Unit 21: Film Editing

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A2 Applications of Editing Techniques

Establishing shots:

Establishing shots are shots that cover a large area, they provide a context for the scene. They are also used to subconsciously tell the audience that they are /t a specific location. When changing the locations constantly, in a film, establishing shots would help the audience make sense of the scene, the audience would be confused if there were just sudden jumps in location, unless the parallel editing was used. 

*Cutaways and cut-ins:

Cut-ins are close up shots of something that can be seen in the main scene. 

Cutaways are shots that are not seen in the main scene. This type of technique is effective as the director could explicitly show the audience specific details, however this could also be used in an implicit manor, the director can provide information, for example, you see a shot of a person, then you see a shot of a clock, the audience starts have multiple ideas, is person late? Are they meeting someone? The film could be more enjoyable as the audience feels like they’re taking part in the film coming to their own conclusions and seeing if their thoughts were right. 

30 Degree Rule:

If you are going to cut between two angles of the subject, the second shot should be placed no more than 30 degrees, otherwise the cut would be considered a jump cut. The point of the 30 degree rule is that the cut has to be unnoticeable. 

Jump cutting:

A jump cut is a transition between two shots which appears to ‘jump’ from one shot to the other. Jump cuts could also cut into itself, the two shots do have some similarity to them. When making a ‘vlog’ the editor can use a jump cut to express parenthesis. 

Shot reverse Shot:

It’s a good way to record heavy moments of dialogue between characters. This is mostly used for continuity within a film, this gives the sense to the audience that the scene is continuous. 

180 Degree rule:

This basically sets an imaginary line which the camera is not allowed to break, this established the orientation and the screen direction. When there are two characters speaking to each other, it will make it look like the characters are talking to each other. 

Eyeline match:

This technique creates meaning by foreshadowing future events to the audience. An example of this is from Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, the character Obi-Wan is hanging on for dear life, we see the character look at a certain direction, the shot then cuts to a lightsaber on the floor, this is hinting to the audience that Obi-Wan is going to get the lightsaber. 

Match cuts:

They are made up of elements from the previous scene to seamlessly transition to the next scene. They imply the deep connection between two differing events, they can also quickly change the emotion in a scene. 

There are three types of match cuts:

-Graphic:

The shapes and imagery are matched during the transition. They can be used to combine or replace the emotional context of imagery in the scene. Two images are put into one which makes the audience think about the connection the two images have. Passages of time can be also presented with this technique.

-Movement:

Where movement is matched. Draws a direct connection between the actions of both scenes. They generate a narrative momentum that focus on the physical connections between two scenes. 

The more common versions of the movement match cut is the pass by affect, where and object passes in front of the camera to show a new location

-Audio:

Where sounds are matched. Cuts on similar sounds but it is more focused on how the audio match cut is done. It is an overlap that matches and has direct connections to the narrative. 

All of these match cuts can be used together, however audio is as important because audio is half of the project. 

Seamless editing: 

The goal of editing is for the audience to not notice the cut. Cutting on action make the cuts seamless as the audience’s eyes follow the character’s action, the actions basically hide the edit. The framing of the shot could also help when seamlessly editing a scene.

Montage (Eisentein):

According to Russian Filmmaker and Theorist Sergei Eisenstein, a montage is a combination of shots that are depictive, single in meaning, neutral in content into intellectual contexts and series. 

Eisentein has five methods of montage:

Metric Montage:

Cutting ac7cording to exact measurement; irregardless of context.

This type of montage was usually used for moments with chaos, Eisenstein used the film The End of St. Petersburg (1926), where the cuts were made with clips that didn’t really have any correlation with each other. Metric Montage could also be used to build up tension in the scene. 

Rhythmic Montage:

Cutting according to the context of the shots; continuity editing. 

People could say that Rhythmic Montages is continuity editing as they are usually used in scenes with lots of dialogue or actions scenes like car chases.

Tonal Montage:

Cutting according to the emotional “tone” of the piece.

