Every editor needs an organization system, whether you’re working on a feature film or a documentary project or even a music video. For many film editors, using wall cards is the difference between a good film and a giant mess. In “The Art & Technique of Film Editing” course on MZed, educator Tom Cross demonstrates his system that he’s been using to organize films such as La La Land, Whiplash, and First Man. Tom won an Academy Award for his work on Whiplash, so let’s take a look at how a master editor approaches a film edit. Wall Cards Organize Scenes At the most basic level, wall cards are simply index cards that help visually organize a films scenes. Key information such as where the scene takes place, characters involved, and any director’s notes are enough to get you started. Then throughout the editing process, you can move the cards around as you begin to visualize a better flow for the plot, continuity, and overall story direction. Screengrab from The Art & Technique of Film Editing with Tom Cross / MZed A basic index card system will help you picture the whole movie. But you can choose to make it more informative by organizing your wall cards based on info you’re already tracking. In this lesson of the course, Tom Cross describes how he uses database software like FileMaker Pro, but a spreadsheet will work just as well as long as you stay organized. The key is being able to...
Published By: CineD - Thursday, 27 January, 2022