Snip Decisions | Box Office India : India's premier film trade magazine

Gory fight scenes, breath taking special effects or just plain mushy love songs? Every film scene requires a good editor.But it?s no longer the dark editing rooms that these film-tailors are restricted to.With more and more films being shot on digital cameras, editors are now stepping out on to the sets to make creative cuts.

While earlier, in the ?90s, editing on the sets was used extensively while making ad films, this trend is slowly catching the attention of Hindi filmmakers too.

The benefits of this are two-fold. While it saves a lot of time and reduces costs for filmmakers, editors can actually visualise what a scene will look like on location and how it would eventually translate onto the screen. Likewise, directors get to witness how a scene shot on location would look on screen and hence make the necessary changes on the sets itself.

A lot of Hindi film editors like Shirish Kunder, Chandan Arora, Namrata Rao and Kuldeep Mehan have used this technique in their films ? Main Hoon Na, Company, Ishqiya and Haunted respectively. And with time, more films?like Abhishek Kapoor?s Amdavad, Rakesh Roshan?s Krrish 3, Raaz 3 and Remo D?Souza?s Any Body Can Dance (ABCD) are all being shot with the edit-on-set technique.

Asif Ali Shaikh, editor of Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu, says, ?Editors are no longer just technicians. Their role is now that of avisualiser. Sometimes, especially when the shoot is on at an outdoor location,where the lighting tends to play hide and-seek, we have to be present on the sets to make sure a scene looks fine post the edit.?

He adds, ?If there are any discrepancies in the shot, having the editor on the sets really helps as we can do away with the errors or tell the director if a bad shot can be rectified later in post-production.?

Earlier, only the cameraman was able to see through his camera?s view finder and tell the director what a shot would look like on screen.The director had no other option but to take the editor?s word for it.Then came a phase when editors began using video-assist to show directors what a scene looked like before the edit. It is still sometimes used and is a system used in filmmaking,which allows the filmmakers to view a video version of a take immediately after it is filmed. A wire is attached to the camera, which translates the shot on to a small monitor, almost like a tiny TV screen.

This technology was used for quite some time while films were being shot on35 mm. It was mainly to give the director a rough idea of what a shot looked like.It didn?t however point out the qualityof lighting or the colour gradation. But with new cameras like the RED and Arri, editing-on-the-sets have become far easier.

Editor Chandan Arora says, ?Edit-on the?sets is a technique that helps a filmmaker when a lot of special effects are used or a lot of precision is required fora shot. Since most films these days are being shot in the digital format, editing is becoming more advanced and easier.?

According to editor Kuldip Mehan, this technology has been borrowed from Hollywood,where there is a line producer always present on the sets. ?Editing is usually done on two machines, the first pro cut or FCP and Avid. There was a?huge demand for FCP as it was cheaper compared to Avid and could be used on a MAC machine. But now even the cost of Avid has come down, making both a favourite among editors.?

Mehan specialises in 3D filmsand has worked on films like Haunted. He is now working on both Raaz 3 and Dangerous Ishq,which are both being shot in 3D.

He says, ?It is easier to edit a film which is shot in 3D rather than a 2D film which is converted to 3D as the final output in both can vary drastically. Edit-on-the-sets is thus very helpful for films which are shotin stereoscopic 3D as it saves both, time and the cost.?

However, while some editors are gung ho about filmmakers going digital and using edit-on-the-sets extensively, others like Namrata Rao are more inclined to old school ways of editing post shooting. She used edit-on-the sets for the films Ishqiya and also during Kahaani.

?Editors should be kept away from theshoot to be able to edit the film more objectively.I know edit-on-the-sets is easy and convenient but I feel it tampers with the editor?s creativity.?

Source: http://www.boxofficeindia.co.in/snip-decisions/

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