ABSTRACT
Besides the main items of cutting equipment some smaller tools are also needed. First of all you will want to mark the film at that point where you wish to make your cut. Grease pencils which write easily on film, are available in a number of different colours. White or yellow are best for marking picture—I personally prefer yellow because it is very easy to see. It can also be used to mark the back of magnetic soundtracks, though black and red are also quite useful for this purpose. When you come to break down the rushes you may find that some scenes are too long to hang in a bin. They should be coiled on a plastic core and held in place with an elastic band, so a box of these should be handy. A felt tip pen is also very useful for writing on spacing. Obviously you will need joining tape. You will also use camera tape: a cloth tape which is sticky on one side, but can be peeled off fairly easily without causing damage to surfaces. Strips of camera tape are useful for attaching ends of film to reels and the tape is also widely used for bundling up piles of cans. A magnetic erasing pencil can also be useful. You can demagnetise small areas of magnetic soundtrack and can sometimes use it to delete either a syllable or part of a word. The active area of the tip of the pencil is a quarter of an inch. An adequate supply of can labels is also important. Always label every can with the title of the production and the name of the production company as well as giving details of what is in the can to avoid loss.
