Congrats to all the nonfiction Eddie Award Nominees!

BEST EDITED DOCUMENTARY:

Cave of Forgotten Dreams

Joe Bini & Maya Hawke 

Freedom RidersLewis Erskine & Aljernon Tunsil

George Harrison: Living in the Material WorldDavid Tedeschi

BEST EDITED REALITY SERIES:

Anthony Bourdain – No Reservations: “Haiti”Eric Lasby

 Beyond Scared Straight :”Chowchilla”Rob Goubeaux, A.C.E., Paul J. Coyne, A.C.E., Heather Abell, Audrey
Capotosta, Maura Corey, Jeremy Gantz & Molly Shock

Whale Wars: “Race to Save Lives”Eric Myerson, Pete Ritchie & Josh Crockett

See the full list of nominees here.

TV in the antenna age

While doing some holiday travel, I was pleasantly surprised by an classic television exhibit in Terminal 3 of SFO, Television in the Antenna Age.  Check it out if you're there!

 Although the exhibit was almost exclusively about scripted television and technology, I was happy to find this little shout out to Reality Television...

Reality Television:  Unscripted television featuring "ordinary" people dates to television's earliest years.  Allen Funt, the host and producer of radio show Candid Microphone, introduced Candid Camera on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) in 1948.  The premise involved presenting unsuspecting people with unusual or alarming situations and capturing their reactions with hidden cameras.  The pranks ranged from elaborate set-ups, sometimes involving the subject's friends or relatives, to simple reaction shots of pedestrians surprised by a talking mailbox, or an over-enthusiastic traffic cop.  Television viewers were captivated by the actions of people with whom they identified, and the program aired for more than fifty years.

What is an online editor?

Recently, I was invited to audit an online editing session for one of the shows I've worked on.  Online editing is one of the final steps before broadcast.  It takes place after picture lock and is a crucial time for the look and feel of a show.

It's important to understand that throughout the offline editing process, the footage that editors and story producers work from has been digitized into the editing system at a low resolution because that much high resolution footage would be prohibitive.  Once a show has gone through all its rounds of network notes, it's cut to time, and everybody is happy with it, the show is considered "picture locked."  This means just what it sounds like, that the picture will not be changing from here on out.  At this point, the footage is "up-rezed" (there's a million ways people spell that) which means that the source material is redigitized at full resolution, using only the clips that are in the sequence.  This means only exactly the footage that is actually in the show, usually with three-second "handles" on each end, just in case there are emergency issues during the online session.

During that process, an assitant editor will keep a video mixdown of the edit on one of the video layers to refer back to and make sure that all shots have remained the same as the editor intended.  This video mixdown track is also provided to the online editor to inform his work.

An online editing session is incredibly expensive, largely due to the skill of the online editor himself.  He is responsible for the look of the show, color timing and balancing, carefully executing blurs or resizing to address legal notes, formatting and sexifying graphics and fonts--basically anything visual about the show!  Usually the online editor takes a pass at the show on his own, adjusting color and contrast and using a set of timecoded notes to create blurs when necessary.  As you can see above, he is viewing the show in full  HD on a high rez flatscreen and often using a waveform monitor to assist in his decisions.  These careful adjustments can make a big difference in making a show feel sexier, warmer, colder, happier, sadder and on and on and on.  In this case, we were working on a show that is late in its second season, so the look and feel of this show is well known territory to our online editor.  Thus, his solo pass knocked out all the heavy lifting.

Once the online editor has made his pass, usually a producer from the show will watch with the online editor.  For my screening, I was joining the show's Supervising Editor, Line Producer and Post Supervisor.  They watch the show through, taking notes but not stopping.  This helps get a feel for the overall show for the first time in HD.  Then begins a very subjective notes process where individual shots are pored over and adjusted until everything is satisfactory to whoever is the highest-ranking individual in the room.

These changes are made and the show is prepped for final sound mix...

Young Adult at Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study

Last night I was fortunate enough to find myself at the Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study for a screening of Diablo Cody's new film, "Young Adult."  Several clips of reality television are used as a motif throughout the movie, including the first lines of dialogue in the film, which are delivered by Kendra Wilkinson.

Cody herself was there for a Q&A afterward, and this is what she had to say about the influence of reality television in the film.

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  "I just loved seeing Kendra and the Kardashians.  How much E! do you watch when you're procrastinating?"

CODY:  "I watch a lot of E! and it's wierd; I've admitted to that and gotten these hushed, horrible reactions and I'm like, 'I'm sorry, I do.'  But it was really, really important to have that footage in this movie because in a way a secondary theme of this film is it's an indictment of the culture of fame and exposure."

SPOILER ALERT--CLICK BELOW TO READ MORE

How to Conduct a Reality TV Interview PART 1

Sitting down to conduct your first interview for a show can be a nerve-racking experience.  An interview can make or break a day of shooting, so the pressure is on.  In the meantime, you'll probably be wearing a different earpiece on each side, one for crew and one for cast, and at the same time talking to the interview subject herself.  Needless to say, this can get overwhelming at times, so it's best to be prepared before you ever start.  In this series, I will present some basic tips to help you conduct an effective reality TV interview.

