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04/07/2006: Laughing at Editing


Had a great lunch today with friend-of-the-blog Maggie. So much fun! Much talk and analysis of my fave show, Battlestar Galactica. I came to the party late but have lately been much immersed in DVD viewing and the wonderful world of iTunes downloads. What a great show! It's been a long time since I've seen a show that does such a good job of crafting plot developments that defy prediction without feeling arbitrary. It's a tricky line to walk. But it's vital. If an audience gets ahead of the story, they can get very bored.

This is also true in the micro as well as the macro. Wanna see how? Here is possible scene transition. For the sake of the example, let's say this is an excerpt from an episode of, say, Taxi. We start at the end of a scene as Elaine is confiding in someone (probably Alex):

ELAINE
And here's the worst part! I agreed to go out with Louie!
CUT TO:
INT. RESTAURANT
Elaine looks on in horror as Louie blows his nose into a cloth napkin.

Now here is a better scene transition:

ELAINE
And here's the worst part! You'll never believe who I agreed to go out with!
CUT TO:
INT. RESTAUTANT
Elaine looks on in horror as Louie blows his nose into a cloth napkin.

See the difference? The second option is better. The reveal of Louie as her date is funnier when it's done as part of the cut. This is because it's a bigger swipe at the viewer's expectations. In the first version they go into the restaurant scene knowing something about what they're going to see. It's simply not as funny.

Try, as much as is possible, not to tell the viewers what they're about to see. Unless you're lying to them. Look at your scene transitions. I bet you can find some that you can arrange so that the cut into the next scene becomes a revelation, not just a what-happens-next.

Lunch: Sushi at Echigo on Santa Monica. Tiny morsels brought one-by-one on clouds of warm rice.