Tone is the any visual or aural characteristic that two different shots can share in common. This could be achieved using a match cut or match dissolve, using the visual characteristics which are common in the two shots

Overtonal Montage:

Cutting according to the various “tones” and “overtones” of the shots.

A good example of an overtonal montage is from The Godfather(1972) with the ‘Baptism Sequence’, the themes within the sequence blend together, making violence seem like a Holy writ. 

Intellectual Montage:

Cutting according to the shots’ relationship to an intellectual concept. 

This most basic explanation of the Intellectual Montage that it uses two specific shots which are combined to create an illicit meaning. The shots must be chosen carefully, as these shots should have some symbolic or cultural meaning behind them. 

Juxtaposition:

This technique is the use of uncorrelated pieces of footage to make the audience think about what is going on in the film. This is sometimes called the ‘Kuleshov Effect’ where the footage of an actor with a blank expression is then juxtaposed with footage of something else. For example, if the film cut to a table of food, the audience may think that the actor is hungry, if the film cut to a dead person, the audience may think that actor was sad about a friend’s death. This creates meaning depending on the juxtaposing images.

Cross-Cutting:

Cross-cutting is cutting between different sets of action that can be occurring at the same time or at different times. This technique is usually used to build suspense or to show the relationship between the different sets of action. This technique is usually mixed up with parallel editing. An example of cross-cutting is from The Silence of The Lambs(1991)[SPOILER], with the ‘FBI Raid Scene’ where we see the FBI approaching what we think is Buffalo Bill’s house. The audience is led to believe that this scene is the end of Buffalo Bill as so much suspense has been built up, however, there was even more impact when it is revealed that Starling was at the right house and has no backup, shocking the audience. 

In terms of enjoyment of the film, this technique is very effective. Using The Silence of The Lambs example, I felt that I was on the edge of my seat. The moment when it was revealed that Starling didn’t have any back up and was at the correct address, I basically fell off my seat. So in my opinion, I think that cross-cutting is a very effective as it can provide a lot of suspense to the audience. 

The terms parallel editing and cross-cutting are often mixed up, in my opinion, parallel-editing insinuates that the events that are happening in the film are happening at the same time, with cross cutting, it is open to interpretation, in the example above, each shot could have no time correlation, what are the chances that the bell in Buffalo Bill’s basement rings at the same time the FBI rings the bell at the other house? This is why I think this scene in The Silence of The Lambs is just cross-cutting instead of parallel editing. 

Parallel-editing:

Parallel-editing is a way to show that the things that are happening in the scene are happening at the same time. An example of this from The Godfather(1972) with the baptism scene, it shows the character Michael at the baptism whilst the other members of the gang carry out the killings of the heads of the other families. If we separate the scene into two different storylines it would become much more clearer to understand, if we say ‘Storyline A’ is Michael at the baptism and ‘Storyline B’ is the killings, we can put them together and cut to each storyline periodically to show that they’re happening at the same time. The audience can also assume that the scenes are happening at the same time because the audio of ‘Storyline A’ is overlayed over ‘Storyline B’. 

Freeze Frame:

The process of doing this is just using a still frame and then continuously showing it, creating a freeze effect. This technique is quite out of date, only being used in films before the turn of the decade. If a film were to use freeze frames today, it would probably be used in parody to give a comedic effect. This could create meaning by showing the audience that the film has come to a conclusion.

Slow Motion:

Slow motion is a technique where the time of the shot slows down,  hence the name ‘Slow Motion’. The use of slow motion is most common in action films, this technique is usually used for the aesthetics of the shot. Slow motion can create meaning by showing the audience that the character has superhuman powers, an obvious example is from the Matrix where the character, Neo, dodges multiple bullets. Slow motion could also help the audience see details of the scene which couldn’t be seen by the naked eye.

Split Screen:

In this technique, the screen literally shows more than one image, splitting the screen. This was usually used to show the audience the other side of the phone call. Split screens can also be used to make a scene look dynamic. Director Brian De Palma says that a director can go slow in split screens as there is a lot to look at, the audience is making juxtapositions in their minds. In some films, it could  show different storylines, like in one of the examples below, it could show the audience how a character might think an event could play out, simultaneously, it could show how the event actually plays out on the other screen.

