Avid Media Composer: Narrative Scene Editing

Course details

Taking a scripted project from concept to creation is one of the most exciting and rewarding processes that any editor can do—from a green novice to an experienced Hollywood ace. This course guides you through the creative decisions in editing various types of narrative scenes—from classic dialogue, to rhythmic montage, to creative flashback. You'll explore what it takes to create a great rough cut, from shot choice and composition, to performance and pacing, while editing in Avid Media Composer. Author Ashley Kennedy guides you through the scene construction process with plenty of creative and logistical lessons that are applicable to situations editors face in the real world.

Learning objectives
Evaluating the goals of the project
Working with digital scripts
Understanding coverage, shot composition, and camera movement
Editing dialogue
Adding cutaways and reaction shots
Building a montage scene
Editing a flashback
Laying in off-camera audio
Adding effects
Color-grading a scene
Receiving feedback and refining the rough cut

Concepts

0. Introduction

01 - Welcome
02 - Using the exercise files
03 - Looking at the full cut of the final film

1. Getting Organized

04 - Evaluating the major goals of the project
05 - Looking at the project structure and organization
06 - Working with digital scripts

2. Knowing and Understanding Your Footage

07 - Understanding coverage, shot composition, and camera movement
08 - Understanding basic editing rules

3. Editing a Dialogue Scene

09 - Forming a game plan
10 - Laying the first shots to form a visual energy
11 - Editing dialogue - Building the basic assembly
12 - Replacing shots
13 - Adding cutaways and reaction shots
14 - Refining the dialogue scene

4. Editing a Montage

15 - Understanding complexity editing
16 - Building the montage base
17 - Trimming heads and tails
18 - Working effectively with jump cuts
19 - Refining the montage scene

5. Editing a Flashback

20 - Combining continuity and complexity editing in a flashback
21 - Laying down flashback scene assembly
22 - Laying in off-camera audio
23 - Refining the flashback scene
24 - Adding effects
25 - Color grading and stylizing the flashback scene

6. Looking Beyond Scene Creation

26 - Taking it to the next level
27 - Receiving feedback and refining the rough cut
28 - Understanding the finishing steps

Conclusion

29 - Next steps