Project Description

8/21/16                                                                                          Andrew Di Lapi

Avid Culmination Project. (Will Add Title Later!)

 

Pursuing my degree at City Tech, I have learned many different techniques when it comes to the process of editing a video project. My goal after I graduate is to find work in Television Post Production as a Junior Editor or an AE (Assistant Editor’s) position. I feel like I do not have enough practical (feasible) experience yet. For my culmination project, I would like to put all the skills that I have learned by editing one my fellow student’s video projects (Brandon Wilson).

Firstly, I will be editing a scene from Léon; also known as The Professional) which is a 1994 English-language French thriller film written and directed by Luc Besson. In this scene Portman, as Mathilda Lando, goes up to her apartment with groceries in her hands. Then the scene cuts to her walking through the hallway to the door. As she is walking, her facial expression changes and she starts to cry.  We then see her standing outside her door begging her roommate, Jean Reno as Leone “Léon” Montana, to let her in.  The scene cuts back in forth between her begging and Leone, who is looking at the man behind her through the hole in the door. Eventually he lets her in and the scene brightens.

Secondly, I will be working on Brick, a 2005 American neo-noir mystery film written and directed by Rian Johnson in his directorial debut, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt.   In this scene, Frye is seen at school opening his locker. They cut/zoom into the letter he is reading that he gets from inside the locker. Then the scene cuts to an unnamed man walking towards him from a distance.  The scene then cuts to him getting close to Frye with a blade in his hand and he manages to slash his arm and Frye falls, with a chase then ensuing around the school. The film then has a series of quick cuts: both men running outside, then right to Frye running outside near the lockers while being chased, then to Frye running around the corner and falling down. There is then an edit to a close up of the man’s shoes with emphasis on his shoes as they running contact the concrete. Then they cut to Frye removing his own shoes then back to the man chasing him. We then see Frye on the floor and as the man chasing him turn the corner; Frye trips him and then we see Frye searching the man.

Being the editor for this project would help me understand what it like to adhere to a legitimate production calendar and schedule.  This entails making all of my/the deadlines on the schedule/production calendar while being able to adapt to any changes during the students pre-production work that might impact my job as the editor during the post-production process. In addition, I would be working with and learning more about, color correction or color grading.  Color grading is the process of altering and enhancing the color of a film, video . . . photo chemically or digitally.” Since I am editing these clips shot for shot to try to match the original scenes, it will help me with:

  • Fixing exposure problems
  • Fixing white balance problems
  • Removing distractions: Isolating and manipulating annoying elements that prevent shots from matching each other.
  • Removing distractions: Isolating and manipulating annoying elements that prevent shots from matching each other
  • Creating looks: Stylizing an image to indicate a flashback, dream sequence, or re-creation—or simply to give the entire project a unique feel.

I also will be charged with editing the audio in both scenes. In the both clips, there is not much music, but in the first clip from Leon there plenty of dialogue. Therefore, I will adjust the volume of the voices in Avid by deselecting the video and having the audio selected. In the clip from Brick, there are many sound effects and not much dialogue, so I may need to adjust the volume of the footsteps hitting the pavement during the chase scene or when Frye knocks over the trashcan.