Wipes:

Wipes are when the incoming shot wipes away the outcoming shot. A good way to use wipes in film is when the director is showing the next shot is going to be the next chapter in the film. Wipes could be used to express things like the passage of time or a great change of location. Types of wipe can affect the transition of the scene, the direction of the scene dictates the movement of the wipe, an editor can’t just use a random wipe. A famous film which uses wipes for the transition of sequences is Star Wars: A New Hope, everytime we see a wipe, it usually shows a new location. 

Dissolves:

Just like the wipes, the dissolve can show the passage of time. Another reason why a dissolve could be used is to get inside the character’s head. However, the most important reason to why a dissolve could be used is because it can carry a narrative. The match dissolve can be used to create a parallel between scenes. Usually a filmmaker would avoid trying to use dissolves as they usually draw attention to themselves. 

Fades:

Fade ins and fade outs, these are different to dissolves as they usually fade into a black or white screen. The fades are usually used at the end or the beginning of the film. The fade in is usually a solid colour to the picture and the fade out is the picture to a solid colour. Fades are least used during the middle of the film, but when they are, they are usually used to show that an important sequence has ended, so that the audience can comprehend what had happened. 

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A1 Types and purposes of editing for film and television:

Continuity Editing:

Editing with continuity is the process of combining a bunch of shots which are more or less related to each other. It basically tries to make the audience think that the shots were filmed as if the scene happened sequentially. A good example of continuous editing is when a character does an action. If a character were to throw a ball, the expected shots would be; the character moving his arms to throw the ball, the ball in the air and then the ball landing on the floor. Non-continuous editing is basically not following the rules of continuity. This may be used to make the audience change their mind about a certain character or change the atmosphere of the scene. Flashbacks and specific montages can be non-continuous editing. Non-continuous editing can be as impactful and as narratively useful as continuous editing. The director wouldn’t want to keep the audience from waiting too long, so the use of the jump cut would be useful, it is a really good way to manipulate time in the film.

Time Manipulation: 

Slow Motion - Slow motion is used to see the finer details in the shot, the deeper meaning of the shot can be clearly seen by the audience. If a sequence were to play at a normal speed, the audience would have surely missed the finer details which the filmmaker would have wanted the audience to see. Highlighting specific things about the scene can make the audience think differently about the scene. If the director were to make a scene more comedic, slow motion could be used to focus on expressions of the character and the other characters in the scene.

Sped Up Shots - A director would use this effect to create excitement in a scene, for example in an action scene, the director could film a fight scene in 22 frames per second and then speed it back up to 24 frames per second to make the action look faster and more snappier. This would also help in skipping unimportant details in a scene.

Time manipulation helps in highlighting and hiding information in a scene. When evaluating on time manipulation, I believe that slow motion is very effective when creating meaning on a scene, I think this because it is an easy way to explicitly show the audience what the director wants to show. On the other side of time manipulation, speeding up shots seems to have limited use in Western entertainment, only being used in action sequences. In terms of creating meaning, speeding up shots is not as effective as slow motion; the only way that sped up shots could create meaning is when the director wants to make the impacts in the fight scene look better. Therefore, in my opinion, I believe slow motion more effective as it lets the director explain and highlight aspects within the scene. 

Flashbacks:

They’re used to provide visual information about a character, they can also be used to present a backstory in order not to confuse the audience. Flashbacks have been presented with a cross dissolve to announce that a flashback is happening. In some films, flashbacks are announced with literal flashes and a compilation of shots put together jarringly, examples of this would be from the Bourne Identity. In Pulp Fiction, flashbacks are announced with title cards, some films go with the flow and give no announcement and the audience is left to figure out if the scene is a flashback or not. There are multiple types of flashbacks, there is the testimonial/confessional, the conversational, the object triggered, the thought triggered and the filmmaker initiated. Flash Forwards  - They may be used to foreshadow future events  in the story. 

