Hiki Nō Editing Tutorial “Shape Your Story Through Editing” Script v3 June 23, 2020 Video Audio Cut to scissor montage Music up full, then under… Sounds of scissors snipping Graphics/text on screen VO: What is editing? What is EDITING? Hongwanji kids cutting and piecing paper cut of story together Smash cut to jujitsu fighters flip Slam of body hitting the ground Young jujitsu kids sparring VO: When we edit, we put the story together. Mochi pounding b-roll Sound of pounding Shots of people interviewed VO: We put together the sounds and images of people speaking and telling the story. Interviewee on camera Interview with mochi pounder: “Everybody’s not Buddhist, but you still have the tradition.” Archer shoots, hits target Whack of arrow hitting target Hiki Nō Edi)ng Tutorial - Shape Your Story Through Edi)ng - Page 1 of 16 Shirley Thompson Editorial Haku lei maker weaving flowers and VO: We connect and clarify their words speaking on camera by adding the sounds of the reporter’s words. Reporter VO: Miss Yiunige strives to make a difference by giving haku lei to others and teaching aloha to her students. B-roll from Alabama transplant story VO: We transport the audience into the lives of the characters by adding video Cut to dog owner high fiving dog images from their workplaces or homes. Cut to roller derby team in huddle Roller derby team cheers: Wahoo! Cut to roller derby player in action VO: We show them in action. Music stings out, new music transition begins up full, then under. Cut to Kōnane players VO: We might add music. Cut to montage of still images from VO: We might add still photos. various stories Cut to Hiki Nō graphics VO: We might add text or graphics. Shirley on Camera SOT: And the goal is to put the story together in a clear, interesting and creative way that moves the audience and makes them feel something. Hiki Nō Edi)ng Tutorial - Shape Your Story Through Edi)ng - Page 2 of 16 Shirley Thompson Editorial Football team on field executing a play Sounds of football, calling plays, cheering Football continues VO: Editing is collaborative by nature. Cut to solo editor editing VO: There is usually one editor who is in charge of editing the story. Montage of students in production and VO: But a Hiki Nō editor works closely post production. with a team that includes the reporter, the writer, the cameraperson, a teacher, a mentor, the HIKI NO Managing Editor, the Executive Producer, and the Online Editor who assembles the show in which your story will appear. Player shoots basketball through hoop Balls swishes through net Montage of students in production and VO: At some point all of these people post production will either contribute to the story, Cut to Roosevelt kids and teacher or weigh in on whether the story is reading feedback email on computer working or not, and how it could be improved. Shirley on Camera SOT: And so, knowing how to be a good collaborator is one of the most important skills any editor can have: to be open to other ideas and willing to try them. Music transition, bright and inquisitive Hiki Nō Edi)ng Tutorial - Shape Your Story Through Edi)ng - Page 3 of 16 Shirley Thompson Editorial Montage of students editing, getting VO: It’s not enough to have technical notes, talking with teacher. editing skills and know how to operate the editing software in your computer. That’s important of course; an editor needs to know the tools of their craft. But a good editor needs to know how to receive notes from their teacher or mentor and then be able to figure out how to make those changes in order to deliver the strongest story possible. Cut to runner on track It’s important for every editor to (need to add footstep sound here) understand that editing is a marathon and not a sprint. No one ever edits a perfect story on the first try. Cut to shot of many rough cuts on Typically, a Hiki Nō story goes through Weebly six or seven or even more revisions before it gets approved for a broadcast. Cut to Kapa Making, pounding and So, the editor is going to edit the first wetting, pounding and wetting, more cut of the story and then, after getting pounding. feedback from their teacher and their mentor, they and the team are going to re-edit, re-write, re-shoot and re-edit some more. Hiki Nō Edi)ng Tutorial - Shape Your Story Through Edi)ng - Page 4 of 16 Shirley Thompson Editorial Shirley on camera SOT: It’s in this re-writing and re-editing that the magic can happen. New connections are made. And new ideas emerge. And so it’s important to be open to the possibilities that come from the editing process and getting to understand your material better. Music transition, new music Shots from a Hiki Nō story You might have gone on location and not gotten the footage that you hoped for. Shots from a Hiki Nō story Or you might be surprised by some of your footage and your story might change. Shots from a Hiki Nō story Or you might discover something fantastic that someone says, but that you don’t have footage for yet, so you arrange to do another shoot or collect more images. Shirley on Camera SOT: So, let’s look at this editing process and how to shape your story through editing. Music stings out Do we need to add any titles to the end of this? VIDEO ENDS HERE, TRT: 3:43 ### Hiki Nō Edi)ng Tutorial - Shape Your Story Through Edi)ng - Page 5 of 16 Shirley Thompson Editorial Rough outline of script of the rest of So, let’s start by watching the first rough the class begins here cut of a story by the students at Waiakea High School with their teacher Donn Yamamoto. Cut to RC1 of Foster Care story TRT 3:11 This first rough cut was made for a summer workshop in Hilo, and amazingly this story was made in just four days. So I think these students did a really good job. The Hiki Nō staff asked them to develop the story further and they asked me to mentor the team. So, I sent them these notes. Hiki Nō Edi)ng Tutorial - Shape Your Story Through Edi)ng - Page 6 of 16 Shirley Thompson Editorial CU of email from Shirley Shirley reads email: Thanks for sharing your student's Rough Cut 1 with me. In general, it looks like this crew certainly knows how to edit a sequence and they have done a nice job cutting this story. Frankly, I find the beginning of this story pretty boring. We begin the story about two office workers doing office work. There's no hook here. It became slightly interesting when I learned that they were a married couple who work together. Small hook...might catch small fish. But this story didn't really get interesting for me until we got to their foster daughter, hearing about her relationship with them and hearing about the fact that they foster lots of kids. Is there a way to lead with their fostering and build the rest of the story around that? Less office work and typing, more talking about the challenges and rewards of being a foster parent. What do you think? Shirley on Cam: So, these notes were written to a teacher who is a colleague I have worked with on many, many stories. Let’s break them down. Hiki Nō Edi)ng Tutorial - Shape Your Story Through Edi)ng - Page 7 of 16 Shirley Thompson Editorial First, never start a story this way: “This is my name, this is what I do.” For Hiki Nō, we always introduce a character with their name and title as text on screen, so there’s never a need for them to say it themselves. I think they did it here because they were in a workshop and they didn’t have titles. But more importantly, every story needs a hook at the start: something you say to your audience or show them at the very beginning of the story that makes them lean in and say, “Tell me more!” It has to be something that the audience connects to either intellectually or emotionally. And if you have to choose between the two, emotion wins every time. Hiki Nō Edi)ng Tutorial - Shape Your Story Through Edi)ng - Page 8 of 16 Shirley Thompson Editorial So, here’s the most important lesson and if you only remember one thing in this entire tutorial it’s this: always edit for emotion. For me when watching this first rough cut, I didn’t lean in until Ronnie the former foster kid showed up in the story at 1:44. I felt real emotion when Ronnie told her story. And when Danielle and Jonathan talk about being foster parents, they light up and your can just feel how meaningful the experience is for them. So truly, the work that they do in their office is far less interesting. But the fact that they care for other people’s children when the parents can’t…that’s the part of the story I want to hear more about. So, with those notes, the students re- wrote, acquired more footage, re-edited and created rough cut 2. Cut to rough cut 2 TRT: 3:43 So, it’s very rough and missing a bunch of footage, but that’s okay at rough cut 2, especially when I know that their story is changing, and they haven’t done their second shoot yet.