Editing — Cutting, Transitioning & Assembling

The First Assembly

Assemble a coherent 60-second scene from a shared rushes pack. Learn the NLE; learn the cut.

Week 8

• 60s assembly
• Cutting log

• Provided footage only
• No transitions beyond straight cuts

• LO1 — Set up a project, import media and organise bins.
• LO2 — Build an assembly edit from a scene's coverage.
• LO2 — Cut on action, on look and on sound.

• Project setup, media management, backups
• Reading a script as an editor (not the writer)
• The assembly: every take, in order, no cuts
• First-cut rules: cut on movement, cut on look
• The rule of six — emotion, story, rhythm, eye-trace, 2D, 3D

1. 01

   Project hygiene

   Create the project, name it correctly, set frame rate and resolution to source. Build bins: Camera A, Audio, Graphics, Selects, Sequences.

2. 02

   Sync and log

   Sync clapper, rename takes with scene/shot/take, mark good/no-good with colour flags.

3. 03

   Assembly

   String every circled take in script order. No cuts inside takes yet. Watch it once, all the way through.

4. 04

   First cut

   Cut on movement and on look. Trim the head and tail of every take. Aim for a scene that plays, not a scene that's finished.

5. 05

   Screen and note

   Screen with a peer. Write down every moment they lean in, and every moment they check their phone.

• Editing without an assembly — you cut choices you never saw.
• Cutting on dialogue only — you miss the visual rhythm.
• Falling in love with a take because it was hard to get.

Your Assessment 1 short lives or dies in the edit. The assembly workflow you set up here is the one you use for the summative.