Me and a friend of mine will be making a short horror/gore movie for our friends to watch on halloween. We dont have any good editing equip(or any skill for that matter). so we will be using crash cutting. If anybody has any good tips that can make our film better it would be much appereciated. If not than no big deal Its just for fun and to see if we can really do it.
thanks again,
chris

What's crash cutting? Is that the same as editing in the camera?

Hm... I'm drawing a blank. Is crash-cutting where you edit the footage onsite by rewinding over bad cuts and doing everything chronologically so you can just play it back with the camera? I hope so, cuz that's what I'm giving you tips for.

Crashing sucks. It takes time and it just sucks. If you absolutely HAVE to crash cut, then there is no help for you, but my suggestion to you is this: If you have 'till Halloween, and your friends aren't going anywhere, then I'd suggest investing in some real editing stuff. There is a standard editing program that comes with Windows XP called Windows' Movie Maker. It isn't tremendous, but it works. You can get most of the external stuff to get the footage onto your computer at any Best Buy or Circut City where the sales people are remotely intellegent. I would also suggest getting the free Movie Maker 2 download from the Microsoft website.

If you have a Mac, then nothing that I just typed was helpful... Sorry!

Ditto what Will said (assuming thats what crash cutting is! you've got us stumped on that one )

If you have a Mac you're all set of course, so I'm assuming you don't. If your camera doesn't have a firewire port try an analog capture device like the PYRO AV/Link (about $150)

You'd need far more skill to edit in camera, or tape to tape, than you would to do it digitally.

crash cut is going from deck to deck... frantically hitting the pause and play button.

I used to do that with my VHS player when I was a kid.

-Chris
Studentfilms.com

I've often wondered if, because I never did that deck-to-deck thing, I somehow don't have some tiny little fundamental thing embedded in my collective conscience that is essential to becoming a filmmaker. It seems like EVERYONE did that I suppose its not too late for me to try it.

try getting a vcr that will let the pause button go forever, or at least for as long as possible, this will give you the time to set up your shots right, and remember to have everything planned out to as close a cut as possible, to the frame, or at least to the second. it won't look as good as if u used FCP or Premiere, but it'll be better than Windows Movie Maker (I should know), and you'll learn some valuable lessons.

quote:

Originally posted by Hill Dawson Kane:
but it'll be better than Windows Movie Maker (I should know)

Seriously?? ROFL

watch my film "Entre to Exis" at the link below and see for yourself, it's true ( and I get to plug my shorth film which will be off this site in a cuple months so watch it while you can but don't worry I've got my next film stamped and ready to send as I type this )

i've done that camera to vcr thing before. pure chaos.