In Hollywood, the flashback would more commonly used. As stated before, flashbacks help carry the narrative of the film, it is very effective when creating meaning in a film as flashbacks can provide more information of a character to the audience and possibly make the audience think differently about the character. On the other hand, flash forwards seem to be more uncommon in film, the only purpose I could see using a flash forward is when a character gets a vision of the future, this could create more suspense as the audience wouldn’t know the journey to get that point. I can only see flash forwards in the most specific circumstances in film, on a narrative standpoint, a flash forward is almost impossible to use in a common narrative. In my opinion I believe that flash forwards are less effective than flashbacks as I believe that the whole story would be spoiled, however, I think that flash forwards could be as good as flashbacks in the view of overall character development, a good example of the use of flash forward to develop the character is A Christmas Carol, when Scrooge sees his death, it would eventually lead to the character having a changed personality at the end. 

Controlling the perception of space:

This lets two separate clips seem like they are together. It allows the audience to think that there is a seamless narrative. The use of shot reverse shot would control the perception of space. 

Rhythm Control:

The most obvious purpose for controlling rhythm is when you are making a trailer and you want to sync the visuals to the rhythm of the music, syncing to music would also be used for musicals and montages.

In films an average shot is 4 to 6 seconds, once the editor has established his average shot duration, the editor could then speed up or slow down the duration. Fast paced duration would mean that there is tension within the scene. Slow paced editing would mean that the scene is calm.

You can say that editing a scene is like a storm, if for example in an action film, if you were to build up to a fight scene, you would want to have slow place shots at the beginning, you can think of this like the calm before the storm. When the fight actually happens, the shots become faster, think of this part of the scene as the actual storm. Once the fight ends the shots to become longer again. A good example is from the film Psycho.

Whilst assessing rhythm control, I think that it is very effective for the purpose for film and television, the pace of the film is really important in film as it makes the scenes make sense to the audience, pace and create a range of reaction to the audience, it can provide suspense, surprise, drama and a whole array of different emotions, hence why I think that rhythm control very effective for the purpose of film and television. 

Functions of editing for film:

Creating motivation to further the narrative:

Motivated editing suspends the audience disbelief when watching a media product. Motivated editing is where shots are chosen to push the story along and make the audience believe what they are seeing. For example, if an actor enters a room the next shot could possibly the actor’s point of view, making them be more engaged in the film. 

By doing this, the audience gets more involved in what they’re watching, this makes the cuts  between shots less noticeable. 

Development of Drama: Developing drama depends on a few aspects like shots. Drama can be shown by cutting to a reaction shot. Long cuts can also develop drama to develop tension and create a sense of danger. 

Providing and withholding information:

Filmmakers use this method to decide when it is the right time for the audience to find things out. Providing information or withholding information can change the emotions of the characters. Alfred Hitchcock has given an example of a bomb under a table, if the information of the bomb is withheld, the audience is most likely be surprised. If the information about the bomb is provided, suspense could be added to the scene. 

This technique has to be done correctly otherwise the film would be terrible. Subtle clues can be sprinkled around the film just like in The Sixth Sense. 

Through evaluation, I believe that providing and withholding information is the most effective form of editing to create narrative, the option to withhold information has the ability of changing the reaction of the audience, it can create suspense or surprise which in my opinion is very powerful when trying to create narrative. When reviewing the development of drama, I believe that it is not as effective at creating narrative as the use of information, because it is only the reaction of the character, yes a narrative is created through reaction but the audience is hand fed the reaction. Similarly, I believe that motivated editing is less impactful than the use of information but more impactful than the development, this is because, in my eyes, motivated editing just editing so that scene and the actors movements make sense, therefore, I think that motivated editing is more impactful than the development of drama because it helps the audience understand the scene more but it doesn’t have the power to unexpectedly change emotion. 

Create continuity between shots:

Following the Action:

Following the action is self explanatory. The camera basically following what the character is doing. When following the action, a wide shot is used. Tighter shots are ineffective as the camera would have to be constantly moving to fully capture the range of action. Jittery shots have negative effects to the audience’s enjoyment of the film. This technique was developed over the years as multiple camera action was used. This was mostly used for genres which usually have fight scenes so that the audience can have a full view of the fight. 

