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October 31, 2005

Counting cuts...

If you're really interested in learning about filmmaking, I suggest trying something that I do when I watch commercials... count cuts.

That's right... everytime you see a cut in a commercial (when the shot moves from one to another), count it. In one Coke commercial, I got up to 78 cuts in a one minute commercial. Some, only use ten to fifteen in a minute commericial. Some one. Why count?... you may ask... this will give you an idea of how complicated shooting a commercial, tv show or film actually is. For each and every shot, a number of things needs to happen... lighting needs to be shifted, focus lengths need to be taken, dolly track needs to be re-routed, new marks given for actors, any "cheating" (shifting eye sight or anything else for the actor to make the frame look believable) that needs to take place... many, many things... and that takes many, many people. What I'm getting at here is that it's a very mundane and difficult process to undertake... counting cuts in a one 1 minute commercial will give you a small sliver of an idea how difficult filmmaking truly is. EB

Posted by ethan at 04:59 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack