Fight With Production Guy

NewsMan

Well-known member
Long time, eh? Almost two years to the day. Well... I have reasons. Regardless, I also have a problem at hand and would like to solicit your expert opinions.

Here is a link to a 1:00 video that was produced for the company I work for. In it, I count three jump cuts including two in the final three shots going into the closing graphic.

My production guy insists it is "style" and not jump cuts.

Feel free to "jump" in and educate. And, please... leave critiques of my ugly mug out of this?

Regards,

DT


https://vimeo.com/brianduvall/review/166402721/a8fee5118b
 

cameragod

Well-known member
Yeah it does look very odd. I think the style he is talking about is the "Too F***ing Lazy to Fix it" style. Close to the "I don't Get Paid Enough To Do it Properly" its very popular amongst the incompetent who would rather justify poor half assed work than take a few moments to get it right.
 

cyndygreen1

Well-known member
If it were done intentionally it would have been more ragged...more edgy. Looks as if he were clueless or didn't care.
 

BluesCam

Well-known member
I agree. Not edgy enough to be an intentional sequence. I see that bad jump cut stuff all the time in TV spots and that's where it belongs IMHO. The spot for Walmart's phone plan with the couple with a baby is full of them. What really bothers me is drama TV shows that cross the 180. Oh well, like Elmore James said: "I believe my time ain't long." :>)
 

Run&Gun

Well-known member
TV and Production is now overrun by the "There Are No Rules" crowd. Between them and the bean counters that are trying to figure out how, and keep getting closer to every day, a way to do this for free… There is almost NO quality day-to-day TV, anymore.
 

svp

Well-known member
I had a producer out of Florida hire me for an all day shoot for her "pilot episode' she was pitching to networks. Had a sound op, everyone mic'd up, eight tracks of audio, shot so much extra so she'd have plenty of stuff to work with in editing. It was somewhat of a reality show except this was being shot during an actual event so there were a lot of naturally occurring moments being captured similar to shooting news. Really tried to go above and beyond for her because I really appreciated the subject matter of the show she was trying to produce. I knew it was going to be a disaster from the get go when she had nothing planned and no timeline or schedule in place. It was a "lets just wing it" attitude. Well, about 6 months later she sends a link to her "pitch" video asking what I thought. I didn't even know what to say. It was so bad. Jump cuts everywhere and all that work getting clean audio and she chooses to use the on-camera mic instead. It was really bad. Not a single tripod shot in the entire thing despite hours and hours of stuff I shot for her. I couldn't believe she found an editor that turned what I shot into something resembling "Catfish" from MTV. It was really bad and, as expected, it didn't get picked up.

However, the truth is if they are willing to pay, and the check clears, then I'll shoot it however they want it. What I think doesn't really matter.
 

cameragod

Well-known member
To me editing is a bit like playing music. Despite having cut stuff for years I don't regard myself as an editor. I'm a cameraman who can edit. I'm a "pub band" editor. I can hack stuff out that after a few drinks sounds great.
NewsMans editor was more "school band" wannabe. Thinks they know what they are doing but doesn't know enough to know why the only people who think they are any good is their Mum and the tone deaf.
 

cyndygreen1

Well-known member
Good observation cameragod. I taught video production and found that students who had a musical background or inclination WERE better editors. They had a sense of timing/pacing that made their work stand out.
 

Focused

Well-known member
Interesting thought. I studied music deep into my college years and attribute a lot of the early success to studying music. Like Cindy mentioned it gives you timing, pacing, resolution. Wonderful background for this industry.
 

TXTechPhoto

Well-known member
The three shot sequence by the window was bad, if there would have been a change in focal lengths or angles it could have worked being cut on the action.

However, the jump sequence from getting out of the van to going up to the door actually kinda worked. Because it was a logical flow, but it still could have been shot better for an edit.

I also agree that music is a huge part of editing, at my production shop the best editors have a musical background. I have only seen a couple bad- to below average editors who were good musicians.
 

Land Rover

Well-known member
Looks to me more like they just ran out of video to use and that's what they had left to fill the time. Makes more sense to me than saying it was done that way on purpose.
 

cameragod

Well-known member
I'm actually at the end of cutting a feature length musical with the musical director and what is amazing is his instinctive "feeling" of when to cut with the music and when to cut against the beat for effect. I'm learning a lot from his pacing.

Did you ever get anything resolved with the video NewsMan?
To be honest I'd not pay until they fixed it. If they can't tell what needs fixing then... well, that's the problem isn't it?
 

Tdomi74

Well-known member
So having dealt with both side of News and Production....I see the cuts you're concerned about but it didn't bother me too much. I've seen a lot worse. The thing is if the check clears these days I'll shoot and edit all of your jump cuts you want me too. The client is king even when they are wrong.
 

shootist

PRO user
I agree with Land Rover. Lazy...used what he had left. But overall didn't bother ME nearly as much as seeing the garbage can at the :25 mark. When I shoot these types of things I'm trying to look at the background and deep background as diligently as the foreground.
 

Icarus112277

Well-known member
Are you referring to the shots of the installation guy?

That is definitely style to show passage of time. I believe dissolves would have been better, but I feel the cuts do the job also.
 
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