Tag Archives: Eye Trace

I’ll Have Your Eyes Exactly Where I Want Them

Anatomy of an Edit, , ,

Do you think an editor can make a viewer’s eyes move?  Yes, they can.  It happens all the time.  The next time you watch a movie, think about precisely what you’re looking at on the screen.  Chances are an editor is using eye-trace to get you to look at precisely what they want you to look at.

Our story for this post is Joe’s Smile

  

Over the years, I have done research on eye-trace.  It’s a simple concept, to begin with, and if you think about it in your everyday editing, it’ll improve so many little things.

In this post, I like to bring your attention to what is going on in the shots you choose.

  • The action affects what the viewer is looking at

  • Eye trace sends the viewer’s eye where you want them to go

  • You can control what people are exactly going to look at

 You cannot think about every edit and what’s happening in every shot, quite often there isn’t time in your projects.  The more you keep eye-trace in mind, the easier you are going to make several edits in your story.

I want the viewer to look at certain things.  My edits are going to help.  In Joe’s Smile, you may see more example of eye-trace, I’m only going to point out some.

Eye-trace has two primary objectives.

  1. To keep the eye focused on the same point on the screen (or close to there as possible) as the last frame of an edit ends, and the new frame of the next edit starts.  Confused?  I was too.  Here’s an example.

In the shot above at [:15] in the story, Joe looks up and turns his head to the right (our left).

Then, I make an edit as he’s in mid-turn.  He completes his head turn in the next shot.  Your eye catches his head moving, and then in the next shot, I have your eyes exactly where I want them, to the left of the screen focused on Joe.  Your eyes followed Joe through the edit and didn’t scan the screen for something else to look at.  That’s eye trace, putting the viewer’s eyes where YOU want them.

Think of it as you are a magician.  A magician’s job is to get the audience to look at what he wants them to look at.  Like that ball in his hand and not the other hand in his pocket getting the next part of the trick ready.  Your ideal job as an editor, keep the viewer’s eye where you want them.

The edit’s also hidden by Joe’s movement.  Meaning you don’t really realize there is an edit there because the action looks natural.

Here another example at [:21].  Your eyes go to his head as he starts to move his head I cut.

His head movement completes this shot above at [:22].  Your eye’s stayed on the left side of the screen in relatively the same place.  I kept them there using eye-trace logic.

Think about editing on movement the next time you’re doing a story.  Think about keeping all that movement on the same point on the screen.  Break your screen in 4 quadrants.  Try keeping the movement in one of those quadrants for 2 edits. It’s not that easy and won’t work ALL the time,  but it’s pretty when it does.

Here is an entirely different example of eye-trace.  People will always look at the eyes of whoever is in your shot. Everyone’s natural curiosity is to wonder what he/she is looking at.  So, if you show a shot of someone looking at something, your next obvious shot is what they are looking at.

At [1:22], we have a shot of the dentist looking down.  Notice the dentist is predominately screen left. What’s he looking at?

We should show the viewer.  He’s looking at Joe’s teeth, or lack thereof [1:23].  Notice Joe is predominately screen right.  This is another example of eye-trace.  If you were to follow the dentist’s eye’s down from the shot of him to the next shot of Joe, you’d trace his line of sight almost entirely. 

This is another example of eye trace.  The viewer naturally looks down, and as their eyes move down, you take edit and place what you want them to see in that next shot and that point in the frame, eye trace in action.

One more example.  Joe’s got his new teeth, and he’s smiling!  What’s he laughing at?  Again realize Joe’s screen right.

I know there are two women in this shot, but the women on the left are laughing and catch your eye first.  So, following Joe’s line of sight, it’s logical to think he’s looking at her.  With this edit, I make the viewer perceive that as well.  The women on the right looking at the women laughing helps as well with this.

I thought I’d show you an example of a bad edit too.  At [2:49], we have Joe smiling with his new teeth. Joe’s screen left as he smiles.

But in the next shot, he’s screen right smiling.  I didn’t put the viewer’s eye where I should of.  Like I said, it won’t always work.

Now go and practice eye trace in your editing.

Thank you for reading.  As always don’t forget about the Edit Foundry on Facebook

Good Edits are Subtle Edits

Anatomy of an Edit, Cuts, Eye Trace, midmotion, , , , , , , , ,

The art of editing comes down to frames of difference.

It’s 3 frames here or 4 frames there that can make each and every edit so much better or so much worse.  This post is about some of those subtle editing tips.

The story for this post is Sentence Please.

