OpenCut Final Cut
Here’s the final cut of my OpenCut project. Go to Vimeo to see it in 720p HD. This was a very fun experience. I learned a lot about the Red workflow. It turns out at this point it’s about as easy to use as P2 media. I’m still a little unsure about how I would finish it on a large budget project. I’m perfectly content to finish the project in 2K ProRes, but given the option I know it would be better to do a 4K assembly and color correct from the original files.
It was very unusual for me to work on a script I disliked and have the opportunity to change it beyond what any director would let me. Since I had no contact with the writer/director on this project, it didn’t matter that I thought his script was trite and boring. I wasn’t collaborating with him, I was stealing his footage. The downside of the isolation from the production was that I had nobody to yell at when crucial shots were missed or delivered without sound. I only received one take that had blood on the wall after the gunshot and it was MOS. I used it, but I would have liked some better options. There were several shots covering the end of that scene that included the ear and wall without the blood, but I didn’t use them because the blood would have disappeared. And I didn’t get a lined script, which would have been nice.
I tried using Color to do the color correction, but even as I started to get the hang of it I realized that it was way more control than I needed or had the ability to take advantage of. So I stuck with good old 3-Way Color Corrector in FCP. And I mixed in FCP too. What can I say? I stick with what works.
Hey Kyle,
Saw your cut of Susannah today…and it was great. I really enjoyed it. I am an editor as well, a commercial editor, this was my first short and i cant wait to see more of those same bad shots cut differently by fellow peers. I hope to learn allot from seeing these different approaches. My version will hopefully be up soon, its been uploading all day. Again, awesome cut.
cheers
tonyG
Your Susannah edit was brilliant. I hope they consider it even though it deviated so far from the script. They had so many takes of that ‘hot rod’ trying to start, it was cracking me up listening to the raw audio. Your exploitation of it was a stroke of genius – not to mention the fumbling door knob and awkward interaction between Jacob and the maid. Great job and great timing – which is after all what editing is all about.
Hey John, glad you liked my cut. The funny thing is, I actually came up with the idea before I saw the real trouble they had starting the car. I just thought it would be funny if they were fighting over a piece of junk. I was very surprised and happy to see that there was actual footage of them struggling to start the car.