PREDICCIÓN Y COMPENSACIÓN DE MOVIMIENTO

The assistant has the job of breaking down all the tapes (media) shot on location, which includes the B roll and interviews. Usually the interviews will be interspersed with the B roll on the same tape. You will log and digitize or import all the material into the editing system.

To begin trying to organize all the material, it is a good idea to make a brief log of what is on each tape you receive. Often there will be no time for slates or any real kind of identifi cation of the material shot. Go through all the tapes and make a log for each one. Make sure that all tapes and/or tapeless folders have unique names to be referenced during digitizing. Break down the material into B roll and interviews, and note the date shot. Add timecodes where possible for easy reference when

searching for bites, special shots, or scenes on the tape. Put all these sheets with the lists of information in the editor’s binder so he has a tangible record of all the material that was shot. This process is the same whether you are working with tape or material from a tapeless media — P2 or EX (media on tapeless formats is stored in a folder). Here is an example of a breakdown of the contents of a tape. Note the italicized commentary that the assistant has added.

When sorting material, if you see some really pertinent or great beauty shots, make comments on the logs. This is a great way to shine and help your editor go to the great moments quickly.

SHINE NOTE

Tape 1

12 /16/09

1. Interior B roll – Village Green restaurant 2. Street scenes – Jerusalem ( * 3rd shot is most active! )

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Make the Cut: A Guide to Becoming a Successful Assistant Editor in Film and TV

3. B roll – Alleys, etc. near falafel shop (quiet) 4. Ext. Vegetarian Society

5. Signs – “ Event ”

6. Interview Mr. Jack Cohen (chief electrician) – T/C: 00:05:17

Tape 2

12 /17/09

1. Interview Joseph Jacobs – T/C: 0:00:00

2. B roll – Joseph in his offi ce (talks to someone, goes to the computer, etc.) 3. Interview Barry Jones, owner Village Green rest – T/C: 00:17:57 4. Jerusalem from top of Tower Building (late afternoon) (various)

5. Sunset over Jerusalem from top of Tower Building ( * great – 4th shot has best focus! ) 6. Interview Dr. John Black (dentist) – T/C 00:26:48

7. B roll – Dr. John Black and patient

Tape 3

12 /18/09

1. Interview Eran Ben Shack (Green Course. Instructor seen in B roll) – TC: 00:00:17

2. B roll – Driving shots. Traffi c, congested roads (Tel Aviv), many high-rises and tall, modern buildings can be seen. Freeways. (All shot through the windscreen.)

3. 0:10:04 – Freeway. Buses, train zooms past, busy. ( * nice and colorful! )

4. Freeway to Jerusalem (through windscreen) (0:19:50 new bridge construction) 5. 0:21:47 – Entering Jerusalem (through windscreen)

6. 0:22:20 – Old City, Dome of the Rock. Shot from vantage point. Various. Zooms etc. (Modern settle- ments in B/G.) Dome shines brightly. Pans. Reveals.

7. Old City Shouk

8. 0:40:20 – Nice shot of Dome of the Rock 9. 0:45:50 – Lutheran church bells

10. Jerusalem street scenes and pedestrians ( * great car-bys and kids! ) 11. 0:56:00 – High angle, Old City from vantage point

After you have made a rough list of all the material on the tapes, start logging material on each tape. Give them appropriate labels and arrange them in a B roll bin. Make sure that you label them in a way that will enable your editor to fi nd shots quickly. It is not necessary to log a shot at every camera stop where there is continuous timecode.

If you are using tapeless media, which separates each individual shot before ingesting it, use your judgment on how you want to organize the material. Group the shots together in a logical order. It is best to log a segment of material shot in one location; for example, the farmyard and the animals as one clip instead of separating

Chapter 7: Assisting Protocols for Documentaries

the chicken, duck, and horse shots. It is easier for the editor to scroll through all the farmyard material (if the clip is a reasonable length; maximum of 8 – 10 minutes) and make his own selects or subclips in a separate bin. Use your discretion when logging all the material, and come up with a simple way to name and identify shots in the bins. The editor usually has a wide choice of shots to work with, and you need to set up an effi - cient and organized system that helps make the work fl ow seamless. This is key to your assisting skills. If you have any queries, discuss them in detail with your editor and get his feedback on what works best for him and, again, his preferences for organization.

In documentaries, the cameraman will be tempted to capture many things that oftentimes might not be inte- gral to the story. However, it is wise to digitize all the B roll material for the editor so he has the best possible selection. It is often that unscripted sunset that the cameraman captured while everyone was on coffee break that could be the perfect transition shot that the editor needed to bridge day and night. Digitize all B roll and only scripted bites for the interviews.

Set up your project and make bins for Re-creations, Stock, Stills, Music, Sound Effects, B roll, Banners, Lower Thirds, and Interviews. Then create your Cuts bins and label them as you would for narrative programming. Prepare binders and keep all paperwork you receive (e.g., camera report sheets) and all the logs you have cre- ated neatly fi led and labeled. Place the current working script into the editor’s binder and label it in much the same way as you would for a television show. When you receive the typed transcriptions of the inter- views, place them all in a huge binder and put tabs on the side with each interviewee’s name so you can fi nd the interviews easily. This binder is gold and will often be consulted by the director – editor during editing when he looks for some other relevant bite he would like to add to the cut to help the story. Keep all the paperwork that you receive from the stock houses or still libraries in the assistant’s binder, as well as copies of scripts as they are worked on. Scripts in documentaries are rewritten many times and will change with each cut as narration is refi ned and polished. Keep your editor’s binder up to date with each and every rewrite.