Task 1: Understand the development and principals of editing.

By Callum Taylor.

Editing is one of the most important jobs in the film industry. Not only do editors put the film together in a way that allows the story to be told but they also use different techniques and conventions to get across points that might not have been clear. An editor can change the look, pacing, writing, direction and tone of the film as well as many other things. Film editors are the unsung heroes of cinema and this blog will show an understanding of editing.

The Development of Editing. 

In Camera Editing:  The first video camera was invented in 1888. Soon after that people began to use it to make "films" for audiences. The Lumière Brothers are credtited with creating the first true films, screened for audiences. In the early days of cinema in camera editing was often used for a few reasons. One the process of editing, much like the camera itself was in it's most primordial form. With no digital software and limited knowledge of edting manually early film makers would often use in-camrera editing to create a story. In-Camera editing is the process of using the camera to create all of the shots. This is done by filming one shot, then another shot and another in sequence until the film is complete. This can lower the cost of production, especially in more modern times, in post-production. Obviously because all of the film is captured in sequence on the camera it negates the reason to edit the film in the traditional ways. The biggest drawback of the style of film making is that it requires much more planning and rehersal than a normal film does. This may increase the cost of pre-production.

This video, filmed using a Super 8 camera, showcases in camera editing. In camera editing was used a lot by amateur film makers using Super 8 cameras to make films. There have been cases where well known and succesful director have used in camera editing to create films arguably the most notable case of this is Alfred Hitchcock's Rope (1948) In which he uses the camera and the stage like set up of the set to uses the minimal amount of cuts possible.

This video shows how Alfred Hitchcock hid the few edits in Rope using in-camera editing.

Following the Action: There are many different ways in which films follow the action. One way is the use of a dolly. A dolly is a camera placed on a traack which can be moved around smoothly and with pace in order to capture the action.

Another way is to use multiple cameras (or shots) to show the action from many different places. This is a good way to capture the emotion of a lot of characters when witnessing an event. This would then be put together in post production to follow the action of the scene.

This video shows to examples of following the action. A simple onem with one shot that shows somebody walking and a more elaborate one featuring a huge car chase and how the shots show the action from various vantage points.

Multiple points of view: Multiple points of view is a techniques of editing which is used to show a scene from the points of view of many different characters. This is commonly used in shot out sequences. It can also be used for many different purposes as this video shows .

Shot variation: Is an important part of film making. It is the use of multiple kinds of shots i.e long, medium, close up and many, many more. It is important to vary shots or the film may become boring or predictable. This is why directors often shot scenes with various shots and the editor will put them together in a way that both the editor and the director agree is suitable.

This clip of Equilibrium showcases the use of shot variation.

Manipulation of Diegetic Time and Space:  This is the techniques of using the editing process to show a large, or small, period of time in a way that doesn't make it feel as though a long time has passed. One of the most common examples of this is the "training montage", a staple of sports movies and under dog movies in which someone goes from an amateur to a pro at what they are training in. This is done to show that a long period of time has gone by without actually having to last a long time. There are countless examples of this in film history. Another example is the use of non-linear story telling, for example Pulp Fiction. You can use non-linear editing as a tool to tell a story that involves a lot of characters experiencing inter connected stories, like in Pulp Fiction. Non-linear story telling is not telling the story in sequence.

This example of a training montage is from Rocky 4 and is one of the most famous training montages and the most famous training montage from the Rocky saga.

This comical portayal of a montage from the film Team America contains a song which explains the film montage in quite a conscise and funny way.
  D.W Griffith was one of the first people to use and unndertand the concept of manipulating time and space in order to tell a story. He was one of the first filmakers to realise that every minute detail of plot didn't have to be filmed in order for the film to make sense.

The Development of editing (Analouge, Digital): Until fairly recently all film were edited using analouge technology. This would involves physically cutitng the film and connecting it to the other pieces of film in order to tell the story.