TONE

You set the tone for the interview.  The subject will be a mirror of whatever you are giving them, energy-wise.  Know this and use this to your advantage.  Generally, you want to be conversational and keep your energy up, up, up.  If you start showing how tired you are from running around the last 14 hours covering the action, your subject will start showing how tired she is too.  And then you're just two tired people wasting tape.  Likewise, if you are nervous, they will be nervous too and the quality of their answers will lower dramatically.

Your interview should feel like you are having a lively conversation that you are extremely interested in having.  Usually, you will have a few minutes while the crew sets up and lights the shot.  Do not ignore your subject, use this time to get some business out of the way and get the conversation ball rolling.

BEGINNING

 When I sit down with a subject I start by introducing myself of course, then chatting a little about how they are feeling, make sure they are comfortable, etc.  Then, I quickly go over some interview technique, something like this...(Imagine that I am smiling and charming during this interaction)

ME: Ok, so you remember this from casting.  When this interview starts, remember that the audience is never going to hear my question.  So I need you to fold the question into your answer.  For example, if I say, "What's your favorite color?"  You say, "My favorite color is..."  Got it?

THEM:  Yes.

ME:  Ok, what's your favorite color?

THEM:  Blue.

ME:  "My favorite color is..."

THEM:  Oh, yeah.  My favorite color is blue.

ME:  Great, so just remember to keep that up during the interview.  Also, I need you to use people's names as often as possible, instead of saying he or she.  So if I say, "How does Johnny react to your big news?" you would not say "He reacts to my news in such and such way," you would say "Johnny reacts to my news in such and such way."  Make sense?

THEM:  Yes.

ME:  Great.  The last thing is try to always use present tense, like you're telling a joke.  "Johnny walks into the bar and the bartender says..." like that.

THEM:  Ok...

ME:  Wonderful.  Now, don't think about this stuff too hard, just answer naturally and if I need you to say anything differently, I'll direct you, ok?

THEM:  Ok!

ME:  Great, remember it's just tape, we can relax and do this right.  Ok, tell me your name and what you do...

And your interview has begun!

Most people will forget to use present tense (that one is really hard for interview subjects) and also using names instead of pronouns.  A good way to keep this on track is to frame your questions as sentences for your subject to finish.

ME:  Finish this sentence, "When I first see Johnny, I'm thinking..."

That way, when your subject answers by repeating what you just said, they will already be using present tense and other characters' names instead of pronouns.  Usually they will stick with it long enough to give you a good bite.  But if they have a lot of trouble with the concept of present tense, just let it go.  Better to have bites in past tense than no bites at all.  This goes also for emotional interviews, don't get sidetracked by coaching them on language or you'll kill their emotions in the moment.

Never, ever ask yes or no questions.  Ideally, every answer your subject gives should convey some feelings about something, never just information or scene set-up.  Producers call this "point A to point B stuff," and usually they tell you never to bother with it.  But if you've ever worked in postproduction, you know you often need that point A to point B stuff to set up a scene.  The best thing to do is ask them a question that begins with set-up info and leads into their feelings.

ME:  Finish this sentence, "When I hear that I have to share a bedroom with Johnny, I have to go talk to him immediately because I'm thinking..."

NOW YOU'RE INTERVIEWING, SO BACK TO TONE....

Remember to keep your energy up if you want them to keep their energy up.  You can't ask them to keep throwing high energy at a wall if you're not giving it back.  And a lot of bites with great content will never get used because the subject has low energy, and that makes any content instantly boring.  Try to get into the character of your subject a little bit...if you're interviewing the ladies' man, it's good to have some swagger of your own.  Don't be afraid to suggest funny or poignant lines.

Especially don't be afraid to converse with your subject 'off the record.'  You can decide together how they should answer a question and then get the 'official' answer.  Many times in the editing bay, we will use a mixture of both because the subject acts more naturally when they don't think they're 'really answering.'

Sometimes you will be interviewing subjects about serious and horrifying topics.  In this case, you want to be serious as well.  Remember, you set the tone.  If you are talking about something sad, channel your own depression.  If you want your subject's sadness to come through, you can't be mollifying or comforting them no matter how much you want to.  They will feel less sad and you will ruin your interview.  At the same time, you can't press too hard too fast or they won't want to continue.  It's a fine line and you will hone it over time.  And you can always comfort them after the camera is done rolling.

