
The Hunger Games, 142
ignoring, 150
intensity, 144
montages, 140144
passage between scenes, 146
passage mid-scene, 147148
saving by implying action, 149
self-contained montages, 148
slow motion, 145
slowing down, 144145
and space in montages, 142
speeding up, 146150
timecode 1:15:00, 147
timecodes in Out of Order
00:00 (relational conflict), 42
00:08:04 (jump cut), 122
00:17:49 (ambient sound), 160
1:02:13 (sound effect), 165
1:04:44 (number of characters), 117
1:15:00 (passage of time), 147
1:15:19 (speed of conversation), 116
1:19:13 (audience digestion), 131
1:20:54 (cosmic conflict), 52
1:26:49 (relational conflict), 72
01:27 (relational conflict), 50
1:36:24 (passage of time), 148
03:20 (intercutting), 88
21:21 (justifying sound), 163
34:51 (social conflict), 45
39:12 (first-person narrative), 81
time-lapse, 149
timeline, 8
timing, overview, 112
timing cuts. See also cuts
example, 113114
pacing formula, 114119
spotting cues to, 113
221
222
Index
Titanic, 47, 212

Transformers, 174
transitions
avoiding overuse, 139
crossfades, 138139
dip to white, 139
fade to black, 138
travel time. See also time
backwards, 150
cutting down, 149
forwards, 150
turning the corner, 3132
TV shows. See also movies; video examples
Breaking Bad, 16, 31, 9293, 133
Cosmos, 94, 206
Fab Five: The Texas Cheerleader, 207
Friends, 130
Game of Thrones, 141, 208
Homeland, 74, 208
House of Cards, 83, 208
Mad Men, 74, 209
Seinfeld, 130
The Walking Dead, 2021, 212
The Wire, 74, 212
U
universes setting teaser, 92
V
Valle, Jean-Marc, 206
vehicles
Forrest Gump, 93
interview as example, 93
J. Edgar, 93
overview, 9394
using, 79
using carefully, 94
vehicles, 79
video examples, 57. See also movies;

The Pre-Nup; TV shows
viewer digestion
stand-up comedy, 132
stopping stories, 133
timecode 1:19:13, 131
viewers. See also separation
answering questions of, 18
awareness relative to exposition, 1517
desired feelings of, 21, 8586
providing with puzzles, 16
response to story arcs, 913
visual communication, 13
voices, recording, 174
W
The Wachowski Brothers, 210
The Walking Dead, 2021, 212
war movies, 44
Weiss, D.B., 208
White, Walter, 9293, 133
wide shots
B-roll, 59
context, 62
elements, 5860
lighting, 6061
scene layout, 6162
social conflict, 73
using, 60
The Wire, 74, 212
Y
Yakin, Boaz, 210
Z
Zemeckis, Robert, 207
Zuckerberg, Mark, 135

Story Telling

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OF

Storytelling Techniques for

Storytelling Techniques for Video and Cinema Editors

If you find yourself reading this, chances are youre looking to

Storytelling Techniques for

Contains two movies available for download, including the

CATEGORY: Digital Video / Film

COVER ILLUSTRATION: Justin Golt

US $54.99 CAN $62.99

Out of Order: Storytelling Techniques for Video and Cinema Editors

About the Author

Why the Story Arc Is So Important

Breaking Down Story Arcs

Video Example: The Pre-Nup 5

Connecting Arcs to Take the Viewers on a Ride

The Ancient Roots of Story

Identifying with Characters

Keeping in Mind What the Viewers Know at All Times

Introducing the Characters

Establishing the Characters Positions in the Story

Establishing the Setting

Establishing the Conditions and Conflict

Developing the Conflict

Connecting Characters and Conflicts

Leading to the Climax

Goals of the Climax

Tying Up Loose Ends

Chapter 2 Conflict and Shot Selection

The Six Types of Conflict

Relational Conflict (Human vs. Human)

Social Conflict (Human vs. Group)

Situational Conflict (Human vs. Environment)

Inner Conflict (Human vs. Self)

Cosmic Conflict (Human vs. Destiny or Fate)

Paranormal Conflict (Human vs. Technology)

Example Scene of Relational Conflict

Example Scene of Social Conflict

Example Scene of Inner Conflict

Other Elements Affecting Shot Selection

Chapter 3 Ordering Clips and Scenes

The Narrative Perspective: Point of View

Nonlinear Storytelling: TellingStories Out of Order

Why to Tell a Story Out of Order

Telling the Story Backwards

Chapter 4 Pacing: Timing and Types of Cuts

Pacing Examples: Slow and Fast

Pacing and Effects on the Viewer

Speed of Conversation in a Scene

Drama and Mood

How I Learned About Rhythm

Viewer Digestion: TheViewersNeed to Process

Thinking Like a Stand-Up Comedian

Stopping the Story While the Film Rolls On

Separation: Techniques for Giving Viewers Some Time

Separation Between Parts of the Story Arc

Separation at the Scene Level

Transitions: GettingfromHereto There

Time: Managing the Illusion

Montages: Condensing Time

Slowing Down Time