We’re discussing

  • Subtle editing tips
  • Staggering audio and video edits
  • Maximizing shot potential

Sentence Please is a story I edited in just a few hours.  Under the opening shot, you hear the announcer.  He’s telling a speller a word.  I  stagger the edits.  I create a J-Cut and an L-Cut in the first two seconds of the story.  These are also known as split-edits.  For those of you not familiar;

  • A J-Cut is when you hear audio from a shot and then see the video. You make the letter J visually in the timeline.

  • An L-Cut is when you cut to a different video, but the audio from that previous shot remains.

In Sentence, Please hear the announcer say, “Speller, your word is Malaria.”  The first shot of the story is a wide shot of the room with the announcer audio.

I make a cut (video only) and show the announcer.  That is a J-Cut.

Then I make an L-Cut.  You continue to hear the announcer, but the video is that of a speller.

In addition to using J and L cuts, I’m also employing eye trace.

I want to take the shot of the speller in pink [:01] right as she turns her head.  The turn of her head helps acknowledge the announcer to her left (our right).

I am also trying to back-time the shot of her, so she speaks the word right after the announcer finishes speaking.  In case you didn’t realize, I merged two different versions of the announcer to make this work.  The photographer didn’t pan quickly from the announcer to the speller.  The edits made it seem like two cameras were shooting the spelling bee.  Create the illusion of a two-camera shoot in your edits.

You’ll see plenty of split-edits in this story.  You’ll see plenty of split-edits every day in everything you watch.  Split-edits are a part of the craft that you should notice all the time.  No really! You need to start seeing split-edits everywhere.  They are a vital component of editing.  Take notice of them in your favorite movie, your favorite TV show, even your favorite commercial uses split-edits.

Let’s continue with the story and some more subtle editing tips.

The first reporter track in this story is “52 kids sat on the stage.”

For 52 kids, I show a lot of kids on stage. The next shot is that of a speller’s nervous hands.

I take the edit the second I see him fumbling with his hands [:05] nervously. The simple tight shot shows he is nervous.  I also take the edit mid-fidget.  Meaning the action of fidgeting has already started.  Having as many edits with the action already started also makes edits look more natural.  You should try to avoid making an edit before any action begins.  Again this is another subtle tip.  An important tip.  Try taking your edits mid-action more.  Your edits will look better, and your stories will flow better.

  • Very often the action within a shot can help convey a subtle message

I want to keep reinforcing the kid’s fidgety state throughout the story.

After a shot of another speller at the mic, the reporter track is “All with one goal in mind.”

The next shot is that of a speller looking down.  I take the edit right when she moves her hand around.

Her motion helps convey everyone’s feelings while they are on stage.  I also take the edit midmotion.

The difference between a good editor and a great editor is something that comes down to the frame you choose.  In the edit, did I prefer something that helped convey the message of the story?  Really start asking yourself, why is that shot in my story, and why did I take the edit the moment I did?

  • I cannot stress how vital editing midmotion helps your overall editing.

At [:17] I’m milking a shot.  I like to maximize shots visually and auditorily.  I use the shot, and the speller says meticulous twice.  I place the reporter track within the two times the speller says meticulously.  It’s a subtle way of getting more natural sound into a story.  If you’re under a deadline, this is faster than trying to find another shot.  You’ve got the shot on the timeline.  See if you can milk it for all it’s worth.  Just remember not to dry up the shot.  Meaning doesn’t leave it up for any longer than you should.  Vague, isn’t it.  Every single shot in every unique story is different.  There is no hard rule for this.  It’s a feeling you get once you become a good editor.

At [:20], the reporter track is “The 7 to 14-year-olds each won their Boulder Valley or St. Vrain school’s contest to get here.”

I still want to show that uneasy feeling onstage.  This shot of a 7-year-old perturbed was too good to pass up.  His expression tells so much.

Don’t you just love this shot?  I do.  That’s why I’m writing about it.  This shot has emotion in it.  As I previously wrote, I always cut into emotion and never cut away from it.  Do you think I cut away from this shot too early? I do.  I should have left it up just a bit longer.

This shot is subtle. I wait to take the shot the second she scratches her face.  Movement in every edit is what I strive for.  Even if it’s something this subtle.

You’ll also notice a good amount of edits that are backtimed.  Meaning I make a cut visually and back time the edit, so the natural sound moment I use plays right into a piece of narration or a soundbite.

Back timing edits are another tool to help blend and stagger audio and video edits.

Watch the story again.  This time pay attention to what each kid is doing in each shot.  Also, pay attention to how the action in the shot helps convey their feelings.

Little things like what’s going on in your shot, and when you take the edit can often make a good story just a bit better.

  • Every shot in this story has meaning
  • There are many split edits in this story
  • Subtle moments help make a story better

Thank you for continuing to read The Edit Foundry Blog.

Please follow me on twitter @shawnmontano

Please like The Edit Foundry on Facebook for more discussions about editing.