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Matching Shots in Final Cut Pro X Redux
Part 6: The Final Cut Pro X Desert Island Challenge
In this Insight, Iโm circling back around to shot matching. Why? Because Iโm not happy with my Insight on this topic earlier in this series. It was a little tooโฆ touchy-feely. But thatโs the problem, and challenge, with shot matchingโthereโs way more to it that simply matching pixels based on voltage levels. And thatโs what this Insight is about. Iโll be covering:
โข Shot matching as two distinct mental processes
โข Why we need to respect and build upon the Left / Right brain dichotomy
And as we go through this, Iโll share a general workflow pattern.
First, we need to understand that shot matching is a very โwhole brainโ activity
And that means while I can give you logical rules, in the end, itโs also a creative judgment as to when two shots actually match each other. Yes, I can (and will) give you rules on how to start your shot matching process. But finishing it? Thatโs a judgment call. In this Insight notice my workflow when starting to shot match:
โข Start with the Luma Waveform and match brightness levels, starting with highlights/shadows, move to midtones, then re-tweak as necessary
โข Move on to Saturation and use the Vectorscope to match โcolorfulnessโ.
โข Work on hue to get the color balance right. Sometimes youโll need to isolate a color or two and swing them around to complete the match.
And after doing all that? The shots may not match yet. Why? Because weโve only used one side of our brain for what is a 2-side activity.
Next, recognize (and respect) that using scopes is a very Left Brain activity
The left brain is logical. Using scopes to match shots? Thatโs a very analytical approach to color correction. It removes judgment from the process and is a pure pattern matching activity. But the human visual system is more than a pattern-matching algorithm. Humans donโt merely process retinal data the way a camera processes photons or a vectorscope displays a pixel scatter.
The human visual system aggressively reinterprets our retinal data to help it conform with a lifetime of experience.
For example: Have you ever seen an image from Mars that looks like a human face? You tell me: A sign of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe? Or a sign that our visual systems are hard-wired to pattern matchโฆ allowing us to see things that just arenโt there? If our eyes are willing to see a face in a pattern of lumpy dust 140 million miles awayโฆ what do you think this means for shot matching?
Shot matching requires a hefty dose of Right Brain activity
The right side of our brain is the creative side of our noggins. If you want to get good at Shot Matching, at some point in the Shot Matching process you need to put the scopes away, make believe youโve got fresh eyes and just LOOK at the shots youโre matching. Is it working? If not, what does your gut tell you? Here are the questions to ask yourself (in about the order to ask):
โข Is there a brightness mismatch on some elements of the image? Not based on scopesโฆ but based on your EYES? If so, what correction will fix it?
โข Is there a saturation mismatch? Not on the vectorscopeโฆ but based on your EYES?
You know where Iโm going nextโฆ
โข Is there a hue mismatch? Again, based on LOOKING at the image, not on an RGB parade.
Remember, by the time youโre asking these questions youโve already done the Left Brain thing and used your scopes to match these up. Now, weโre looking at these images as human beings, allowing our visual system to process the shots.
The final step of Shot Matching is to notice if our brains are altering our perceptions
And if so, does that alteration threaten to take the audience out of the scene? When you can say, โNo. The audience will be fine with the way these shots match.โ Thatโs when itโs time to move on.
But what if the scopes SAY the shots match, canโt I just teach my clients that the shots really match?
Ummmโฆ no. You need to figure out what your client is seeing. A technical match does NOT mean the shots match. We donโt see in voltages. We see based on context and every edit point is a change of context. This context is something our Waveforms and Vectorscopes will never reveal to us.
A big mistake with clients is to try to convince them the scopes are right and their eyes are wrong! I can guarantee, they may finally give in to you but theyโll never totally trust you againโnot if it means ignoring what their eyes are telling them.
If your client is telling you the shots donโt match, chances are your client is catching something youโre not. And sometimes your answer to the client is, โMake a note and weโll come back to this laterโ. Then, with fresh eyes, youโll see where you were temporarily blinded. Or, your client will discover the match really is fine and youโll be able to move on.
Next in this series: Creating Looks in Final Cut Pro X
Assuming I donโt decide to try to explain shot matchingโฆ againโฆ my plan is for our next Insight in the FCPX Desert Island Challenge to look at how we start to create Looks, within the systematic color grading workflow Iโm developing here.
โ pat
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