Changing and Patching Cutting Copies
In the course of perfecting your final edited version you will often find that you want to alter a cut. You may wish to extend a scene or to shorten it. This should not present any problem. Simply replace the trim of the scene you wish to extend, and make sure that no frames are missing. Then mark the rejoined section with an unintentional cut sign (illustrated opposite). How do you ensure there are no frames missing when you replace a section of a shot? Again, edge numbers provide a safety check. Often the action itself will give you a clue. If frames are missing the picture will jump. The safest way to check is to refer to the edge numbers on either side of the section you have replaced. Remember that there should be one edge number in every 40 frames (or every 20 frames on some 16mm stocks) so It is simply a question of counting the frames between the numbers on either side of the section you have replaced. By marking the cutting copy with the unintentional cut sign you will instruct the negative cutter to ignore the cut when the camera original Is matched to the edited copy.
Repairing cutting copy damage
You may sometimes find that a section of the cutting copy gets ‘chewed up’ by some piece of editing machinery. In the ideal cutting room this sort of thing does not happen but in practice it happens quite often, so it is worth knowing what to do in the event of a section of a shot becoming unprojectable. You simply cut out the frames which are damaged and replace them to the same length with some spacing, again marking the unintentional cut sign on either side of the spacing section. If the damaged part of the film occurs at a point where you have already made a picture cut, you should mark the number of frames on either side of the cut and indicate the exact frame at which the cut is to be made on the spacing. The negative cutter will then be guided by your wax pencil marks. In Figure B white spacing has been used to replace a damaged section of one shot. The damaged section is in the middle of the shot so unintentional cut signs have been placed at both ends. In Figure C the damaged section is replacing the end of one shot and the start of another. The point at which the cut was made has been indicated and the arrows show the negative cutter exactly where to cut the camera original.
Using build up
At (D) build up has been used to replace lost or damaged frames. Note the ‘unintentional cut’ symbols at each end of the spacing. The neg cutter will ignore the cut, carrying the original scene through. In film (A) the damaged section includes a point where two shots have been cut together. The cutting point is marked with a wax pencil together with instructions to the neg cutter to extend the appropriate shots in each direction. In film (H) a cut has been altered. The trim has been found and replaced. The editor has checked the key number to ensure that no frames have been lost and has then marked unintentional cut’