![Understand the development and principles of editing
Introduction
Editor Michael Kahan says that editing is like ‘building a whole another world’ [6] when
he is sat editing a film such as Saving PrivateRyan and in a way,that is the role of the
editor. Editor’s art is to create a story from the hundreds sometimes thousands of
different takes that the director has filmed and somehow they need to create a storyline
but also an emotional connectionwith the audience
without the viewers noticing the cuts. This type of art is
knownas the ‘invisible art,’ howeverbecause of this
name, early on in the film industry the editor wasn’t
highly regarded and where hidden away fromthe view
of the public as they weren’t classed as people of great
importance in the industry. Mainly this was because
nearly all of the editors were women as it was seen as
more of a women’s role because the method of piecing
the film together was called splicing and was compared
to sewing or knitting. However all editors are artists in
their ownright as they piece together a narrative, which
in return creates an emotional detachment to the
audience.
EarlyFilmDevelopment
In early films such as the Lumiere Brothers workers leaving the workshop, were filmed
using one long take without any editing or cutting. This film had only limited shot
variationthroughout the scene, the camera didn’t tilt or any pan movement. For the
time, this was a new thing foraudiences as they hadn’t seen an image move, however
this wasn’t enough forthe audience and filmmakers started to workon adding different
scenes to the film. Robert Paulwas the first pioneer that added more than one shot to a
film to create a story.The takes in the early films were very long with only a few cuts or
none in the wholefilm, howeverRobert Paul film‘Come Along. Do!’ was the first film
whichcontained overtwenty differentcuts. Backin the early films this was completely
new to the film industry howevercompared to films in the modern day that have
thousands of different cuts the number of cuts seem small. HoweverRobert Paul found
that by cutting together different scenes, this impacts the story line by creating a more
depth narrative that the audience can follow and relate too. Robert Paul’s work was
pioneering for the time howeverit was clear that by allowing a film to be made up with
long takes was not enough to capture the audience into the narrative. This was when
shot variation became a real aid forfilm editors as it allowed scenes to flow more
naturally and helped capture the narrative. This also allows the audience to immerse by
the narrative.
The length of the shot is important, shotvariationhelps
to improve the narrative of the film but also helps to
give more actionto the story line and allows the
audience to see more of the emotion in the characters.
Robert Paul was the started to cutscenes together,
howeverit was a man named Cecil Hepworth who
developed editing, production and placed emphasis on
story telling. In his film ‘Rescued by Rover’ created in
1905, this story showed how the dog was another
member of the family and how loyalan animal can be.
SlicingFilm
Rescued by Rover (1905)](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/understandthedevelopmentandprinciplesofediting-160108112504/85/Understand-the-development-and-principles-of-editing-1-320.jpg)
![But for the audience, it made them feel emotions not just worry and fear forthe mother
of the child but also pride and joy when Roverleads the father to the child. By creating
this emotion, whichthe cuts have created in the audience, whichis one of the rule of six
whichWater Murch discuses in his book‘In the Blink of an Eye’ as one of the most
important reasons for editing. [1]
During filming the filmmakers found that framing a shot correctly canprovide or
withhold information, whichwould capture something important that the director or
editor wanted the audience to see. Also with this development the early film makers
realised that frames can be used such as close ups can aid in the meaning of the story of
the film. Along with framing the lighting within the film is important to help with the
emotion that the director wants from the audience, in early films without the use of
natural light most films were dark as no adding light was added to the scene however
the Lumiere brothers and Melies started to play around with different camera tricky and
changing film exposure to add lighting to light the scene. Such as in the film Nosferatu,
for this film the filmmakers found that lighting was very important to add tension to the
film. By using the lighting to make the character of Nosferatu lookall the more
threatening by creating shadows whichin turn make the character more threatening but
also a lot bigger than he truly is. Along with a shot– reverse – shotbetween the character
Nosferatu and his victimhoweverthis is used in such a fashion that as the camera is
focused on the victim the next shot to Nosferatu he is a
little closer to the camera. This shows that with every
moment the monster is moving closer and closer to his
victimadding tension to the pace of the film and making
the audience believe that this monster could appear from
anywhere withoutoverall this add fear to the scene and
gives the character of Nosferatu a more feared mood. By
correctly framing a scene it helps to develop an
atmosphere which can be picked up on by the audience.
In Nosferatu, long shots are used to show how odd
Nosferatu looks whichin turn makes the audience more
scared of this odd looking character and also allows the
film to create a more tense feeling.
