ACADEMY
POST-PRODUCTION
5 Trust your gut
ABOUT CHRIS Chris Weatherly has more than 20 years of experience in both still photography and video. After earning his Master of Visual Communications degree from Ohio University, he worked for a series of newspapers as a photojournalist. Eventually he left to become an art director for a non-profit organisation, an experience that led him to start using video to tell stories of life change. Now Chris works as a full-time freelance director for Wavelength Films, where his unique style blurs the lines between narrative and documentary storytelling. He’s also passionate about striking visuals and emotionally driven stories. Chris uses Zacuto products, and thanks to them for permission to reproduce this feature. The CARE film was produced by Left Turn Productions, written by Jonathan Boettcher and directed and edited by Chris. It’s at: https://vimeo.com/258687264
As in most parts of filmmaking, editing is a weird blend of art and
It always surprises me how much I’m affected by showing someone else a cut, especially if I watch the edit with them in person. It’s like I’m seeing the story through their eyes, and before they even open their mouths I’ll know what they’re going to say. Having an outside view will help you see the holes in the edit and will give you a better idea of whether the storyline is clear enough. Ultimately this will save you tons of time over trying to “Having an outside viewwill help you see the holes in the edit” Every film can be edited an infinite number of times, which is why we have director’s cuts. But we all need to work to deadlines and so you do have to eventually deliver a final edit. Don’t prolong the process longer than you need to. Sure, if you’re waiting on pick- up shots then an extended deadline might be acceptable, but you, as the editor, ultimately carry the can and still need to deliver the film to the client on time. fix things on your own. 7 Learn when to stop
technical skill. There are rules to follow and others that were made to be broken. For me, it really comes down to trusting your gut. You don’t have to rationalise every decision you make. Most of the time you have to just trust what you feel and cut according to that. 6 Embrace outside opinions You shouldn’t be too precious or too proud to take on board the opinions of others you respect, and they could well point up something that you’ve missed through being too close to your project. However, I won’t usually show my film to anyone until I’ve completed the first edit, and at this time I’m usually in a place where I’m confident enough to share. I have three people that I’m willing to show a non-finalised edit to. Two of them are directors I respect, while the third is my wife. While I’m happy to hear opinions I think it could muddy the waters to have too much feedback, since everyone will see things in a slightly different way and you could end up not knowing what to do or think. Whatever happens, I definitely wouldn’t show a client any version other than the final edit, for fear they might not fully understand there was still work to do.
More information www.chrisweatherly.com
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AUTUMN 2018 PRO MOVIEMAKER
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