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WRS MOTION PICTURE AND VIDEO LABORATORY |
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1000
Napor Boulevard,Pittsburgh Pa 15205 |
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WRS MOTION PICTURE AND VIDEO LABORATORY |
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1000
Napor Boulevard,Pittsburgh Pa 15205 |
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Editing and Conforming
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Work Print Leaders To save time and confusion later, the head and tail leaders on your work print should be set up properly. Splice an SMPTE Universal leader to the head of your work print, making sure that there are 47 blank frames between the single "2" on the Universal leader and the first frame of your picture. Splice at least 18 feet of single perf white leader to the beginning of the Universal leader. Place the frame marked "Picture Start," which is next to the first number 8 in the Universal leader, at zero in your synchronizer. Measure off exactly 12 feet toward the head of the white leader, which will again bring you to a zero frame on the synchronizer, and mark this frame with a large "X". Label this frame "Edit Sync". At the end of your show, splice on the tail portion of the Universal leader. Make sure that there are 87 blank frames between the last frame of your show and the frame marked "Finish" in the Universal leader. Splice 16 feet of single perf white leader to the end of the Universal leader. Set the "Finish" frame in your synchronizer at zero. Measure exactly 12 feet toward the end of the white leader and mark this frame with a large "X". Label the frame "Tail Edit Sync". Splice 2 feet of black single perf leader on the tail of the white leader to complete the leadering. (Figure 7 - Head Leaders and Tail Leaders )
Marking Work Prints During the creative editing process, decisions are made as to what optical effects will be incorporated in the finished product and where and how they will be utilized to enhance the effectiveness of the production. The effects that can be achieved during the printing process are fades, dissolves, burn-ins, and double exposures. When the editor determines the position and lengths of these effects, he marks the work print according to the type of effect and its duration.
A fade-in should be marked by two straight lines forming a "V". These lines should start at the beginning of the scene in the center of the frame and extend for the length of the effect, ending at the edges of the work print.
The fade-out is the reverse of the fade-in, extending from the beginning of the effect and at the edges of the film, to the last frame of the scene, where the two lines converge. In both effects, the point where the lines meet indicates a black screen.
A dissolve is actually a fade-in of one scene, superimposed over the fade-out of another. In this case, the center of the effect is at the scene change in the work print. In marking a dissolve, the lines are the same as for the fades, but are superimposed as in the illustration. One word of caution. When cutting the work print where a dissolve is going to occur, make certain that the cut is far enough away from a slate or camera stop so there will be enough original to make the overlap. For example, where a 48 frame dissolve is going to occur, the work print splice is at the center of the dissolve. There must be at least 24 frames more original available for the A and B rolls to complete the total 48 frame overlap.
Double exposures, superimposed titles, etc. should be indicated by cutting in the back ground scene of the work print a few inches of work print of the scene to be superimposed. The start of this cut-in indicates where the overprint is to begin. A few more inches should be cut in to indicate where the effect is to end. At least one of these sections should have an edge number. The marking to indicate double exposure is a wavy line.
Occasionally during the editing process, portions of the work print may become damaged and must be replaced with leader. To indicate to the conformer that the scene should be extended, an arrow is marked on the leader with the head, indicating where the scene should end. If the splice occurs in the leader, then two arrows should be used as shown. It is advisable to replace the missing footage with white leader.
Splices occurring in the work print, which are to be disregarded by the conformer, should be indicated by two short parallel lines drawn through the splice and at right angles to it. This means that the scene is not to be cut at that splice. Any frames lost due to unintentional cuts, should be replace by the same number of white leader frames.
Titles Readability is the prime requisite of titles. They must be visible and legible. Be careful in using typestyles such as Old English, fancy scripts, and type with extremes of thin and thick lines. There must be sufficient contrast between letters and the background. A common fault is the use of white letters over a light background or mottled with light and dark. Drop shadow style may be a solution, by use of optical intermediates, if you must use this type of background. Titles must be positioned in the frame so that no part will be cut off by any format used. Edges may be cropped by rear-projection systems or television cut-off. The top and bottom of the frame may be masked to change proportions such as in wide screen projection of films shot in the Academy aperture.
The "Safe
Area" for television is the most restrictive in general use, so
if you are within those boundaries, you are very likely safe against
cut-off of essential information. It is advisable to consult the safe
picture area and safe title area charts, SMPTE RP 27.3-1989. Further suggestions in preparing and photographing titles: Avoid overcrowded titles. Make your smallest letters at least 1/25 the total height of your image. For television titles, this should be doubled. A field chart will help the artist determine how to lay out titles. These are available for standard formats or you can make your own. A number 8 field for an Academy aperture (1.33:1 aspect ratio) is 8 inches wide and 6 inches high. High contrast positive film is recommended in photographing either negative or positive title. A positive title has a black background with a clear letter, shot from black type on a white card. A negative title has clear background with a black letter, shot from white type on a black card. The black area of the high contrast film should be a minimum of 3.00 in density, and the clear area should be a maximum of 0.10 in density. If your original printing materials are reversal or master positive, your superimposed titles should be positive. If your original is negative, superimposed titles are more complex. Depending on whether your printing negative is going to be a color reversal intermediate or a duplicate negative made from a master positive, the titles and their emulsion positions will be different. 35mm prints with superimposed titles can be made in a single operation from a 35mm picture negative and a 35mm negative title on a contact printer. Check with your ACVL laboratory before you prepare title for negative printing materials. The camera original of a title will normally be in the B wind emulsion position. In contact printing, the emulsion position of the title should be the same as the printing material. If you need an A wind camera original of the title, this can be accomplished by prepared the type on a clear cell in either black or white as required, and then flipping the cell on the background card so that the title reads from right to left. Great care must be exercised in photographing titles in order for them to be steady on the screen.
Conforming Original to Work Print When work print editing is completed and the editorial decisions for printer optical effects have been made and marked, the next step is matching the original to the edited work print. This procedure requires accuracy and cleanliness. Conforming errors are very difficult to correct, and often impossible without some compromise. A misread edge number that results in cutting the original at the wrong place cannot usually be corrected without the loss of at least one frame. If sync is involved, complicated adjustments between picture and sound track are involved. Mistakes at this stage of production can be costly and time consuming. Where black and white footage has to be intercut with color, or reversal footage cut with negative, it is important to contact your laboratory before any of the material is intercut. The method you choose will be determined by cost, quality, and available services. Cleanliness is very important, particularly in handling negative materials. Dust particles on reversal or positive original will show up as black spots on the screen and are not too disturbing, but on negative they will appear on the screen as bright white spots that cannot be ignored by the viewer. Original should always be handled with clean, lint-free editing gloves. Many producers prefer to have the laboratory or an independent service conform their original, especially when negative is used. If you do your own conforming, make certain that your splicer is properly adjusted and that you use fresh cement. Unused cement should be disposed of and replaced with fresh from the supply container at least at the beginning of each day’s work.
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