312 The Digital Filmmaking Handbook, 4E

across a series of objects on a desk and ends on the main character talking on the telephone, and so on. If the director didn’t shoot a good establishing shot, then you’ll have to find something to “cheat,” such as the last few seconds of a wide shot after the cast has cleared frame. You don’t need an establishing shot for every single scene in the film, just whenever a significant change in location takes place.

Spending more or less time on your establishing shots is an easy way to change the pacing of your project. A long establishing shot with supporting cutaways will slow things down and give your audience time to “settle in.”

To speed things up, you can use a short establishing shot, or economize by combining an establishing shot with a split-audio voice-over. For example, cut to a wide crane-shot of a riverboat while playing audio of your main character saying something like, “The way your mother was driving, I never thought we’d get here.” This simple split edit serves to establish the location of your new scene, identify which characters are participating, and provide a little exposition about what they have just done.

Clearing Frame and Natural “Wipes”

An easy way to create a smooth transition between two scenes is to cut out of a shot as the actor clears the frame, and cut into the next shot as she enters the frame in another location. This method can become repetitive very quickly if it is overused. When a large object passes through the frame, such as a passing car, a person in the foreground, and so on, it can be used as a natural “wipe” to easily transition to the next scene. In Rope, Alfred Hitchcock concealed his few edits in the film by hiding them under natural wipes.

Solving Technical Problems

Every film has a set of unique technical challenges that often fail to become evident until the editing process actually begins. The following are some of the most common technical issues that get resolved in the editing room.

Missing Elements

The problem you will face most frequently when editing is not having enough material, whether it’s because an actor’s mic didn’t work, the pickups don’t match the original performance, or there just aren’t enough cutaways to allow you to edit the scene the way you want. Most of these types of problems require the on-your-feet, creative thinking that good editors are known for—restructuring the scene so that the bad mic or the pickups aren’t necessary, or finding an inventive way to recut the scene using jump cuts to make up for the lack of cutaways.

Temporary Elements

When you start editing, it’s rare to have all of the elements you need. Whether it’s music, pickups, or special effects shots, if you don’t have all your materials, you’ll need some temporary elements in order to create a solid rough cut. Creating a temporary score is a necessity to help “sell” your rough cut, but be sure it’s a score that is representative of what you’ll be able to use in the final edit.