The Shoot Out 24 Hour Filmmaking Festival » In-Camera Editing

New Boulder History Museum film exhibit highlights CO films past and present, including Boulder’s filmmaking Festival

mmconti — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:48:15 +0000

VINTAGE FILM EQUIPMENT

The Shoot Out 24 Hour Filmmaking Festival Boulder will also be represented as part of the display along with some other filmmaking items provided by Michael Conti (see camera above) for the exhibit. Thank you Boulder History Museum!

The Boulder History Museum’s new film exhibit opening Friday, January 13th, 2012 celebrates over a hundred years of filmmaking in Colorado with film posters and footage dating back to 1898. A special sneak preview with drinks and appetizers will take place Thursday, January 12th from 5:30-7pm. Admission is $10 for the general public, free for members. From the museum’s website:

“Colorado was the backdrop for over 500 movies since 1898. Whether it was for early silent films, Westerns and ski movies, or Stan Brackhage’s famous works of avant-garde art cinema, Hollywood came to Colorado to set the scene. View original movie posters and footage of more than 100 years of Colorado films set in areas such as Golden, Morrison, Cañon City and throughout the high country. This exhibit will also be supplemented with material highlighting Boulder’s own movie history.”

Here is a bit more information about the item shown above:

Bell & Howell Filmo 70DA 16mm Camera (Circa 1940s-1950s)

As a student at The Colorado College in 1986, Michael Conti (Executive Director of The Shoot Out 24 Hour Filmmaking Festival) was given the camera by a film lab technician at Alexander Film and Video in Colorado Springs during post production work on his senior thesis film project “Public Fixture”. At the time, Michael was editing his black and white 16 mm student film under the mentorship of Boulder filmmaker Stan Brakhage.

Alexander Film and Video was the last incarnation of now defunct Motion Picture Alexander Corp., which began in 1919 and eventually became heavily involved in commercial production for national accounts. They were the world’s largest producer of screen ads for the theater industry and by 1955, had agreements with 2,500 drive-ins. It was estimated that 10,000,000 people a week saw their ads. All of which was produced from their studios in Colorado Springs which made them the biggest film studio between New York and Hollywood!

While the camera may have been part of Alexander’s trailer making arsenal of equipment, it is important to note that the Bell & Howell Filmo helped usher in the beginnings of television news. In the mid to late 50′s and early 60′s when local stations first began to venture out of the studio and incorporate film into their nightly news programs, it was the well proven 16mm Filmo they chose to acquire B&W footage of local events.

Because of the short deadline between filming the news and then getting on the air, cameramen typically shot in-camera or in continuity which required no editing in a post production facility. The film only needed to be processed and projected for television.

This concept is still in action today at The Shoot Out 24 Hour Filmmaking Festival Boulder (September 28-30, 2012) as a requirement for its filmmaking contestants in order to encourage their creativity.

References:

Motion Picture Alexander Corp (Pictures):

http://www.driveinworkshop.com/alexander/alexandr.htm

In-Camera Editing – The Shoot Out Boulder

http://www.theshootoutboulder.com/blog/incamera-editing/in-camera-editing-history/

Bell & Howell Filmo 70DA 16mm Cameras

http://www.tfgtransfer.com/filmo.htm

In-Camera Editing described by Film Making Contestant

mmconti — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 02:37:19 +0000

Troy Fluhr, a Top 10 filmmaker at the Shoot Out Boulder, explains in-camera editing based upon his experiences with The Shoot Out 24 Hour Filmmaking Festival Boulder. He competed in the first event in 2004 and has competed each year since, winning numerous awards in the process. This presentation was part of the pre-event workshop for the Boulder Film Making Contest in 2009.

You can see more of Troy’s films online at YouTube Shoot Out Boulder

“Do something only you would come up with—that none of your friends or family would think of.”

mmconti — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:51:22 +0000

It is affirmation that The Shoot Out Boulder was creating an interest in community based film-making when international film-making festivals come to Denver such as Film Racing 2010 and The 48 Hour Film Project. Now in their 7th year, The Shoot Out 24 Hour Filmmmaking Festival Boulder returns for the weekend of September 24-26, 2010.

The Shoot Out Boulder asks filmmakers to trust their courage, imagination and determination by making a 7-minute film in just 24 hours using in-camera editing. The challenge and skill involved becomes evident with the list of required technical, material, and timing ‘rules’ for creating the films.

