As soon as I read the first #TimelineTuesday I knew I was going jump in. To me the timeline is the most illustrious and informative description of a sequence. So important that more of my Composer Monitor is taken up by the timeline then any other tool on that screen.
I think of the Media Composer’s timeline as the EDL of non-linear editing. Back in the days of GVG and CMX I read EDLs and would see the program in my mind, now I do the same with a sequence. I strongly believe cutting is an art and it is important to share the editor’s craft with others—especially within the Avid Media Composer community. So presented here is my story with #TimelineTuesday.
Just look at any timeline and one can see the pace, the rhythms and the problems. If the tracks of audio and video are consistent, one can see things like—when there is too much narration or too little. (Can there ever be too little narration?)
In the image on the left my narration is on track four. You can see how there is a frequency to that—and all other tracks. On the right, there’s a close up of how I lay out my tracks.
https://twitter.com/stevecutsdocs/status/590587875953139712/photo/1
OK for our #timelinetuesday from @frontlinepbs edit a detail of track organization @avid @MediaComposer #documentary pic.twitter.com/XwJGh9k3L7
— Steve Audette A.C.E. (@stevecutsdocs) August 5, 2014
When I started posting I didn’t have a focus to my tweets, and occasionally I’d just post a Vine video or I posted finished timelines, or timelines that I thought would have some visual impact.
Last night and today's effort cutting a prologue. https://t.co/ITosiczMv7
— Steve Audette A.C.E. (@stevecutsdocs) April 23, 2013
https://twitter.com/stevecutsdocs/status/507279085291438081/photo/1
Another @Avid #timelinetuesday from the @MediaComposer @frontlinepbs #documentary Getting this down to size. pic.twitter.com/WCBYBeJtJq
— Steve Audette A.C.E. (@stevecutsdocs) July 8, 2014
Later, I felt that the shots did not portray the full dynamic quality of a timeline. Timelines grow and change. I wanted to capture that, so started to post different images.
Today’s timeline. Four hours of editing. pic.twitter.com/WMe8i8tiLt
— Steve Audette A.C.E. (@stevecutsdocs) January 23, 2014
In some I illustrated a progression…
and the edit begins @frontlinepbs #documentary. @Avid @MediaComposer I will try to keep this up as we go. questions? pic.twitter.com/uWSGmzoUqx
— Steve Audette A.C.E. (@stevecutsdocs) October 14, 2014
…and in others a comparison.
Too busy for the daily #documentary update this week. but here is a belated #timelinetusday for this week @Avid pic.twitter.com/zvLxKp7sYn
— Steve Audette A.C.E. (@stevecutsdocs) October 24, 2014
Compare that to last week #timelineTuesday #postdontstop @MediaComposer pic.twitter.com/98AmHBOEUt
— Steve Audette A.C.E. (@stevecutsdocs) October 24, 2014
Sometimes I would tweet a particular element of my cutting style, like an “audio-fugue.”
Cutting my 1st audio Fugue for this @frontlinepbs #documentary using @avid @MediaComposer #postchat pic.twitter.com/UHOGqrSvUu
— Steve Audette A.C.E. (@stevecutsdocs) October 16, 2014
Then I got into this whole crazy idea of showing timelines in stacks.
Ttoday’s #timelinetuesday @Avid showing how the day started and ended from paper cut to rough cut in @MediaComposer pic.twitter.com/9X8d2ot5bJ
— Steve Audette A.C.E. (@stevecutsdocs) October 28, 2014
#TimelineTuesday @frontlinepbs Sequence builds week one to three. Just finished the end of act2.@Avid @MediaComposer pic.twitter.com/nIHQdt7wJM
— Steve Audette A.C.E. (@stevecutsdocs) November 4, 2014
I quickly went to more complicated stacks. The goal was to share how my cuts build.
One more #TimelineTuesday @Avid @MediaComposer 5 week progression in the @frontlinepbs edit room. pic.twitter.com/up6eHMVsz7
— Steve Audette A.C.E. (@stevecutsdocs) November 18, 2014
I wanted to start a conversation with these posts. I like to think of myself as part of the #TuesdayTimeline crowd, and I enjoy the community of editors willing to share. In fact I am always surprised how many of my posts are commented on and re-tweeted. And on Facebook they frequently cause opportunities for discussion.
However I must confess that many weeks I am too busy to post – even though I’d like to. The pressure of a FRONTLINE deadline can sidetrack tweeting.
New Years Eve Cutting for #frontlinePBS #documentary @Avid @MediaComposer #postchat pic.twitter.com/SZgWdTmlbj
— Steve Audette A.C.E. (@stevecutsdocs) December 31, 2014
Sometimes I go “old-school” and show timelines in person (while teaching documentary story structure and the use of visual and aural systems in the narrative).
Pointing out the detail for my day long #documentary seminar @NABShow pic.twitter.com/Uqve3GOU3y
— Steve Audette A.C.E. (@stevecutsdocs) April 9, 2014
Eventually I started sharing time-lapses of the timeline.
Posting a time-lapse really shows the progression of a building timeline. I enjoy these and plan to make more of them. Maybe with audio commentary added to put them in a better context.
In the end it doesn’t matter how complex or simple the timeline is, share what you have and we can all learn from each other’s examples.
No doubt making some "pointed" observation during my #documentary seminar. @Avid @MediaComposer @FMCTraining pic.twitter.com/WRrIyLU3jF
— Steve Audette A.C.E. (@stevecutsdocs) April 17, 2015
Let’s grow #TimelineTuesday. If you have any questions about my documentary work or my timelines, please leave a comment below or hit me up on twitter @stevecutsdocs. And let’s have some fun along the way. See you all on twitter.
All cool cats love things that tweet.
https://twitter.com/stevecutsdocs/status/478618648240979968/photo/1

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