Changing location:

A change of location is used in films to carry on the narrative, the specific locations which have been scouted out must have importance to the story. A simple cut can be used to show this however, it would be too jarring for the audience. There should be some signal to the audience when a location change is about to occur, transitions like wipes and dissolves are a much cleaner way to show a change location. 

Changing Time Frame:

Timeframes change because it is rare that a film represents real time. One television show called 24 has represented real time by making one episode represent an hour of the day. Situations like 24 don’t happen often so the changing timeframe would be essential to carry out the narrative. A typical film would have to squeeze a couple years into at least 2 hours. 

Changing time frame can also mean that time is extended, we can add this to the bomb under the table example, you can extend time (make it a bit slower) to increase tension. 

Time could also be sped up, for example, a fight scene could be shot in 22 frames per second, it is then sped up to 24 (standard framerate in films) so that the fight looks better.

After reviewing, the functions to create continuity, I am convinced that following action has more effect when creating continuity between shots, this is because following the action makes the movement of the character have purpose, it helps the audience to explicitly understand what the characters are doing and why they are doing it. On the other side the creation of continuity, changing the location seems to have the least impact of the three functions. The change of location could mean absolutely anything, the location could have some importance to the characters in the film or the director might have thought that the location looked nice, in terms of continuity between shots, I guess it could be effective when a character walks into another room making the cut between the scene seamless. In my opinion, I would argue that the changing of the time frame has less impact to continuity than following action because I see changes in time as a utility, the director would have to fit what could be 2 years in real life into feature length. 

Create audience reaction and engage the viewer:

creating suspense:

The ‘Master of Suspense’, Alfred Hitchcock famously called films ‘Slices of Cake’ and suspense is one of the best ways to offer audiences a fork and dig in.

Suspense is also information, showing the audience what the characters don’t see, Dramatic Irony. This can be shown be presenting danger at the beginning of the screen and then letting the whole scene play out, however, the main character must be unaware of the danger.

Creating pace:

Pace affects the way the audience views a film and makes them understand a film differently. A fast pace would usually be used in the action films, a car chase scene would be fast paced, therefore the edit would use quick, short shots. Pace in a drama would usually be slow so that the audience can fully understand the characters.

When discussing the functions to create audience reaction, I believe that both functions are equally as effective, and I still stand by this opinion. This is because, in my point of view, I think that suspense would need pace and pace can lead to suspense, however, if I were to choose which function has more effect in the audience’s reaction, I would choose suspense. From my perspective, I think that suspense is the ‘meat’ of the whole film, what is a film without suspense? A film without suspense would be nothing as the audience would feel nothing also. 

Create meaning:

Juxtaposition: 

Juxtaposition in film editing is the technique of combining two or more shots to evoke a state of mind or idea. A montage can be a juxtaposition of two shots, but commonly refers to the juxtaposition of multiple shots to depict an event often in stretched or condensed time. 

Juxtaposition can also create meaning, if two unrelated images are shown one after the other, it makes the audience work out what it means. This is called the ‘Kuleshov Effect’. 

Creating Empathy: 

Empathy is defined as the action of understanding, being sensitive to and experiencing somebody’s thoughts and feelings. This is a goal for a person who is making a film, you want your audience to live through the characters because most people are engaged by this. 

You can edit to create empathy in many different ways, the use of overlaying sound can be used to create empathy, an example is from The Godfather, the scene where Michael Corleone sits in a restaurant talking to the men who tried to kill his father, we just don’t hear the character talking, we hear the other people in the restaurant and the train in the background. The train builds tension in the scene and reflects Michael’s mind before he stands up, when the sound of the train is gone, the sound of gunshots are heard. 

Empathy can also created through the choices of using different shots in the edit, it is advised to create the same scene but using different shots, you might find something new through each edit. 

Creating bias: 

All documentaries are constructions and the viewer discovers the truth through the director’s choices, these choices basically represent the director’s views. 

Bias can be presented when the director doesn’t show information about the other side of the argument, this doesn’t let the audience think critically about their own opinion. Showing only one perspective would be making a documentary bias. 

