Bright Wolf

In my nonlinear editing class, we received footage for a BBC production of a show called "Bright Wolf". It is the overdramatic (and downright ridiculous) story of a family who evidently was cursed to be werewolves. I guess. Honestly, I know no more about the movie than what is presented in the clip below.

!!!CAUTION!!!

Recommended for ages 13 and up

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This short clip took about 8 hours to edit. That may sound excessive, but you have to consider what must be done to get to this point.

All of the footage came in on a single DVCPRO cassette. Our first task was to screen and log the footage. This is where that slate came in handy. Using the shot numbers, I created a small clip for each different shot. This helps with the edit, so you don't have to scrub through a huge section to find what you want. You look at the script notes, find the shot number, and locate your corresponding clip in your editor. Logging and capturing took about 2 hours

Now it may seem obvious how to assemble the shots because the script is already laid out before you. Just follow the script dialogue right? It will assemble itself! Not really. Each line has at least 2 different angles (some with as many as 5), with 3 to 4 takes per shot. That's why it's called, "editing". If it was simply putting the shots in the order of the script, it would be called "assembling". But editing is going through and finding the best takes and putting them in an order that serves the story best.

Some shots are expositional, and some are functional. In the clip above, it is necessary to the story for the first guy to say "she didn't want the D'Aubney line to continue." That serves the story, and must be in there. It is expositional. But what about the shot (half way through after the lamp bursts into flames) when Emily is shown looking screen left, and then up the stairs? This is a functional edit. It serves the audience by telling them that we are going from the front door, to up the stairs. It does this with Emily's "eyeline". Simply by allowing the audience to see Emily shift her gaze, they will know that the following shot is showing what Emily is looking at. This also allows the audience to draw more conclusions about the relative position of the actors, and layout of the set. Functional shots are not always obvious from reading the script. They tend to come out in the edit as needed by the picture.

Other considerations to the edit include timing and pacing. When Sir Edward is rambling on and on at the beginning how his wife wouldn't have him, and she hated werewolves etc., the cuts are few and long. Oh, by the way-- Shots, which used to be called set-ups, are also sometimes called, "cuts". Usually by editors. This is because in the old days, you would actually cut the film. So at the start of this clip, the cuts are slow. This matches the dialogue, and the pacing of the scene. Then Christen shouts, "Get away Emily, go now!" (He's such a caring werewolf). From this point, the cuts get quick. They match the pacing. She's running for her life, is pushed aside by a warlock, and Sir Edward is knifed. The adrenaline in the story translates through the quick cutting of the picture to the audience. If we saw long, drawn-out images of the warlock smirking, and Edward holding his gun, it wouldn't be as exciting. It would be a different story. This all comes out in editing.