AnalogueFilmEditing:
Analogue film editing is a technique that refers to the traditional tape based video
production. This style of editing allows the editor to take great care in when they cut a
scene as it allows the editor to focus only on that scene. Howevermistakes can be very
costly as it is possible to destroy or damage a wholereel of film. On the other hand some
editors use offlineediting with allowsthe editor to copy the original reel and workon
the copied version to see whatthe film willlook like with the cuts. This is a trail version
of the film and allowsthe editor and director to make changes where needed and
doesn’t damage the original film. When the film is workedout the editor will go back to
the original film and by using a edit decision list that they would have created when
editing the copied reel, they will edit the original tothe same cuts as before.
Some Filmmakers use In-cameraediting as this style of editing, they use a linear fashion
of editing when the film is filmed in order of the storyline. This makes the film more
seamless and allowsthe audience tobuild relationships withcharacters, as the story
line is more flowingto the audience. Sir Alfred Hitchcockworkedin a linear fashion
during film as it allowed the editing production run more smoothly as the film had been
edited in the camera instead of the editor having to create the story line in the editing
room. In his film ‘Rope’ (1948) Hitchcockfilmedthe wholefilm in the style of in-camera
Nosferatu (1929)](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/understandthedevelopmentandprinciplesofediting-160108112504/85/Understand-the-development-and-principles-of-editing-2-320.jpg)
![editing, this meant that after a scene the camera was stopped and then the camera was
moved forthe new cut, this allowed the film toflow more natural as each cut was made
on set and allowsthe editor to see the film in the way that the audience does as the film
has been created in the way that it willbe seen on screen.
Howeverthis method of filming did come with it’s problems, for one when the
filmmakers used film it couldbe very costly for film production but also with time this
method couldmake a film shoot run over its time. One example is ‘The Shining.’ Walter
Murch said that Stanley Kubrick ‘wanted to shoot the film in continuity and to have all
sets and actors available all the time.’ [1] This caused the film to be delayed because sets
weren’t completed in time or they didn’t have enough room in the studios forall the sets
at once. During filming Kubrick took nearly the entire of the film studio at Elstree
(London).
ContinuityEditinginMotionPictures
Continuityediting is knownas the classic Hollywoodstyle of editing, this is because it
was the preferred to make a scene appear seamless onscreen. This allowedthe film to
looklike it was a true story and allowed the storyline to flow more seamless to the
audience. Howeverforthis to workthere were a lot of rules put in place to follow this
type of editing. D.W. Griffithused this type of editing for his film ‘The Birth of a Nation.’
In recent years the film has been highly controversialin a very negative form due to the
time it was created. In 1915 there were a lot of racism all overthe worldand this film
helped capture that. The problem now is how the film depicted of the African American
and the glorification of the Ku Klux Klan was shown on film.
One of the rules in Continuity Editing is by followingthe 180-degreerule,this rule
controls where the camera is set in a shot and where it can move too. When the camera
is positioned during a scene it can only more 180 degrees from that point.
This is used so the audience doesn’t get confused in where the characters are positions,
like during ‘Criminal Minds pilot episode Extreme Aggressor (2005) directed by Thomas
Gibson’ during the scene when the two characters of Hotchner and Gideon are talking to
each other on the jet home, Gideon is always on the right side of the screen when
Hotchner is on the left. This alwaysthe audience to know where the twocharacters are
positioned but also to see the mood of each character as they are speaking about
Gideon’s mental state within the team after a bombing.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/understandthedevelopmentandprinciplesofediting-160108112504/85/Understand-the-development-and-principles-of-editing-3-320.jpg)
![HollywoodMontage andSovietMontage
In the 1900’s editors started to play around with time andspace, this idea came from
Georges Melies, a French Illusionist and filmmaker. He started to play around and
manipulatetimeand spacein film. In his film ‘A Trip To The Moon’, in 1902 Melies used
this new technique, whichwas the start of special effects. The scene of the meeting of
people in the film is one good example of how Melies created a special effectinto the
film. By having the actors hold up a objectand then having it cut to them holding chairs,
it makes the audience believe that by magic they have changed the pieces of woodthey
were holding before have been magical changed into seats for them to sit on.[8] Editors
at this time believed that by removing small fragments from a film, the audience
wouldn’t understand the narrative. Howeverwhat Melies did was to show by removing
parts of a scene that isn’t needed condensed time within the film but also still allowed
the audience to understand the story of the film.
