JD Photography

I’ve been working in video a long time and it’s been even longer since I took the time to study video. The act and process of shooting and editing are still pretty much the same, however, it is worth a great deal to refresh those basics and concepts.

Tom Schroeppel writes in his book, The Bare Bone Camera Course for Film and Video, “Making moving pictures is a subjective art. There are no absolute rights and wrongs. But there are some things that usually work.”

What I really like about doing a video class is that I have to slow my brain down and follow a process and not just go out running-and-gunning my projects. Making my brain think about my questions prior and my shots before I even begin is a huge reminder that I need to be patient and not let my anxiety control my project. (My anxiety makes me rush when there is no need to rush and make things so urgent I lose track of what I really need to focus on).

I like using lingo ago. J-Cut and L-Cut. Lower third and graphics package. Narration, VO, or SOT are all things I know and use but when I’m around more non-video people and they don’t understand I stop using those terms.

I like using J and L cuts because they help transition the scene and the story. Sometimes they even help create the mood of a scene because the transition prepared you in advance.

Here are some clips from popular and classic movies where they used J and L cuts and notice how they play into the storytelling of the various scenes.

As you can see some of the J and L cuts are just a continuation of the action just from another perspective within the same scene.

My final project required me to step outside my comfort zone and edit together a video about a concert knowing full well I would not have access to the band equipment to capture the quality sound.

I also knew I would only have one shot for interviews and no reshooting. One takes and make the takes long enough that I could use the music through multiple shots and angles.

Like with any production there were issues and stress, however, I was able to keep calm and stay focused on the task of gathering b-roll and audio to make the story happen.

This was a major step for me to understand and be able to tell this band’s story and not worry about continuous audio, meaning the same song throughout. By using the J and L cut techniques I was able to weave the different performances together without the shock of abruptly changing the songs.