Shooting for the Edit

by Andrew Alexander
Published on Sep 18, 2001 12:00 AM



If you ever have the chance to work in the moving picture industry, you will inevitably overhear (at least) two catch phrases in relation to shooting footage. The first catch phrase you will hopefully hear is "shooting for the edit." What this means is that as a filmmaker (or videographer) you are shooting loads of good footage that gives the editor lots of options to work with. This is a very good thing - it can make the difference between a terrible product, a good product and a great product.

When footage is reviewed in playback and something doesn't look just right, you sometimes hear "that's okay, we can fix it in post". The idea behind this slang is that modern editing techniques can repair poorly videotaped (or filmed) footage. Unfortunately, most directors have never worked as editors, and in many cases the video editor is faced with doing the impossible - making something good out of poor footage.

While video editing programs have come a long way, with options that allow you to fix everything from poor lighting to a shaky camera, applying them usually degrades the image from the basically quality you paid so much for.

Shooting for the edit involves shooting a single scene from different angles and distances, as well as several times so that the talent can perform different ways. Unfortunately, the average videographer only gets one take, so how do you get it right the first time?

Unfortunately, much of shooting for the edit comes from experience. Eventually you will develop a style just based out of knowing what works and what doesn't. Other articles you will find on this site and others will give you the basic starting points of how to shoot good video. As well as shooting experience, you just have to get into your editing program and hack together some stuff to see how it looks. You'll probably notice a few things about the content you're editing, the first of which is that you will use some of it and not use the rest of it. The question you should be asking is why you're not using the footage you're abandoning.

How much is enough?

Professional videographers don't spend a lot of time at events; usually, they're there for thirty minutes and then they're off again. This is because they know they only need enough footage for an editor to find about ten to thirty seconds of material for a broadcast, so if they get some good bits, they're happy. Likewise, people starting out with camcorders are usually tempted to go through tapes and tapes recording the same event. If it ever comes to editing this stuff (which, if you're reading this, probably means it will) you're instantly faced with having to review all those tapes to find out what's good. In some cases you have no choice - taping plays, weddings, recitals, that sort of thing - but in the cases where you do have choice, be aware of how much you're taping. Have you captured the moment?

On the other side of the coin, you can be equally guilty of not taping enough! The general rule is to always tape for at least ten seconds. Most cameras these days come with "shot counters" that do just this. That way you have something to work with - a scene of less than ten seconds is not worth mentioning.

Thinking in terms of "clips"

An ideal place to be in an editing situation is that each shot you take is a self-contained story. It has a beginning, middle and end. Editing these kinds of clips together is very easy. If you're taping a car driving by, you might want to get it as it approaches, passes, and drives off. If you tape it just until it reaches you, then when you get to editing it, you now don't have the option of editing it when it has past you.

As well, you may want to consider how you move your camera. A simple technique is just to end a clip by panning away from the subject, or zooming past it, or otherwise removing it from the scene. You have to be careful with this however as it is essentially forcing the end of a scene - but if done well, it can be very easy to work with.

Shooting for the edit can save you a lot of time when it comes to piecing your footage together, and all it takes is time and patience.