What Melies showed was the editor can play around withhow the film language which
can create different emotions in the audience, this allowed others to follow onhow
different effectscan change the way that the audience sees a piece of footage.
In Russia in 1920 an experiment called the Kuleshov
Effectwastried in film. By using the faceclose up frame of
a man with a straight face looking at the camera and then
cutting to another object,say a bowlof food,it made the
audience think about what the man was feeling by the
image that was shown after it. But it was in factthe same
image of the man but with three differentimages, this
allowed the audience to make their own conclusionon
what the man was feeling but also allowed the editor to
create the mood of which he wanted the audience to see.
This was a pioneering technique of the time, as by using a
range of differentshots to an audience and making them
feel something different each time, by doing this
experiment it showed that by using a different image next
to the original image it created a different meaning. [6] The Kuleshov effectshowed how
the audience adds more depth to the scene and allows the audience to lookmore closely
at the emotion behind the scene they are viewing.This effectis similar to Sergei
Eisenstein who used the audience’s emotion to create shockin his films. By working
with this effectin film editing the goal is to capture the emotion from the audience that
is needed from the film, whichis chosen by the editor.
Kuleshov Effect
A Trip to the Moon (1902)](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/understandthedevelopmentandprinciplesofediting-160108112504/85/Understand-the-development-and-principles-of-editing-4-320.jpg)
![Pioneersofthe FilmIndustry
In the film BlackHawk Down(2001), created by Sir Ridley Scott,he found that by
changing the sound during the scene of seeing the Black Hawkhelicopters forthe first
time together as they were flyinginto Somalia can impact the pace and mood of the
scene. By using some low volume music and with sound effectsadd to the scene it
changed the tension of the film. [6] This also createdthe pace of the film of fast action.
Howeverthis also creates the tension needed to prepare the audience forwhat is about
to happen, as the mission that the soldiers were ordered to take goes horrible wrong.By
using sound through out the film by cutting the film to the soundtrackit allowsthe music
to controlwhat he wanted to the audience to feel during the film. This controlis
normally used in music videos howeverit was very affectivein the film. But it also
reminded the audience of the physically and mentally draining the soldiers must have
felt as they travelled to their
deaths. Drama has been added to
the scene by using range of
different angles of camera angles
like low and high shots to
capture each of the Black Hawks
as they head towards Somalia.
Also the scene contains camera
movement in the forms of tilting
up to see a BlackHawk whichis
flying higher and down to
capture the ground and any low flyingHelicopters. Also Scott used footage where the
camera is set as a point of view shot from one of the soldier’s looking out at the other
Black Hawks.With all of these different shots, it makes the audience feel drawn into the
action and to feel some of the emotions that the soldiers must have feltduring the flight.
For those whoknew more information about the mission that this film honoured this
scene is a living memory forthose soldiers whodid not return. Scott used this scene as a
long take withsmooth cuts from a range of differentpositions, by doing this it created
the correct mood and feeling that the continued throughout the film.
During Lord of the Rings: TwoTowers(2002) directed by Sir Peter Jackson,they used
motion capture to allow the animators to see how a CGI characterwas going to be like
during a scene, this had been done beforein Gollum’s scene for The Fellowship of the
Ring in 2001. Howeverin TwoTowers, brought a new problem, for this film a CGI
character wouldhave tobe next to twoof the main actors in the film and needed to be as
real as the twocharacters next to him. Howevermaking a CGI character become an actor
hadn’t been convincingin other films before it. In the creation of Gollum, Sir Peter
Jacksonhired Andy Serkis as the voicebehind Gollum. However by watching Andy
Serkis audition tap he saw how much effectthat Andy was putting into the voiceby
moving and changing how he used his body to create the voice.This changed their view
on how they were going to create Gollum altogether whichAndy was happy about, so
they came up withthe idea of allowed Andy
to physical play Gollum when filming.
