Feel your video is not working? Your storyboards were great, your shoot went out great but still, for some reason it isn’t working as it should. Well, the problem could be your editing.
Here is Film Riot, sharing a video about the different rules to follow while editing your film.
Let’s look into Walter Murch’s the Rule of 6. Walter Murch is a legendary editor behind many critically acclaimed movies such as The Godfather Trilogy, Apocalypse Now, The English Patient. He has a book out called “In the Blink of an Eye” which is a bible for video editors out there. In that, he explains the 6 rules-
1. Emotion –
How will this cut affect the audience emotionally at this point in the film? He doesn’t talk about the actor’s emotion rather he talks about the vibe of the scene.
2. Story –
Does the edit move the story forward in a meaningful way? There is a difference between a story and a plot. A plot is the detailed scene that is happening whereas a story is the big picture look about what the video is about. The cut should contribute to moving the story forward.
3. Rhythm –
Is the cut at a point that makes rhythmic sense? The rhythm should express the emotion of the scene.
4. Eye-trace –
How does the cut affect the attention and focus of the audience on the film? What are they watching? What are they concentrating on? This can be used to hide stuff or draw attention to a particular thing in a frame.
5. The Axis –
It is also called the 180 rule. The 180° rule is a cinematography guideline that states that two characters in a scene should maintain the same left/right relationship to one another. If you break the 180 rule, people will get disoriented about the geography of the scene. But nowadays, this has less effect.
6. 3D Space –
Is the audience sure of the geography of the scene? Which character is in which part of the room?
