How to Shoot and Edit Action

Learn how to edit action for proper flow, continuity, and pacing, techniques for compressing time, revealing only the essentials to keep the story moving forward and advanced editing techniques.

How to Shoot and Edit Action

Developed by Jason Tomaric, FilmSkills
ABOUT THIS LESSON
Action isn’t the chase sequences, gunplay, or fight scenes in a movie, it’s the movement of characters around the set. If the action is well edited, it will feel seamless to the audience, transcending the edits from one shot to the next.
 
In this module you will learn how to edit action for proper flow, continuity, and pacing.  Learn techniques for compressing time, revealing only the essentials to keep the story moving forward, and advanced editing techniques used by master editors.
 
Give the illusion of real time coverage of a scene even if you only used one camera with the techniques in the Editing Action module.
  • 24:56 video that walks you through how to edit action
  • Complete companion resource guide
  • Complete editing demonstration
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
  • How to properly shoot a scene with action
  • How to edit montages
  • How to maintain emotion in a scene
  • How to give the editor options in the edit bay to craft the emotion of the scene
ABOUT THE LESSON AUTHOR
View full profile
Jason Tomaric

Jason Tomaric

Director, Cinematographer Los Angeles, California
Jason J. Tomaric is an Emmy, Telly, and CINE Award-winning director and cinematographer of four internationally-distributed feature films, dozens of national television commercials, music videos, and the largest film training content library in the world, published author of 8 books - used in many top universities, and creator of AccuSkills.com, an industry-changing learning management platform. 
 
Jason has worked in Los Angeles and around the world in over 20 countries. His clients include Disney, NBC/Universal, National Geographic, McDonald’s, Toyota, Scion, Microsoft, and Paul Mitchell, with narrative work screened at Sundance, Slamdance, and South by Southwest film festivals as well as on Netflix and on all broadcast networks.
 
Jason has taught and/or guest lectured at some of the nation's most prestigious film schools including UCLA, Columbia College, John Carroll University, Kent State University, San Francisco State, University of Notre Dame, and numerous film festivals.
 
Jason has written eight industry-defining books, all sold in bookstores, and used in film schools around the world. The American Society of Cinematographers hails Jason's books - "There are no wasted words in Tomaric's tome, which concisely summarizes each facet of the director's craft.  It's difficult to think of a step in the process that Tomaric fails to address." 
 
Jason’s DVD training series on Hollywood film production have trained filmmakers in over 40 countries, with distributors in Europe, Hong Kong, New York and Australia.
 
In 2010, Jason launched FilmSkills, which combines the world’s largest film training video library with his proprietary learning management system.  Adopted by 47 universities within the first year, FilmSkills is now the leading industry-standard training solution for motion picture and television production.
 
In 2015, Jason launched AccuSkills.com, an industry-changing learning management platform that bridges the gap between academia and industry.
CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS LESSON
Barry Zetlin

Barry Zetlin

Emmy-winning television and film editor, "The Bachelor", "Project Runway", "The Mole", "Basketball Wives" and "Starting Over"
Barry Zetlin is an Emmy-winning television and film editor with numerous credits including dozens of movies such as Friday the 13th and Children of the Corn II as well as dozens of television shows including The Bachelor, Project Runway, The Mole, Bionic Woman, Basketball Wives and Starting Over.
Brad Schwartz

Brad Schwartz

Editor, Emmy-winning "Top Chef"
Brad Schwartz is a TV & Film Editor whose credits include Top Chef (season 3): winner of the 2008 Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality Editing. He is also noted for his work on the the acclaimed documentary Rebirth of a Nation, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. Commissioned by STARZ Entertainment, Brad was priveleged to be the first editor to ever recut D.W. Griffiths’s Birth of A Nation – often considered the most seminal film in American history. Brad holds a B.A. in Film Studies from Weslyan University and an M.F.A from the American Film Institute (AFI Conservatory), where he
was recipient of a Sloan Scholarship.
Jason J. Tomaric

Jason J. Tomaric

Emmy-winning director/Cinematographer
Jason J.Tomaric is a multiple Emmy, Telly and CINE Award-winning director and cinematographer. With four feature films, sixty commercials, music videos and an educational DVD series on the market, Jason's approach to filmmaking has made for a successful, fulfilling career. Jason has worked in over 20 countries as a director and has taught at some of the nation's most prestigious film schools including UCLA and the New York Film Academy. Jason's book, "Filmmaking"(Focal Press) is available in bookstores worldwide.
 
Jason is also the creator of FilmSkills.
John Coldiron

John Coldiron

Two time Emmy-winning Editor and Colorist, "Project Runway", "Models of the Runway", and "The Prom"
John Coldiron is a two time Emmy-winning editor and colorist whose credits include: Project Runway, Models of the Runway, The Prom, The Cast's Guide to Dating, Discovering China and Monkey King and the Eight Immortals.
Laura Beth Love

Laura Beth Love

Cinematographer, "Zen and the Art of Senioritis", and "Little Magdeline"
Los Angeles-based cinematographer and instructor at Los Angeles Film School.