Continuity Editing on Fiction Movie Pecel Plus Plus
Abstract
Film is a storytelling medium that is very popular in society. Ideas that are
made into stories in films often refer to issues that are relevant and popular during
the development of the story idea. Author created a fictional short film called Pecel
Plus Plus, based on the outbreak of the Covid pandemic which forced many non essential business sectors, such as massage parlors, to close. The issue of women's
insecurity and their insensitive representation in many television soap operas is also
the main factor that drives the creators to tell the story of the film Pecel Plus Plus.
The Pecel Plus Plus in general tells the story of a sensual masseur named
Lastri who has to pay a debt in the form of hundreds of pecels from his dead father
to a gangster boss who does not hesitate to burn down the Lastri family's house and
eatery. The story ideas presented in the film must be turned into a viewing
experience that is specifically designed for the audience to be emotionally involved
with the characters who experience conflict in the film. The plot or sequence of
events in the film must be sequenced through an editing process to establish the
unity of each scene that is present on the screen. Author decided to use the
continuity editing approach which is a common approach used in narrative films to
unify the sequences in the film so that the viewing experience that the audience
receives feels continuous, intact, and informative. The Pecel Plus Plus film has a
duration of 35 minutes with an action-comedy genre, and the dialect that used in
this film is East Javanese.
The purpose of conducting research using the continuity editing approach is
for author to be able to assemble various shots in the Pecel Plus Plus into a film
worthy of being enjoyed by audiences. The viewing experience is expected to be
able to give the audience an impression of immersiveness and encourage empathy
DIGITAL REPOSITORY UNIVERSITAS JEMBER
DIGITAL REPOSITORY UNIVERSITAS JEMBER
ix
in understanding the experiences experienced by the characters in the Pecel Plus
Plus film.
The creation stage of the film Pecel Plus Plus consists of 4 stages, namely:
development, pre-production, production, post-production. Author provide input
regarding the continuity editing approach in preparing the film concept from the
early development stage. The techniques used in the continuity editing approach
are 180 degree systems, establishing shots, reverse shots, action cuts, eyeline
matching, and dialogue overlap.
Author and other crew members at the pre-production stage conducted a site
survey, breakdown of each department, right up to the test cam. The location survey
provides information regarding the possibility of actors and camera blocking, so
that the author can decide about the 180 degree axis area between players on the
screen. A test cam was carried out to see whether the initial concept and preparation
that had been carried out by the entire crew and creators could be successful in
presenting the desired emotional effect so as to allow for revisions or shots to be
cut.
Authors in the production stage are assisted by on-loc editors and DIT in
managing files and workflows, as well as presenting previews of all the shots and
scenes that have been taken. Preview is used to consider taking shots that are felt to
be lacking in completing editing rules. This is done in the shooting process in order
to avoid adding to the shooting schedule beyond the initial production plan.
The post-production stage is carried out by the author in offline editing by
perfecting the initial roughcut from the shooting results to the fine cut stage and
becoming piclock after all the stories have been told in their entirety and a dramatic
structure has been achieved through a continuity editing approach. Timelines that
have been piclocked are exported to the format required by colorists, music director,
vfx artist, and sound designer to work on the online editing phase. The results of
online editing are put back together by the author into a married print which is re exported according to the needs of the screening format