Every editor needs an organization system whether you are working on a feature film or a documentary project or even a music video. For many film editors, using a wall card is the difference between a good film and a huge mess.
Inside “The art and technique of film editing“Of course at MZ, educator Tom Cross demonstrates the system he uses to organize films, such as La La Land, Whiplash, And The first man. Tom has won an Academy Award for his work Whiplash, So let’s take a look at how a master editor interacts with a film editor.
Organized wall card scenes
At the most basic level, wall cards are simply index cards that help organize a movie scene visually. Basic information such as where the scene took place, the characters involved, and notes from any of the managers are enough to get you started.
Then throughout the editing process, you can move the cards around as you begin to visualize better flows for plot, continuity, and overall story direction.
A basic index card system will help you take pictures of the whole movie. But you can choose to make it more informative by organizing your wall cards based on the information you are already tracking.
In this lesson of course, Tom Cross describes how he uses database software like Filemaker Pro, but a spreadsheet will work as long as you stay organized. The key is to be able to reorganize the fields and create a set of wall cards that are helpful not only to you, but also to your co-editors, directors, producers and anyone else involved in filmmaking.
For example, a producer might want to see a wall of cards organized by reel numbers, which shows which scenes are included in which relay. In a feature film, the editor can split the movie into smaller parts – or reels – so that other sections, such as sound and visual effects, can work together. There is more information about the reel In another lesson of the course.
Adding screen grab to wall card
To improve his wall card system, Tom adds a small 5 × 7 screengrab from the film to represent each card. This way he can maintain a visual look throughout the movie without relying on just a little writing on the wall.
When a film is being shot, he just starts replacing the text-card system with visuals that help everyone imagine the whole movie. Simply choose an image that best presents the scene, print a smaller version, and tap the wall card of that scene.
Tom says, “What I’ve found is that managers use it as a tool. So to express their views, they go to the wall, and they say, ‘What if we move it there?’ You don’t even have to say what they are talking about, they can show me. “
He added that it is a useful tool not only for managers but also for producers. They can describe their problems or questions about the story by pointing to a specific scene on the wall of the card.
Is Wall Card Only for Feature Editors?
Screenwriters are known to use index cards to organize a story during the long process of writing, and art designers rely on mood boards to pre-visualize the look of a film. But editors rely on metadata and follow scripts, don’t they?
From logging shots to creating multiple timelines, there is a combination of different methods or methods for performing an edit – in fact I wrote about 5 video editing workflows earlier to help you organize your footage. But Tom Cross is an Oscar-winning film editor, and he uses wall cards in addition to all other agency methods, so who can argue if this system works for him?
But what if you don’t edit the features? Can you still use the wall card system? Absolutely, and in fact at a very early stage you should use some way to organize your sticky notes or video stories. It helps a lot to get out of the editing software and play with what you have on paper.
For me, when I started with documentaries, I used the Sticky app on my computer to summarize some of the key parts of the subject interview, and then turned the sticks around until the story made sense. That was never before touching the edit. Now I like to work with transcribed text and copy and paste interview responses into editing a story by a general text editor.
But no matter what method of organization you use, it’s important to have at least some way to step back from your editing screen, even if you work alone and don’t need collaboration tools.
Learn all about editing with MZed Pro
There are many aspects to learning to edit a film or video, from the method of organization, to using specific NLE, to coloring and distributing, and much more. With a subscription MZ Pro, You can learn from a variety of filmmakers who each come up with their own perspectives on how to become a skilled editor.
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Do you use wall cards or other methods of organizing editing projects? Let us know in the comments below!
