Creative Wildlife Video Editing

Editing is the crucial and almost final creative stage a film goes through before reaching an audience. It is a much misunderstood craft and frequently taken for granted by viewers all over the world. Wildlife editing has diversified a great deal in the last ten years. We no longer view the chocolate box or ‘blue chip’ narrative as the only way to tell a story. There are many ways to put a wildlife film together depending on what you want to say. In this Creative Wildlife Editing weekend, you will learn the tricks of the trade, styles that are ‘in’, styles that are ‘out’ and techniques that draw from unusual places.

Through the use of many clips and examples taken from every aspect of film production and hands on practical lessons, we’ll examine the symbiotic relationship between direction, shooting and editing and also the importance and power of music. Hands on experience will be available via Final Cut Pro.

The course is taught by Alan Miller who has twenty years' experience of editing wildlife documentaries and Caroline Brett, who is a highly experienced and award-winning producer/ director.

The location is Hall Farm House in North Norfolk, UK. No experience or equipment is required, but do bring your laptop editing system if you have one.

Itinerary

Friday: Aim to arrive by 6pm on the Friday the course starts, directions will be sent when you have booked your place.
7pm - Evening meal served (no problem if you arrive later)
8pm - Introductory chat - who we are, who you are, and what we will be doing this weekend.

Saturday:
8am - Breakfast
9am - Introduction to creative wildlife editing. What is editing? The Basics.
10am - Caroline Brett on 'How to make the Editor happy!' - The Basics of good camerawork
11am - Coffee break
11.20am - Breaking Down The Edit - why do we cut? The elements of the edit - Emotion, Eye-Trace, Rhythm, Story, 3D action, 2D screen.
1pm - Lunch
2pm - When to throw out the rules. Choices and Clips to illustrate many editorial points
4pm Coffee Break
4.30pm - Team selection and Editorial Challenge. View Rushes
6pm - Course Day Ends
7pm - Evening meal served followed by the showing of wildlife films or related works

Sunday:
8am - Breakfast
9 am - Short Introduction to Final Cut Pro (some basic computer skills required for the team member operating the system)
11am - Coffee break
11.20am - Practical Editing
12.30-1.30pm - Lunch break
1.30pm - Practical Editing
3.30 pm - Tea - Viewing and comments
4pm - Course ends

Staff/Tutors

Alan Miller (pictured left) has been editing wildlife documentaries for almost twenty years. BBC trained, Alan started editing wildlife programmes at Partridge Films and worked on many of their Wildscreen Panda award winners. He has worked for many companies, including Granada, BBC, NHK Japan and Nature Conservation Films for whom he edited two wildlife feature films. He has also written and directed many documentaries but remains passionately interested in editing. He is experienced in both Avid and Final Cut Pro systems.

Caroline Brett (pictured right - a highly experienced and award-winning producer/ director. Caroline worked for twenty one years for the prestigious Survival series making programmes in numerous locations including out on the ice in Arctic Canada, in the rainforests of Sierra Leone, high on the tundra in Alaska and on a remote Vietnamese island in the South China Sea. She produced the highly successful ‘Predators with Gaby Roslin' and directed some of the ‘Wild about Essex with Tony Robinson’. She is now employed by the Save Our Seas Foundation as their film director/producer.

Julian Wheeler (pictured left) is a Media Resources Officer and lecturer in Media and Video Production at Thanet College in Broadstairs. He also works freelance as a video cameraman, editor and web designer. Ha has worked extensively for many years with a variety of media-based programs, including Photoshop, Quark Xpress, InDesign, Avid, Final Cut Pro and After Effects. He regularly run classes in Photoshop, Final Cut Pro and After Effects. Julian is an Apple Accredited Trainer on Final Cut Pro.

Booking Information

Costs: £250 per person (a limited number of concessions is available for full-time students - ask for details)
This includes tuition and meals. Accommodation: a limited number of shared rooms are available for £15 per night in the farm house (allocated on a first come first served basis), campers are also welcome (free) alternatively there are also B&Bs nearby. There will be excellent home-cooked food.

Dates:
10-12 Sept 2010

To be informed of future courses please add your email address in the column on the right to receive Wildeye Bulletins.

Booking: If the home page shows that there are places available for the course of your choice - please complete the online application form and send in your deposit/fee as detailed.

Staff and Students - September 2009

Staff and Students - January 2009