Howeverthis caused a problem as the
audience wouldn’t be seeing Andy on the
screen but Gollum, so by working with the
animators they found that by using motion
capture and key frame animation together,
whichat the time where having problems
over whowould be controlling the Gollum
character, but by working the two
Andy Serkis – Two Towers (2002)](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/understandthedevelopmentandprinciplesofediting-160108112504/85/Understand-the-development-and-principles-of-editing-6-320.jpg)
![techniques together allowed them not to just create a CGI creature but a characterthat
looked and acted as real as the actors on set. Also by allowing Andy to change how
Gollum delivered the script and how he acted around others giving more depth to the
character and engagingtheaudience to care forthe creature that they should hate. [11]
This technique has been used as the backboneof CGI character ever since and helped
move digital technology forwardin how to create a real life character that willappear
real on the screen. Since then digital technology has allowed CGI to become a common
thing in films and now the audience accepts them, and allows the director to create large
action scenes that would have been toocostly to film and produce possible. However
sometimes CGI toomuch can limit how the film comes together and doesn’t help the
actors react to something that the audience will see as they have no idea what they are
acting too. In The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) directed by Sir Peter Jackson,
during filming forthe Trolls Hoard scene, the actions found it difficultto act to what they
had to imagine was a troll which was ever a football on a stick to give the correcteye
line or stunt performer in full projected clothing with a large weight bag. Aidan Turner
descried it as ‘having to perform to a person whois played by a tennis ball and then that
person doesn’t react or give any type of response it can be difficultto give a good
performance.’ [17]
George Miller’s Mad Max Fury Road (2015) uses different techniques in followingthe
action on scene. During the chase scene the camera is positioned so the audience’s eye
followsthe action. When one of the bikers travels fromright to left of the scene the next
move in the action sequences willbe from leftto right allowing the audience to follow
the action, but if this doesn’t happen the audience can miss some of the action on scene
and quickly get confused. During the scene, whichis classed as a chase scene uses a
range of differentshots from high and low angled shots but also by tilting the camera
and by moving it in a pun fashion helps the audience see the action. By using these
angles, it helps the audience to see more of the action that is playing out on screen. [12]
In the film Bonnie and Clyde (1967) directed by
Arthur Penn, the editor uses a range of combinedshots
for the endsequence,by using a long take but with
very quick cuts to show the violent end forthe two
characters give the audience the shockfactor they
were looking for howeverwith this the audience can’t
lookaway from the action. Before their deaths, the
camera is cut to different locations such as to the car,
the truck, and the trees and then to the twomain
characters as they try to work out whatis about to
happen. These cuts become quicker to add tension to
the scene and make the audience believe that
something is going to happen. Also by adding the of
the who character’s looking at each other right before
the first shot is fired, gives the audience the idea of the
twolover saying their final goodbye before the gun fire starts killing both of them where
they stood. By creating this dramatic climax in the end of the film shocks audience
members but also created a new style of showing the violence and action. [6]
Digital AgeandDevelopment
In the beginning of film development the film was recorded on film, which meant that an
editor had to edit by splicing the tapes and gluing the shots together. This was called
splicing. This was a technique that was commonly knownas a ‘women’s job’ because of
the technique being similar to sewing as the pieces of film have been stick together.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/understandthedevelopmentandprinciplesofediting-160108112504/85/Understand-the-development-and-principles-of-editing-7-320.jpg)
![As the industry changed to use videotapes as a method of viewing films at home, still
using the film howeverthis allowed films to be coped and brought for home use.
Howeverthis still was a costly business as film was a costly material to buy. However
this was the beginning of a new stage of the film industry as it allowed people to view
their favouritefilms at home.
Howeverfrom tape the film development changed to a more modern method which is
digital.This allowedprogrammes like Final Cut to allow the film to be shot in a non-
linear fashion and the final film is created from shots that were taking in different times.
This style of editing allowed filming to be planned more easily as with some actors who
could be working on a number of films at once can complete all the scenes they are
needed for in the time they have. In an editing fashion, by using digital it allowed the
editor more freedom to change the meaning or storyline of the film in the editing room.
Walter Murch won the Best Editing Film for his edit of ‘The English Patient.’ It was also
the first filmthat was edited completely with Avid. [6]
By using digital, it allows the editor to start to edit before the completion of the film,
using pre-visualisation mainly helps with this. Editor Alan Heim said during editing to
be allowed to ‘cut the script allowed him to make a better ending.’ When cutting Lenny
that he thought the ending didn’t workfor the film and they had scenes that didn’t allow
the build up towhich the film was creating to workby using a long scene with dialog,
instead cutting it to when they find Lenny’s body workedbetter to the story line. [6]
The way that the film editing has moved so quickly over the last few years makes people
believe that it will not stop changing. Michael Tronick,the editor of Remember the
Titans compared editing to magic and that editing was like a ‘discovery of something
new that was not meant to happen that brings something new to a film.’ [6] This helps to
give the idea that editing willcontinue to change and like in more modern films, the cuts
will become faster howeverthis is not a bad thing forsome parts of the filmas it allows
the audience to see more action and creates more tension to the film. However this is
met by some problems, some editors believe that these fast cuts are sometimes too
much and can destroy the scene. When the MTVstyle of editing started in the 80s
editors and directors where pushed into followingthis style by producers and they were
found to be right that it was the thing that the audience wanted. Steven Spielberg the
director of Schindler’s list has said that ‘this style of cutting can be effectinside a movie
to shake the audience up and rattle their souls but for throughout the wholemovie can
be a little painful.’[6] But forsome editors this style of editing is something that they
enjoy using and understand it however it is up to how the editor and director feel about
it that counts in the movie.
