Film school:Narrative Dialog Editing:Story of Penny and Eggbert:Narrative music

{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0em 0em 1em 0em; width:100%" An example for the course on Narrative Film Editing
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"Inserting narrative film music"
Narrative film music is music which narrates (explains) a scene. The music acts like a narrator to explain what is happening in the scene.

Narrative music has only one problem. Extreme care must be taken when you insert narrative music in a conversation so it does not step on the actor's dialog.

If you are not careful how you insert the narrative music, there can be lip sync problems.


 * Rule #1: You may add narrative music when people will not notice the lack of lip sync.


 * Rule #2: Don't add narrative music when people will notice that the audio and picture are not in sync.


 * It is that simple!


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 * bgcolor=Cornsilk colspan="2" |Note: Penny and Eggbert are 3D Poser models created by 3D Universe.  For this lesson, these characters were posed and rendered with the free DAZ Studio.
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{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0em 0em 1em 0em; width:100%" Look at the differences
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L-Cuts vs. Narrative music
Before we start learning about editing for narrative film music, remember this is not the same as creating simple "L-Cuts". There is a difference

When we make a motion picture, we edit the audio and the picture so the conversation has a natural rhythm. Then we create "L-Cut" to make the picture less ugly.

Now we need to add very strong music to provide the mood for the motion picture. This requires a different kind of editing.

Editing for narrative film music looks very similar to creating "L-Cuts". However, there is a difference.

These two steps look similar. Don't get confused. There is a difference


 * Let's compare

Take a quick glance at the two pictures. Do you see the difference?

One demonstrates how "L-Cuts" are created and the other shows how narrative music is added.

As you can see, these are two totally different concepts.


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See the difference? Edit for Picture Dialog Editing - "L-Cuts"
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This is what happens when you create simple "L-Cuts"

 * To create a simple edit, you edit for sound, lock sound, roll the picture edits to get the best visual transition (under the circumstance) without loosing lip sync.


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See the difference?
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Edit for Music Film scoring - Narrative film music

This is what happens when you add narrative music

 * Edit for sound, put the clips apart, insert room tone, add narrative music, roll the picture edits to get the best visual transition (under the circumstance) without loosing lip sync.


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{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0em 0em 1em 0em; width:100%" Editing for Narrative Film Music is different
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Keep this in mind

 * There is a different.
 * When you insert narrative film music into a scene, remember, this is not the same as creating simple "L-Cuts".


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{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0em 0em 1em 0em; width:100%" Step 1 of adding narrative music
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Step 1 - Add a gap in the dialog
In between sentences (or wherever you wish), pull apart the pieces of the rough edit.


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Create the gap for the music
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Add the gap
Narrative music is sound strong, it needs a gap in the dialog.
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{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0em 0em 1em 0em; width:100%" Step 2 of adding narrative music
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Step 2 - Fill in the gap with picture
I rolled (expanded) the clip on the end by unrolling more of the footage. This filled the gap.


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Create the gap for the music
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Adding room tone
Without room tone, the audio will sound very bad.
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{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0em 0em 1em 0em; width:100%" Step 3 of adding narrative music
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Step 3 - The room tone
The silence will sound bad.


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The natural sounds of the room
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Adding room tone
Without room tone, the audio will sound very bad.
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{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0em 0em 1em 0em; width:100%" Step 4 of adding narrative music
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Step 4 - Add the music
Add the narrative music to fill the gap.


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Add the music
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Add the music
The music should fill the gap completely so that the pause in the dialog seems totally natural.
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{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0em 0em 1em 0em; width:100%" A major difference
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Keep this in mind

 * There is a difference.
 * From what you just saw, editing dialog so you can insert narrative film music between the sentences of the dialog is very different from creating simple "L-Cuts".


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{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" style="margin:0em 0em 1em 0em; width:100%" Look at the possible camera setups
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The next page

 * That ends the theory. Now you must create the music and perform the edit. Click here to go to the next page.


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