An unique feature of The Shoot Out Boulder not found in other competitions is the in-camera editing requirement. While this rule may appear to add an unnecessary hardship to the creative process, it is actually a means to level the field for participants. For someone that isn’t familiar with non-linear digital editing (using the computer to cut together scenes), in-camera editing is easier to explain and do. All the director needs to know is how to turn on and turn off the camera, and to shoot in continuity (tell the story as it happens). For the more experienced director, in-camera offers some challenges that require more thought and prep in preparing the storyboard and shot list, but the skills learned may help later to “shoot for the edit”.

The participants in The Shoot Out Boulder are not just film professionals, but come from all walks of life, consisting of friends and families and all age groups. It is from their combined efforts over a short weekend that gives Boulder the freshest and most creative films to behold at the Top 10 Gala screening on Sunday, September 26 at the Boulder Theater. That screening event is probably the number one reason why The Shoot Out Boulder is so much fun to participate in.

The cost per team is $100 which includes two participants and two tickets to the screening event. 17 & under teams are $75. Additional team members are $25 and $20 respectively and includes a ticket to the venue screening. Additional venue tickets can be purchased for $15 each. The screening is open to the public with tickets available at the Boulder Theater Box office.

Call for entries will start on August 4, 2010 online at http://theshootoutboulder.com. Check out the website for new rules for 2010. If you are interested in learning more about in-camera editing, a pre-event all day workshop that is being co-presented with Boulder Digital Arts will occur on September 18th in downtown Boulder. Visit BDA’s website for more details.

In Camera Editing Article – A Cinematic Perspective

mmconti — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 21:03:57 +0000

While in-camera editing may seem backwards, there is a rich history behind it as I have been told by some of my film studies friends.

Some of America’s greatest filmmakers are known to use the technique, from Alfred Hitchcock to John Ford. For a variety of reasons, both of these directors were so sure of their vision was correct, they wouldn’t leave any room for someone to re-edit their scenes. While they shot “out of continuity”, they won’t provide any ”extra coverage” that could be used for changing the context of the scene. Hitchcock was known to fall asleep on the set while his very detailed storyboard instructions were followed out. For him, the camera work was merely a formality.

“Rope (1948) was another technical challenge: a film that appears to have been shot entirely in a single take. The film was actually shot in 10 takes ranging from four and a half to 10 minutes each; 10 minutes being the maximum amount of film that would fit in a single camera reel. Some transitions between reels were hidden by having a dark object fill the entire screen for a moment. Hitchcock used those points to hide the cut, and began the next take with the camera in the same place.”

Source: Wikipedia

John Ford didn’t want the studio to mess with his vision, so he wouldn’t leave anything for them to use.

“Ford typically shot only the footage he needed and he often filmed in sequence, minimizing the job of his film editors. In the opinion of Joseph McBride , Ford’s technique of cutting in the camera enabled him to retain creative control in a period where directors often had little say on the final editing of their films. Ford noted:”

“I don’t give ‘em a lot of film to play with. In fact, Eastman used to complain that I exposed so little film. I do cut in the camera. Otherwise, if you give them a lot of film ‘the committee’ takes over. They start juggling scenes around and taking out this and putting in that. They can’t do it with my pictures. I cut in the camera and that’s it. There’s not a lot of film left on the floor when I’m finished.”

Source: Wikipedia

It is hard to imagine that approach would work with today’s features, but remember both men were making films back in the 1930s-1940s.

To understand more of what in-camera editing is, the following comes from Videomaker Magazine.

“While the differences between editing in-camera and shooting to edit are many, the main difference between the two is a matter of sequence. When you shoot to edit, you can shoot your scenes out of order (out of continuity), since you’re going to re-arrange them in post production anyway. When you edit in the camera, however, you need to shoot all of the scenes in order (in-continuity). Because in-camera editing requires that scenes be shot in the order, you might have to do some leg work to produce a scene that requires more than one location.”

Practice, Practice, Practice

“When you edit in the camera, you will need to be sure of every shot before pressing that record button. Because you won’t be able to trim a shot later, you’ll have to shoot it at just the right length. Not too long, not too short. Mastering your timing can be challenging. It is difficult to make precise edits in the camera. Practice makes perfect when shooting to edit. Prepare your shot as much as you can before you record. You get only one shot.”

“There will be times, however,when you’ll screw up a shot while editing in-camera. What do you do then? One solution is to rewind, re-cue the tape and try again. In many cases it’s the only option. ”

The Shoot Out 24 Hour Filmmaking Festival Boulder is proud to continue this rich tradition of filmmaking as it offers both challenges and opportunities to the participants.