This is the equipment that would have been typically used until recent times to edit films (Without the tv's obviously) orginally projectors would have been used for the editors to see the cuts as they would be going along. This process is resposible for a lot of the terminology of modern editing. For example, Cut. A cut is called a cut because in the days of editing before digital editing came around film would literally be cut before being connected to another. Bin is another example. A bin was a thing which stored all of the film which the editor would then use. Splice is another example. Splicing is the processing of connecting one piece of another. The process of manual, analogue editing was a slow and time consuming one, with little margin for error. This caused films to take along time to be put together. One of the biggest crimes of the film industry is the lack of crdit given to the early film editors who were in many ways the most talented people in the film industry but weren't given the same amount of respect as the actors, writers and directors by the general public and in many cases by the film industry itself.

Because of the legnth of time it took to edit a film using analogue technology digital editing software was developed to be used on computers to cut down on time and complication in the editing world. This software allowed editors many things which were either unavailable to editors before or were extremely time consuming. No longer would editors have to physically cut film they could use the software to do it. It also allowed for mistakes to be corrected. It is much simpler to correct a mistake in a computer than it was when using physical film. The use of digital (non-linear editing) software revolutionised the way films were edited. It also made it easier for amateur film makers to edit film as it wasn't such an art that required a lot of experience. It also allows editors to correct colour, crop shots and remoove mistakes in the actual footage which is something that wasn't available to analogue editors.

The Purposes of Editing

Story Telling: The biggest purpose of editing it Story Telling. The process of editing is one of the most important parts of story telling in films. In many ways it is the final rewrite of the script. An example of how important editing is to the creation of films is the film  Blade Runner. The original cut and the directors cut are very different in tone and themes. The film was re cut and re released then 25 years after the original release the film was re cut, re mastered and re-re released to much success and it has a different feel to the orignal cut.

Engaging the viewer: Engaging the Viewer is one of the most important purposes of editing. With the audience being engaged it is hard to enjoy the film, to understand the plot and to sell tickets. Unless the audience is engaged the film won't perform well. Editing is one of the ways to engage a viewer and in many ways it is the most important. It doesn't matter if the film is written and directed perfectly if the editing is bad it will disengage the viewer and make it hard to focus on the story.

Development of Drama: One of the purposes of editing is the development of drama. Without developing the story or the drama of the scene the audience won't care about what is happening. There are many ways of doing this. The shot variation, pacing, music, colouring, and length of shots can be used to create certain feelings in an audience.

Relationship to Genre:  Editing and the conventions of editing change from genre to genre. Editing can be used to create certain emotions in people. This is why certain genres often use different styles of editing. For example westerns often use quick cuts, shots variation and dramatic music to create tension, especially in shoot out sequences.

This example from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly showcases typical Western editing. The editing in this scene is used to create tension and to highlight the fear, anticipation and near excitment of the characters in the scene. This a classic example of genre specific editing.

This scene from the third Exorcist film is a classic example of horror editing. The first shot is held for a long time. This makes it uncomfortable. There is no music, only diegetic sounds which also make it uncomfortable and tense because there is no music telling the audience what to feel. It also features the classic horror movie jump scare. This is achieved through a quick cut and a music spike.

 Creating Motivation: Editors have to create motivation for their choice of shots.Through the selection of shots, transitions and speed the audience will know how to feel about the action that is being on the shown on the screen. This is so important in making films because if the audience don't know how to feel about what is happening they won't become invested in the story. It is important to film to make sure that the editing is done well and influences and manipulates the audiences emotions without being obvious.

This clip from the movie Casablanca shows how editing shows how editing can be used to create emotion, because it isn't clear how the scene is going to conclude it is easy to manipulate the emotions of the audience. Through close ups, zooms and the music it creates tension and emotion that emerses the audience in the action.

Combinging Shots into Sequences: Is the editorial process of taking all of the shots and putting them together in order to tell a story. The better done this is the less noticable it will be to the audience unless it specifically designed to be noticed. The purpose of this is to combine all of the shots into a cohesive sequence that an audience can watch.

Creating Pace: Creating and controlling the pace of a film is an important job of an editor. The pace dictates the amount of imformation that can be conveyed to the audience. This is why large action sequences are often fast paced because in general there isn't a lot of expositional information which needs to be portrayed. Where as a scene which contains a lot of important information will often be slower in pace to allow all of the information to be conveyed.

