Editing

Film Editing

·         Co-ordination of one shot with another in order to create a coherent whole

·         System of editing employed in narrative is called continuity editing – its purpose is to create and provide efficient and artful transitions

Editing Film

·         Task of selecting and joining camera takes

·         In the finished film, the set of techniques that governs the relation among shots (Bordwell and Thompson)

“Editing Is the process of preparing language, images  or sound through correction, condensation, organisation and other modifications in various media…Editing is, therefore, also a practice that includes creative skills, human resources and a precise set of methods”

Juxtaposition and meaning

·         Edwin S. Porter, The Great Train Robbery, 1903 Shots in sequence create meaning for audiences

·         From exterior shots to set, audience is encouraged to believe the events they see are immediately happening

The Kuleshov Effect

·         Suggested that audience’s interpreted emotional responses on the actor’s face based on the juxtaposition of images

·         Whilst much of the moving image we see uses this effect, it does not usually draw attention to it

Kuleshov edited together a short film in which a shot of the expressionless face of Tsarist matinee idol Ivan Mozzhukhin was alternated with various other shots (a plate of soup, a girl, a little girl's coffin). The film was shown to an audience who believed that the expression on Mozzhukhin's face was different each time he appeared, depending on whether he was "looking at" the plate of soup, the girl, or the coffin, showing an expression of hunger, desire or grief respectively. Actually the footage of Mozzhukhin was the same shot repeated over and over again. Kuleshov used the experiment to indicate the usefulness and effectiveness of film editing. The implication is that viewers brought their own emotional reactions to this sequence of images, and then moreover attributed those reactions to the actor, investing his impassive face with their own feelings.

Four main functions of film editing:

·         To make sure that the production is the required length or time

·         To remove unwanted material or mistakes

·         To alter, if necessary, the way or the sequence in which events will be portrayed

·         To establish the particular style and character of a production

Relations in Editing


Graphic Relations – Although the primary focus of the film editor is to ensure continuity of the narrative, film editors remain acutely aware that film is a visual art. Therefore, they work to achieve visual interest by creating transitions between shots

·         Graphic Match – achieved by joining two shots that have a similarity in terms of light/ dark, line or shape, volume or depth, movement or stasis

·         Graphically discontinuous edit – creates a clash of visual content by joining two shots that are dissimilar in terms if one or more of the above principles

Rhythmic Relations

Editors remain aware of the effects achieved by manipulating the rhythms experienced by perceivers through thoughtful juxtapositions of longer and shorter shots as well as through transitional devices that affect the perceiver’s sense of beat or tempo

Rhythmic Transitional Devices

·         Straight-cut

·         Fade-out

·         Fade-in

·         Dissolve

·         Wipe

·         Flip frame

·         Jump cut

Temporal Relations

Editing is the process by which the difference between temporal duration and screen duration is reconciled. It sounds simple, but consider this: most feature films present in roughly two hours sufficient intersection of story and plot to provide perceivers with everything they need

Two most common disruptions: Flashbacks and flash-forwards (flash backs are more common)

Spatial Relations

The most important and overlooked; the function is to provide perceivers a reliable sense of physical space that constitutes the world of film. Editors are responsible for relating points in space in order to achieve narrative

·         Establishing shot

·         Shot reverse shot

·         Eye line match

·         Re-establishing shot

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·         180 degree rule

·         Multiple camera technique

·         Axis on action

·         Match on action

·         Cheat cut

Thematic Relations

This manipulates the perceivers place in the hierarchy of knowledge, and therefore affecting our thematic understanding of the film: montage sequence and cross cut editing.