Film editing [LWN.net]

Film editing

Posted Feb 23, 2011 13:59 UTC (Wed) by corbet (editor, #1)
In reply to: Easy, powerful, stable: Pick two with OpenShot 1.3 by Oddscurity
Parent article: Easy, powerful, stable: Pick two with OpenShot 1.3

All film editing was done that way, back in those days when they used this stuff called "film." The original footage would be carefully labeled and set aside, while editing happened on the "workprint." In our case (my father did film editing) there was no robot to do the master edit, so they did it carefully by hand with special splicers. There were nice frame numbers printed along the edges to help in the location of the right footage.

Ah, the good old days...

(Log in to post comments)

Film editing

Posted Feb 23, 2011 14:27 UTC (Wed) by Oddscurity (guest, #46851) [Link]

I was really impressed with the inguinity of the people doing this work. They came up with a machine to keep track of sound samples, the blue-sky research on computer graphics was downright impressive, but one of the things that most stayed with me was how they did in-camera special effects.

Camera tracking was something that basically had to be invented on the spot at that point, at least for use with the miniature shots they did.

If we ever see another open source video editor, my suggestion would be to name it Nostalgia. Even though in my case, as a guy in his mid-30's, it's a hankering for an era just 'before' my time.

Film editing

Posted Feb 26, 2011 22:28 UTC (Sat) by Creideiki (subscriber, #38747) [Link]

For those not yet bitten by that particular nostalgia bug, I believe the book you're talking about is Droidmaker by Michael Rubin (ISBN 0937404675). And even if it isn't, it's a fascinating read, covering everything from computer graphics, through film editing to the politics behind the Star Wars movies.

Film editing

Posted Feb 26, 2011 22:51 UTC (Sat) by Oddscurity (guest, #46851) [Link]

That's exactly the book I meant. Thanks!

I couldn't recall the name for the life of me. It's a very interesting read, indeed. Complete with descriptions of framebuffers as very expensive (and large) devices, it's entertaining to read about things positively quaint and yet so familiar.

Film editing

Posted Mar 1, 2011 8:32 UTC (Tue) by eru (subscriber, #2753) [Link]

Some people still edit film that way, but it is getting harder. Recently saw an article on the Guardian where an artist lamented that the last place in Great Britain to print 16mm film was closing, http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/feb/22/tacita-dean-16mm-film ("Save celluloid, for art's sake"). The article explains her workflow and why a film printing facility is important for it.