PurposeofEditing
The reasons for editing is to create a story that will interest and engage the audience.
The way that editing is done for a film is very important to allow the storyline to flow
natural and easy forthe viewerto watch.
RuleofSix
Walter Murch book ‘In a Blink of an Eye’he talks about what is the six main reason in
why a cut needs to be made.
1. Emotion
2. Story](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/understandthedevelopmentandprinciplesofediting-160108112504/85/Understand-the-development-and-principles-of-editing-8-320.jpg)
![3. Rhythm
4. Eye-trace
5. Two-dimensional plane of screen
6. Three-dimensional space of action
The six main reasons for a cut start with emotion and it is the hardest thing tofind. The
editors’ role for this is to make the audience feel something. ‘How do youwant the
audience to feel?’ is the question that Murch asks himself when he is editing the film.
Howeverif a cut doesn’t meet all the six than editors say that they can sacrifice some of
the rules from the bottom up. [1]
ProvidingandwithholdingInformation
When watching a film, the audience is getting small amounts of information about the
story line. This is because of the editor, has chosen what information they are giving to
the audience. This is to keep the audience involvedwith the film and doesn’t lose
interest. Like in ‘Criminal Minds pilot episode Extreme Aggressor (2005) directed by
Thomas Gibson’ the audience is giving little bits of information about who the killer
might be. In one scene this is given by using a camera tilt to a set of keys that the killer is
carrying with a key ring. Now this is the last piece of evidence that is given whichties in
the all of the other information that has been given. [2]
Other Techniques
Motivated
A Motivated technique is scene cut that cuts to another scene or object that was not in
the scene. This can be used in a flashbackto create an emotion connection with the
audience. Like in the film Ladder 49 (2004) directed by Jay Russell and edited by Bud S.
Smith was based on taking the audience through a fire-fighters life. Thought-out the film
the story is told about a fire fighter named JackMorrison, in the beginning of the film the
vieweris met by a horrible fire at a factory and how Jackhelped save one of the workers
right whichmakes the audience feel proud and happy that the man was saved. But soon
after an explosion sends Jackfalling through a number of floorsadding tension and
shock to the viewers. By then using flashbacks to shows how Jackhas ended up there,
makes the audience hope and pray for Jack’srescue. Howeverby showing his life
through the firehouse makes the audience feel for the character, and how much the
young man has gone through in his time but also
makes the audience see the true dangers of the job. By
using flashbacks it also takes the audience through a
journey of pain, sorrow, tension but also happiness,
joy and excitement. Smith, edited together a range of
different angles of shot to the film such as a range of
different close ups and canted angles to show the
character’s emotions at that moment in time and how
they reacted to the scene. Like when Dennis Gauquin](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/understandthedevelopmentandprinciplesofediting-160108112504/85/Understand-the-development-and-principles-of-editing-9-320.jpg)
![another fire fighter hears a crackfrom underneath him, with a quick zoom to a extreme
close up shows the fear in Dennis’ eyes as he shouts forhelp as the roof cavesin taking
him into the fire. This type of scene makes the audience feel horrified at what they have
just seen and in pain at watching someone they had gotten to know on screen die, this is
followedby the other fire fighters reactions and allows the audience to moan the death
of a fire fighter along withthe characters.
Also the film uses establishing shots to show the different locations in the film but also
to give the audience a sense of knowing where the characters are at and how they are
feeling in that shot, like forthe opening scenes, it is shown froma high angle of the
factory alight and the editor gives the audience the information of that this fire is very
important in the film in how the different angles are used to show how dangers but
along withthe music builds the tension of the film.
