PRE-PRODUCTION: Co-editor for VET-MAN

Although for the pre-production stage of VET-MAN I am purely the producer for the project. When it comes to post-production in March, I will be co-editing with Katie. We have established that I will be the offline editor and she will be the online editor. We came to this conclusion because as Director of Photography she will need to be in control when it comes to the colour grading. As a result of this, it made sense for her to take on the whole of the online edit, and subsequently I will take on the role of the offline editor. We were both happy to take on these roles. 

As I have the role of offline editor, I felt it would be best to carry out some research now rather than later in order to get an idea of what I will be doing. This may also help with my post-production schedule and I might be able to estimate how long it'll take me to complete this stage of the edit.

The first thing I looked into was the difference between offline and online editing so I don't end up doing Katie's job when it comes to the edit. I found that offline editing is "a rough or draft cut of the project" (Rider, 2014) but made using proxy footage. This is duplicate footage of the original source. The original files are not used in the offline editing process, instead the footage that is lower in resolution with a smaller file size is used as then a "lesser data rate is used" (Gates, 2014). After the offline edit is completed using the proxy footage, the online edit is conformed to the offline edit. The online edit is then created by taking the timecode from the offline edit and applying it to the corresponding source footage, making a duplicate edit at full resolution. 

Offline editing was used so an editor could work in real-time with the reduced file size of proxy footage. This way the video editing process wasn't slowed down because of a computers difficulty in handing full resolution footage.

However, now technology has improved the software and hardware used in video editing has become from robust and able to handle larger files. As a result, many smaller production houses and independent producers no longer need to do offline editing. Although it is slightly more uncommon now to create an offline edit, we will still separate the editing roles in this way because we have agreed to be co-editors on the project. It still makes sense for Katie to do the online role because of her role within the colour grading and therefore, I will continue being the offline editor. We may just not use the roles as they were used before technology improved. 

I will place the original footage onto the timeline in the correct order. By creating this, myself and Alex may be able to get ideas for the final cut. Alex will then work with Katie to produce a finished edit of VET-MAN. As I am formally the producer of the project, I will carry this through to the end of the post-production stage by overlooking the online editing and adding in any fresh creative ideas along the way. 

I found that another role for an offline editor is to create an edit decision list (EDL) which is similar to log sheets (a list of shots). This is important because once the offline editor has completed a list of the shots they put in a rough cut, the online editor would follow and make changes in order to edit a final cut. Offline editors can also make creative decisions, surrounding the shots, cuts, dissolves, fades etc. Online editors would reconstruct the final cut based on the EDL, created by the offline editors. They will then add visual effects, lower third titles if needed and apply colour correction.


My thoughts:
- It won't take long to put footage in the correct order onto a timeline so during this time I will also be creating the edit decision list. As a result of this, I will make my offline edit four days long (Monday - Thursday), I can start creating the edit decision list over the weekend and continue it throughout my offline edit. I can imagine this will take around four days and then Katie and I can reconvene on the Friday so I can hand the edit and list over to her to start refining. 

- As the online edit takes longer and consists of more precise editing, I have given Katie a longer amount of time to complete it. We have over a month for editing according to our University timetable so we have plenty of time to get the edit as Alex has visioned it. I split the online edit up into sound effects, colour grading and the fine cut to finish refining everything. I gave Katie at least a week for each of these because from my research I found that they take a lot longer than the offline edit.

References:

- Gates, C. (2014). Getting to Know Offline Editing. Available: https://www.videomaker.com/article/c3/17050-getting-to-know-offline-editing. Last accessed 6th Dec 2018.

- Rider, J. (2014). Difference between offline and online editing. Available: http://poool.co.uk/jasmine-blog/2014/10/17/difference-between-online-and-offline-editing. Last accessed 6th Dec 2018.