BackPack Film School™ » “Film Editing: Theory and Practice” just ...

The “Digital Filmmaker” series has a new entry . . . my book!

Check it out in its Kindle Edition for now.  The hard copy is on its way.

Here is the book description:

Designed for the novice or for a course in film editing, the book is the perfect introductory text. In this book, you will read about the history of film editing, and how it developed from the single-shot movies of the 1890s to the crazy split-second montages of today. You will be exposed to different editing aesthetics – the when, how and why of cutting, as well as the proper terms for different shots – so that you can think about the development of your own style. You will read some in-depth shot-by-shot breakdowns of various film scenes, as illustrations of these different aesthetics. You will explore the different editing concerns of narrative (fiction) films vs. documentaries, and full-length features vs. shorts. You will read about the invention of non-linear editing systems, such as the AVID and Final Cut Pro, and how they have affected the film industry and editing styles. You will learn the basic interface of Apple’s less-expensive non-linear editing system – Final Cut Express – as well as LiveType, the innovative text and titles generator that Apple bundles with it. You will also read about the all-important issue of understanding formats and compression. Finally, you will work with the accompanying video footage, included on the companion DVD, in a variety of different ways to put theory into practice and drive home the lessons of the book. For projects, it covers the latest version of Final Cut Express, contains structured exercises, and uses video clips on the companion DVD, to allow the reader to apply the lessons of the book in clear and entertaining ways.

And while it’s true that Apple released Final Cut Pro X in June, 2011, it’s also true that many people don’t like it and are sticking to the legacy software apps for now, while they figure out what the future holds.  So – at least for a few years – you can count on the info in here being relevant and applicable to both Final Cut Express and Final Cut Pro 7.  So read on, MacEditor!

One final note – somehow, in the revision process, the acknowledgements that I had written for the intro were taken out, and I never noticed.  Here they are now:

Acknowledgements

As with most books, this one could not have been written without the contributions of people other than the author.  First and foremost, I wish to thank Gerald Jones, who approached me with the idea of this filmmaking series and asked me to write the editing book.  I also wish to thank his frequent collaborator Pete Shaner, the technical editor of this series, for spending many hours reading and vetting the technical information presented here.  Any mistakes that remain are mine and mine alone.

Next, I must acknowledge David Pallai, the text editor, and his terrific team at Mercury, for poring over the chapters herein for grammatical and formatting errors.  Their services were invaluable.  The result of their labors is the smooth flow of the pages ahead.

I also wish to thank Sarah Jones and Sam Peterson.  A number of years ago, they acted in the short film, Nail Polish, which provides the raw materials for the editing practice exercises in later chapters.  Their work was quite amazing, and you are lucky to be able to cut and recut their performances in a variety of ways.

Finally, I must thank Jennifer McLeran, whose unflagging patience and love throughout this writing process has been truly inspiring and comforting.  Without her, I could not have completed the work.  Plus, my dog, Lizzy (whom you will meet in Chapter 12), would have had a terrible time of it, as well.  Woof.

Enjoy!