Parallel Editing/ Crosscutting
Parallel Editing or crosscutting is when two different scenes appear to be happening at
the same time but in different locations. This will be shown to the audience by cutting
between the twoscenes whichshows the audience that there is a link between the to
different areas and it also makes the audience think about how the scenes are connected
and how they will join together. This howevercan be difficultin a main storyline as it
could angle off making the story more complicated forthe audience. Howeverdoing this
correctly and in the correctfashion can make a film hold more meaning and if it is based
on a bookcan show parts of the story that couldn’t be fittedinto the film and gives the
audience the chance to connectthe dots of the film to workout what the film is about
but also the emotions of the characters. One good example is the Lord of the Rings: Two
Towers (2002) directed by Sir Peter Jackson, when in one scene the audience is
followingFrodo and Sam as they head towards Mount Doom and the other scene of
Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli are chasing after the orcs whohave kidnapped Merry and
Pippin. This allowsthe audience to see the twostory lines in only a couple of scenes and
how the characters are moving away from each other. This also gives the audience a
multiple points of view to add more emotion and meaning behind the scene and how
worried all the characters are about different things. [11]
Transitions
Transition is referring to how differentcuts flow into another, in ‘Criminal Minds pilot
episode Extreme Aggressor (2005) directed by Thomas Gibson’, during the case Gideon
points to an image of the evidence of the last crime scene. This scene then is cut tothe
agents being at that crime scene, this gives the audience the sense that they have
travelled their but also by how the scene has been set gives an old feeling of how the
killer didn’t care about where he got rid of the body as he didn’t care much forthem.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/understandthedevelopmentandprinciplesofediting-160108112504/85/Understand-the-development-and-principles-of-editing-10-320.jpg)
![Pointof viewshot
A point of view shot is when the camera
becomes the eye of the character so the
audience can see whatthe character can
during a scene. In Ladder 49 (2004) directed
by Jay Russell, this is used every time they are
traveling to a scene as the audience is set to
see what the driver can see through the
windshield. This grips the audience to feel like
they are also traveling with the fire fighters. [3]
EditingRhythm
When editing rhythm of a film the relationship between shots functions to controlthe
film’s pace, this an be used to add emotion to a scene like by speeding up a scene can
increase the tension. By the way the film is edited, it gives the audience an idea in how
the film is going to like. Like in Fast Five (2001) directed by Justin Lin, the way that the
film has been put together in a fast pace edit gives the audience the idea of the film being
full of action and tension. With a mixture of long and medium shots of the characters is
also allows the action to be followedby seeing ever inch of the action that unfolds on
screen. Howeverto some editors, they believe that sometimes a fast pace film isn’t good
unless it is done very careful as this can make the audience miss some of the action and
the meaning as the film is moving too quickly forthe audience to watch. Martin Scorsese
says that he is ‘afraid of how is effectsthe culture, the sense of taking something in and
throwing it away’ instead of developing something. This fear isn’t with just Scorsese but
with many editors whodon’t want the audience not to understand whatthey are
watching. [6]
Compared to How to Kill a Mockingbird(1962) directed by Robert Mulligan, whichis a
slow paced edit witha collectionof long takes created by using different shots from
different angles to show what is happening in the scene, like in the courtroom.The shots
are very long and sometimes have very little dialog such as when evidence is given be
Mayella about the attackand when Atticus starts to question her the camera holds on
Mayells’s to show the audience the girl’s reaction and this at times places question in the
audience’s mind with if he did attackher. However this is the editors way of making the
audience think about what they are hearing in the case and in how in the end it didn’t
matter the factthat the Tom Robinson whois on trail forraping a young white girl
Mayella, with the evidence gives was that he hadn’t done the crime but still is convicted
and is later killed, all because Tom was black. The pace of the film allows the audience to
think about why this man was targeted because of the colourof his skin and makes the
audience aware of how people were targeted because of their skin colour. This is proven](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/understandthedevelopmentandprinciplesofediting-160108112504/85/Understand-the-development-and-principles-of-editing-11-320.jpg)
![by the establishing shots of inside the courtroomby showing how many people where
inside. The audience quickly noticed that nearly all the people inside it where white.
