Cinematography : 11 things video editors wish they could say to camera operators and DOPs by Amanda Toney

Request #12 More light please! I can make things darker in post and crush the blacks, but light makes for good contrast. A poorly/under lit scene....arghhh!

Dark effect lighting is an art, not a function of the number of photons falling on the set.

Many editor I know would agree with me. What does you statement have to do with overall exposure, we're not talking a lighting effect here. We're talking a frame that's overall, too dark, gain adds noise.

and i shoot noir and noir lighting never looks as good if you do it in post

I'm sorry I didn't respond to Mr. Hartman's question more promptly. I guess my statement is a little flippant and I suppose vague. Let me site an example. You have a loose two shot with nothing but back-cross light, no fill. Where does one set the stop? If you pick an overall exposure the blacks are ink and the back-light is blown out. One adjusts the exposure more as an artistic judgment than a study in noise. I'm an old sprocket jockey and I was always resentful when the color timer would take it on his own to make overall exposure judgments that affect the "look" based on a waveform, not the DP's intent.

A few things cinematographers would like to tell editors and colorists: If you clue in to how this was intentionally covered it will edit itself; you don't need more or extra nor do you need your thumbprints in the frame. You need to honor what was done on set and just make the damn cuts. You need to pay total attention to any color charts provided and any notes related to their use for image setup. Decisions were made on set and your unsolicited opinion on an image agreed on by director is irrelevant.

I always say you can never have enough. The other big one for me is when they stop recording. It's digital, keep it rolling dammit! What am I suppose to do with a 3 second cutaway?

Peace and Joy to each of you, fellow filmmakers and artists. As a film student, who completed the course Editing Theory and Practice and is now currently in Cinematography 1, it took real time and practice to get the hang of AVID Editing software. I also learned and can certainly see how cinematography and editing can go hand-in-hand! Cinematography is my emphasis in my degree plan, but I have discovered a joy and appreciation for editing and I certainly hope to do more training and gain more experience with editing. I absolutely respect the editor and the several different elements that they have to skillfully and artistically weave together to create the masterpiece that the director, writer, producers, etc envisioned for their film! I have learned as a camera operator and a DOP, that it certainly does not hurt to include those extra insert shots, cutaway shots, and reaction shots that the editor can use to help make their job a little more simple. If you think the editors have it so easy, I strongly suggest that you sit down with them and watch and learn about the step by step process and challenges that they face in making the right cuts, balancing sound, sound effects, film score, etc. In fact as a film student, I would LOVE to sit down with as many different editors as I could to learn the trade and become good and effective at it!! I think in doing so would also make me an excellent DOP and camera operator.

"It's digital, keep it rolling". THIS is the folly of video-trained thinking. Miles of mediocrity, instead of select, precise takes of intentional work. Both approaches take the same amount of time on set. The results are very different.

In my forty years as a DP, retired now, There have been many times that the director invited the editor to the set. This lasts maybe an hour and then he is sent back to the editing room. The movie is made on the set, not in the cutting room. Robert Aldridge told me "They can only use what we give them"

Pretty interesting!