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The Evolution of Film Editing:

The evolution of film editing would have started with a film with no editing at all. An example of this would come from George Albert Smith with is short film ‘The Miller and the Sweep’ from 1989. This short film lasts 49 seconds and it only shows two people fighting, this film had only one shot and had no editing whatsoever. This type of film would have been classed as an ‘actuality’ as it was short, single-shot, had a stationary camera and had no editing.

Editing films would start in the 20th century in Paris, Georges Melies would make films like ‘Le Voyage Dans La Lune’ in 1902. Films like these would be edited by physically cutting the film and then pasting it back together. this is referred to as ‘destructive editing’. Once the editor was cut the film there is no going back to the original cut. This meant that the director would have to think critically when editing a film. With editing more than one scene could be used, this would be referred to as a montage. In my opinion, I have faith that this is one of the most largest leeps in progress in the film industry as a deeper narrative can be told to the audience. 

In 1903, the ‘The Great Train Robbery’ first used modern editing techniques like parallel editing, multiple camera positions and minor camera movement. It was also the first time title cards, panning shots. Cross cuts and Jump cuts were also first used in this film.  The narrative can be further expressed as we get to follow the characters with the camera. This would develop over time, making camera movement more common in films, not only to further express the narrative but showing emotion to reinforce the narrative.

Montages are basically a selection of clips which are put together, montage means the assembly of pieces of film. This first montage was used in the film ‘Battleship Potemkin’ in 1925. The Odessa Steps episode scene was based on the incident from 1905 where civilians are massacred. The montage contained close ups of faces and long shots of the event all leading up to the conclusion.

“Montage means the assembly of pieces of film, which moved in rapid succession before the eye create an idea” - Alfred Hitchcock. 

Citizen Kane was released in 1941, this film one of the most famous films which used non-linear editing, by using flashbacks and flash forwards. Flashbacks and Flash forwards were used earlier in 1933 in The Power and the Glory by Preston Sturges.

In 1960, the film Psycho, directed by Alfred Hitchcock was released. It contained one of the most famous murder scenes in history, the scene was the most shocking and the most jarring. The visuals were shot to create the illusion that the character was being stabbed. The edit involved the inter-cutting of slow-motion and regular speed footage.

In the 60′s, Helical Scan Recording was invented, making the distribution of Films much more accessible to the public. This would also make the ability of non-linear editing possible, as the original media products can be stored and be experimented on. This is better than destructive editing as the editors don’t have to worry about losing a piece of footage.

In the 70′s the first non-linear editing machine was created. It was called the CMX 600 and it recorded half resolution black and white video files into washing machine sized packs. Only 6 of these machines were used.

In 1972, The Godfather was released, the most famous scene was the baptism scene. This film featured a cross cut between the church and locations where the gang orchestrated the murders. 

EditDroid:

Created in 1984 from the company DroidWorks. The computer pulled footage which was stored in laser disks but this didn’t work that well. Other companies use VCRs but they were really slow, this was the first attempt in creating a non-destructive editing method. 

Non-destructive video editing means that the editor doesn’t have to worry about making mistakes as the original shot is still available. All the shots are digitally cut together.  

EMC2:

This was the first non-linear editing machine. This was then followed by the public release of Avid1 which has become a gold standard for editing Hollywood films. Storing media was an issue and the machines used could only edit short commercials and music videos.

Final Cut:

It is a non-linear video editing system developed by Macromedia which was later bought be Apple inc. This kind of software was available to the general public, so people who have a hobby in film making could edit sequences on their own computer at home.

Adobe Premiere:

This is a timeline based video editing software application. It is now part of the Adobe Creative Cloud which means users now have to pay a subscription to use any of Adobe’s applications. The software was previously acquired as a one off purchase with Adobe Creative Suite. 

Overall, the process of editing software has become increasingly easier over the eras. In my opinion, on of the most important era in film was the 60′s where storage of film has just been invented, this gave the idea of editing film without having to cut the original film. The next era in film which I think had the most impact was in the turn of the century and the 10′s where companies have started to create software to edit films, this let the general public get into film making and videography.