Unit 16: Task 1 - It's all in the edit

'It's all in the edit'

Editing has been taking place since films were first made but throughout time and with the evolution of technology editing has changed in its ways but is still the same thing. Editing is changing the sequence of shots and/or cutting out the mistakes made when films were first made on actual film editing included taking a very sharp knife and physically cutting the film then taping or gluing it back together - this is where the term 'cutting' originates. Because of the amount time that would had to have been spent carefully looking at the film to locate the shot needing to be removed and the difficulty of editing early films were filmed in order, unlike today where any scene can be shot and easily edited into place using digital editing.

The Purposes, Principles and techniques of editing

There are many purposes and principles of editing; the editing of a film can completely change its overall look, storyline and appeal simply by the way it is pieced together. Effective editing: conveys appropriate emotion, maintains continuity, uses eye trace, maintains 2D plane of screen and 3D space of action.

Editing, joining, images and shots together in a montage condenses time, space and information into a sequence of short shots. This can create or change the tension as well as make it more exciting; it also allows for the passage of time to be shown quickly. It also can show character development, such as in Rocky you can see him improving and becoming stronger throughout the montage of shots that shows his physical training.

Tempo is massively affected by the editing, changing the tempo manipulates the audience’s attention level and creates excitement and anticipation. Long shots slow down the tempo whereas short shots quicken the pace and intensity. There are problems with fast paced short shots as they are too quick for the audience to register what they are seeing. In the fight scene in Bourne Ultimatum the editing is incredibly fast paced with quick cuts and unsteady camera movements which emphasise the fight scene taking place, drawing in the audience and making them move with the characters and camera. Some of the cuts are almost too quick - possibly making the audience dizzy or miss information, there are also a range of shots used including close ups which add detail.

Editing and spaces: the closeness of shots affects how the audience views the film, for a conversation a range of close-ups and mid shots would be used to emphasise the closeness between the characters whereas long shots would be used to show wide open spaces, indicating remoteness and loneliness. In the opening scene to James Bond’s Skyfall the fight taking place consists of lots of long, wide and mid shots, with few close-ups being used, this allows the wide landscape to be shown, highlighting how far out in the secluded countryside.

Other times Shot Reverse Shot is used for conversations between 2 or more people, these would entail over the shoulder shots or eye line matches; this allows the audience to closely follow the conversation and know exactly who is talking to whom and their reactions. This is very common in movies and TV shows especially because it is possible to do on single-camera shoots. This video clearly shows the technique being used for the conversation between the 2. Linked to this is the 180 degree rule, this is shot over the shoulder and the rule ensures that each character stays on the right side of the screen. It is very important to not cross the axis as this can confuse the audience as to who is talking and make the film look messy. Also used in this is eye line match - this ensures that the audience are focused at one point on the screen, so they are not changing where they look and everything is level.

This clip shows shot reverse shot and the 180 degree rule in use.

Editing allows for the sequence to be changed, especially with today’s technology, events can be changed or moved in order to affect the sequence of events and the overall story. A linear story is one that shows all events of the story in order; as opposed to a non-linear aka Medias res which may show the film starting with the end or include flashbacks throughout the film. By doing this gives the audience to be intrigued as a sense of mystery and wonder is introduced, or by doing this simply allows for the film to make more sense.

Continuity is trimming unnecessary footage, leaving the key information and scenes in order for the film to be engaging and thrilling as well as consistent. Also, it entails ensuring that wardrobe, props, mise-en-scene and shots flow without inconsistencies such as one shot showing something then the next shot from another angle showing something different. Continuity editing ensures that everything flows smoothly. This is also very important when editing together the same scene from different angles, continuity helps to make sure actions are fluent and are not repeated, this would affect the overall view and make it look very obvious and not fluent or natural at all.

Cross cutting or parallel editing is cuts between 2 events taking place simultaneously but in different places, the editing of this needs to be done very well as to not confuse the audience, also making sure that all information for both events is shown and nothing is missed in order for the story to continue and make sense. An example of this is the clip shown below, this editing is very clever and makes the audience believe they are seeing something that isn't actually happening by allowing them to make links with the next and previous shots - they think the police are at the same house because we see them ring the doorbell, see a cutaway of a bell ringing, then seeing him in his house where the bell is ringing. When this editing is done properly it is very effective and will surprise the audience when they realise what they thought was going to happen didn't. In this scene the pace and intensity builds the closer you get to thinking he's going to be caught by the police, this all fades as soon as you find out someone else is at his door.

Similar to cross cutting is juxtaposition editing, which cuts between 2 events taking place at the same time in different places only showing opposites events. An example of this would be the clip below, in this clip there is a very clear opposite of events taking place - the soft, gentle opera singing compared to the fight scene taking place. As the pace of the song picks up so does the fight scene and the shots used.

The History of editing

When looking at the history of editing I watched various clips from films across the years and it was very clear how the editing has changed and advanced; for example in 1903 the editing was very simple due to inability of different shots however by 1966 the editing had dramatically changed and featured a range of camera shots that could allow an extreme close-up to then be followed by a wide angle shot. These edits were still quite slow compared to what is used today, they built tension slowly but because of this lost tension and the audience’s attention quickly therefore explaining why people of today’s generation do not find interest in old movies. Today, fast moving edits that go from one angle to next to show a fast pace and to make the audience feel like they are moving with the character.

When researching the history of editing, I found these videos which I found very interesting and knowledgeable:

 The most influential people in the history of editing were:

• Lev Kuleshov
• Sergei Eisenstein
• Lumiere Brothers
• Edwin S Porter
• DW Griffith

Kuleshov was a Russian film maker who created the Kuleshov affect, which allows viewers to obtain more meaning from silent films. The effect is still used today. Here is the technique being explained:

Sergei Eisenstein was a Russian film director and his technique was montages. A montage is a series of clips that show the passage of time, a montage should be able to be taken out of the film and still have the film make sense. Eisenstein developed 5 montage styles:

1. Metric - cutting based on the length of the shot, elicits a basic emotional response.
2. Rhythmic - uses the rhythm of the content in the shot.
3. Tonal - concerning with the tone of the shot, the lighting, framing etc.
4. Over tonal - combines all of the above, uses large sequences
5. Intellectual - unlike the others which provoke an emotional response, this creates metaphors and ideas.

The Lumiere Brothers were two of the first film makers, one of their films being of a train which actually made people leave the cinema because they were so scared that this train was coming towards them. The brothers wanted to be better than Thomas Edison and his kinetograph so they   developed the first cinematograph (a motion picture film camera) which started the production of film and changed the world.

Edwin S Porter was the first person to show numerous locations within a film, this did not happen often in those times as the cameras were very big and not very portable, the film The Great Train Robbery showed numerous locations and also cross-cutting.