What do iconic movies like Dr. Stranglove, Alien, Psycho and Star Wars all have in common? They all knew how to create that, "Oh f**k" moment. You know the one I'm talking about. Every thing is fine. All good here. Wait a minute. What's that? BAM! Well Director Joey Scoma of RocketJump Film School shows us how to recreate those nail biting, butt clenching, knee jerking moments using tried and true video editing techniques. There is nothing overly complicated about creating those perfect gripping little scenes when you know when to go wide or close in. As Joey points out it's just a matter of understanding how to show your viewer what you want, when you want. As a still photographer I found what Joey had to say to be very illuminating and it even made me think a little bit about how I choose some of my crops and why.
In this video, Director/Editor Joey Scoma walks us through a few classic scenes in cinema that demonstrate editing as an effective storytelling tool, and focuses in on a specific technique that he likes to call “The “Oh F**K” Moment.” Editing is about controlling information – it determines how, when and why we see certain pieces of information or story. There are many different styles and techniques within the art of editing to accomplish this, but the main purpose of each of them is to further the story. In other words: “You need a reason to cut.” -RJFS