Conventions and Techniques  

Seamless Editing: Seamless editing is the process of cutting together two pieces of film without making it obvious that a cut has happened. This is used to create the illusion that it is seamless. It allows audience members to become more engrossed in the film without being distracted by hard, noticable edits.

Continuity Editing: This is a kind of editing in which extra care is taken to spot errors in the continuity. This stops the audience from being distracted and helps to keep the story engaging. It is important because films are mostly shot out of sequence and it is easy for continuity mistakes to sneak into films. This is why it is important to make sure that they are taken out.

Montage: Montage is a useful editing techniques in whihc many short shots are placed in a quick sequences. This is often done to create a certain emotional resonance in an audience or to show a lot of things happening in a short amount of time, I.E a training montage in a sports movie.

Jump Cut: Jump Cutting is an editing technique which is used to cut action out of a scene. This may be done to shorten the length of time an action takes or to create a sense of a lack of continuity or a choppy feeling.

Cross Cutting/Parallel Editing: This is a kind of editing which allows the editor to jump back and forth between two scenes. This is often used during phone conversations or used to build tension in a scene where someone is being chased etc...It shows that the two scenes are happening at the same time.

180 Degree Rule:  The 180 degree rule states that when shooting it is important that the camera never goes more than 180 degrees during a scene because if it does it the things inside of the shot will appear as though they are on the opposite side of the shot. This will cause confusion and be detract from the scene.

This picture shows what the 180 degree rule is and why it is important. As is seen in the shots from camera's 1,2 and 3 the man in the shot is one the right hand side of the frame and the woman is on the left but in the shot from camera X the woman is on the right and the man is on the left. If the director cut from camera 2 to camera 3 then to camera 1 and back to camera 2 there would not be any problems with the finished scene but if the director was to cut from camera 1 to camera x the man and woman would be on opposite side of the frame giving the illusion that they had swapped places. This would be very confusing for people watching the scene.

Splicing: Splicing is a techniques used both in analouge and digital editing. In analouge editing it is the process of sticking two cuts together. In digital editing it is the process of "splicing" one shot inbetween two others. This is how films were made before digital technology became the norm in the editing world.

Transitions:  A transition is how one shot moves to the next and there are many different kinds of transition.

Cut: A kind of transition which instantly replaces one shot with another. This is the most common of transitions in editing.

Dissolve: This is another kind of transition commonly used in editing. Unlike the cut, this is where one shot slowly overlaps the other. Creating a dissolving effect.

Fade: Another transitional piece of editing. This is similar to a dissolve except instead of dissolving to the next shot it fades to a blank shot ( usually black) after a brief period of this blank screen the shot fades into another shot. Sometimes used to imply a change in time and/or place.  

Wipe: A transitional edit in which a visible 'wipe' is seen. Usually a bar which slides across the screen.

 Cutaways: Cutaways are used in editing to add meaning and context to a scene from not only focusing on the main part of a scene. This could be cutting away to reactions or parralell editing.

Point of View Shot:  A point of view shot is a shot from the point of view of a character. This is used to make sure the audience is seeing what the character is seeing.

Shot Reverse Shot Cutting: Usually used in conversation scenes. The cuts will go back and forth between shots of the people talking, usually over the shoulder shots.

Providing and Withholding Information: This is the technique used by editors to tell the story. If it is important for the audience to know something that the character doesn't know then this can be acheived through editing. It can also be done in the opposite way. It makes the story more enthralling and makes the audience ask question. An example of this is in this short film at 7:05 minutes in

Because the guy turns around he doesn't see that the girl he likes pushes the guy who kissed her away, but we do. This is important to the story of this short film.

Editing Rhythm: This is a vital part of editing. The Rhythm of the editing is important to the scene. If the scene is a big full on action sequence then the edits need to be quick. Where as if it is a emotional, nuanced scene then the edits should be slow. If this isn't done for it may feel wrong, unless it is done deliberatly for a specific reason.

Cutting to Soundtrack: This is when the cuts are cut to follow the ryhthm and beat of a soundtrack. This is most often found in music videos where if the video isn't cut to the soundtrack it may become distracting. It is also used in film, especially in musicals and in dramatic scenes.