ENGAGE

Try to maintain eye contact during the interview, and let them know you are listening.  Don't make the mistake of overpreparing for the interview by writing too many specific questions and limiting yourself to the answer you're expecting or hoping for going into the interview.  Be open to where the conversation takes you in an interview and you will often stumble onto gold.  Also follow the emotions you sense from the subject, they can take you to unexpected places.  My advice is keep a small bullet list of topics that you know you need to cover in this interview.  Discuss with your superior what they are expecting from this interview and make sure you keep that in mind.  Without a long list of questions, you are forced to stay engaged and listen to the subject which will yield better results for you; at the same time, you have your bullet list of story points so you know you will not miss anything vital.  Best of both worlds.

I realize this post is rather stream of consciousness, but that's the way it is when I'm working hard and getting ready for the holidays.  Quick shout out to Donner Pass, the film whose special features I edited, was mentioned in Variety.  And don't forget to check out the next episode of Gigolos on Showtime, Thursday at 11pm.

Part 2 coming soon...

THE PERFECT STRINGOUT by Steven Friedland

“The Perfect Stringout”

A blog by Steven Friedland

So, what is a stringout?  Simply put, a stringout is a sequence of shots that a Story Producer assembles and gives to an Editor to serve two purposes; 1) to give the Editor a “head start” on getting through the raw material that has been shot, and, 2) to give the Editor a “road map” on what the story of a specific scene should be.  Very often, the raw material of a reality show is random and unfocused, and decisions need to be made early on as to what the focus of scene should be.  The Story Producer will look at all the material for an episode and, together with the Supervising Story Producer/Co-Executive Producer, create a story arc of the episode.  The Story Producer will then sort through the raw footage and start creating sequences from the raw material that reinforce the central story arc to the episode.

Just so you know, I am writing this blog from the point of view of an Editor talking to a Story Producer.  Every production company handles story and stringouts in different fashions.  Often, a Story Producer will have to submit their stringouts to a Supervising Story Producer and get notes on them before an Editor ever sees them.  Other production companies prefer the Editor to watch ALL the raw and it is the job of the Story Producer to only pull interview bites for the Editor.  There are no “hard and fast rules” to the stringout, so if you are called upon to create one, use your best judgement.  And know, a stringout should be treated as an expression of your creativity.

So, what goes into “the perfect stringout”?  Well, that can be a bit tricky.  As an Editor, I prefer my stringouts to include any, and all, footage that could possibly be included in the final sequence, but at the same time, I prefer only “the best of the best”.  That would include all the best moments of reality, the best b-roll, interview bites and insert shots.  But only “the best of the best” – meaning, use your taste and select the best takes of interview bites (especially if there are multiple takes), and the moments that best express the story in the MOST CONCISE WAY.  Be selective.  Analyze performance and nuance.  Look for reaction shots that are provocative and telling.  This is YOUR opportunity to express your storytelling skills, so be brave and assert yourself.  But also, you don’t want to overwhelm the editor with options, otherwise the editor could just look at the raw material on their own.  Your stringout DOES NOT need to be an edit.  It is simply a series of shots in a timeline.  Don’t feel you need to make it look like an edited sequence ready for television. And DON’T ADD MUSIC TO YOUR STRINGOUT - !!  it is a waste of your time.

On average, a “scene” in a typical show runs between 2-3 minutes in length.  The raw material for a scene could be 1-2 hours in length, possibly even longer.  So, I don’t think a stringout in the 15-25 minute range is outrageous.  Of course, it needs to be the right 15-25 minutes of material.    If a conversation goes off on multiple threads/tangents, select the most pertainent conversation/s to the story.  Include any conversation that you feel is pertinent to the story/theme of the episode, but  DO NOT INCLUDE every conversation.  Make choices.  Also, make sure you include ALL entrances and exits of major characters, and any greetings and goodbyes of major characters.  Though, it will ultimately be up to the editor on whether these will be included, it can be a chore to have to scour through the footage to find these moments.

But most importantly, a stringout is the foundation for a scene; the basis for what the story of the scene will ultimately be.  It will go through multiple renditions before it makes it way to the television screen or the cutting room floor.  It can be and should be used as a tool to start conversations on what is the story of a scene.  Above all, any stringout that is prepared with insight and consideration, I consider to be a perfect stringout.

 --Steven Friedland is an Avid/Final Cut Pro editor for television and feature films.  Some of his current credits include "Real Housewives of the OC," "Modern Marvels," "Life on a Wire," and the upcoming feature film "Donner Pass."

This means WAR!

Above is an example of what's known as a Wide Area Release.  When shooting in a public place, theater, or anywhere there will be a large group of people, you will need to use a wide area release.  These should be made into posters that are about three feet tall, posted at every entrance to the location, and you'll need to have the camera crew get shots of all the signs, showing where they are posted.

For more info on wide area releases, I contacted a friend who works as legal consult to reality productions, and she had this to say:

In public places they cover people passing by in the background.  If people are focused on or lingering in the background they need to be individually released.  For audiences, they generally cover everybody although we still try to individually clear people we focus on for long periods of time and definitely for anybody with whom we interact.  For employees, or others that don't have a choice to leave the area, they in general need to be released.