The pace of the film has been set also to allow the audience to the see the emotion in
each character, as a new piece of evidence was given or something was said. [16]
Compared to Fast Five(2001) directed by Justin Lin this film has been edited in a slower
pace and allowing long scenes with no dialog whichin turns adds more tension and
makes the audience get more involvedwith the narrative. This makes them think about
how in the past the colourof someone’s skin meant the diffidencebetween being
believed or not. On the other hand in Fast Five the edit has been developed to add more
action to the film and to create more tension in the action scenes in a similar way to How
to kill a Mockingbird, both films use closeups, establishing and long shots to add tension
but also draws in the audience to the narrative and makes the viewercare about the
people involved.
Summary– Artistsorstorytellers?
Overall editors are the backbone of movieproduction and are the rightful storyteller.
They workclosely with the directors to work on creating the best possible film for the
audience to see and enjoy. With the evidence of how editors weren’t seen important at
all in the beginning to being as important as the director they have come a long way to
show how they have changed the film industry to the form it is in today. In my opinion,
they are both the storytellers of the film world but also artists in making the audience
feel or think a certain way when watching the film.
This skill of making the audience feel or think what the editor wants as one of the rules
of six that Walter Murch talks about in his book ‘In the Blink of an Eye’ as it makes the
audience feel the emotion the editor wants. This skill may sound easy but it can be very
difficultand is a skill that the editors pride themselves in. In the act of editing, editors
like their workto show the style of their own editing. They are the backbonebehind the
film industry but ask for nothing in return. They just enjoy making a story for thousands
for viewersto see and connectwith the characters they are watching.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/understandthedevelopmentandprinciplesofediting-160108112504/85/Understand-the-development-and-principles-of-editing-12-320.jpg)
Understand the development and principles of editing
- 1. Understand the development and principles of editing Introduction Editor Michael Kahan says that editing is like ‘building a whole another world’ [6] when he is sat editing a film such as Saving PrivateRyan and in a way,that is the role of the editor. Editor’s art is to create a story from the hundreds sometimes thousands of different takes that the director has filmed and somehow they need to create a storyline but also an emotional connectionwith the audience without the viewers noticing the cuts. This type of art is knownas the ‘invisible art,’ howeverbecause of this name, early on in the film industry the editor wasn’t highly regarded and where hidden away fromthe view of the public as they weren’t classed as people of great importance in the industry. Mainly this was because nearly all of the editors were women as it was seen as more of a women’s role because the method of piecing the film together was called splicing and was compared to sewing or knitting. However all editors are artists in their ownright as they piece together a narrative, which in return creates an emotional detachment to the audience. EarlyFilmDevelopment In early films such as the Lumiere Brothers workers leaving the workshop, were filmed using one long take without any editing or cutting. This film had only limited shot variationthroughout the scene, the camera didn’t tilt or any pan movement. For the time, this was a new thing foraudiences as they hadn’t seen an image move, however this wasn’t enough forthe audience and filmmakers started to workon adding different scenes to the film. Robert Paulwas the first pioneer that added more than one shot to a film to create a story.The takes in the early films were very long with only a few cuts or none in the wholefilm, howeverRobert Paul film‘Come Along. Do!’ was the first film whichcontained overtwenty differentcuts. Backin the early films this was completely new to the film industry howevercompared to films in the modern day that have thousands of different cuts the number of cuts seem small. HoweverRobert Paul found that by cutting together different scenes, this impacts the story line by creating a more depth narrative that the audience can follow and relate too. Robert Paul’s work was pioneering for the time howeverit was clear that by allowing a film to be made up with long takes was not enough to capture the audience into the narrative. This was when shot variation became a real aid forfilm editors as it allowed scenes to flow more naturally and helped capture the narrative. This also allows the audience to immerse by the narrative. The length of the shot is important, shotvariationhelps to improve the narrative of the film but also helps to give more actionto the story line and allows the audience to see more of the emotion in the characters. Robert Paul was the started to cutscenes together, howeverit was a man named Cecil Hepworth who developed editing, production and placed emphasis on story telling. In his film ‘Rescued by Rover’ created in 1905, this story showed how the dog was another member of the family and how loyalan animal can be. SlicingFilm Rescued by Rover (1905)
- 2. But for the audience, it made them feel emotions not just worry and fear forthe mother of the child but also pride and joy when Roverleads the father to the child. By creating this emotion, whichthe cuts have created in the audience, whichis one of the rule of six whichWater Murch discuses in his book‘In the Blink of an Eye’ as one of the most important reasons for editing. [1] During filming the filmmakers found that framing a shot correctly canprovide or withhold information, whichwould capture something important that the director or editor wanted the audience to see. Also with this development the early film makers realised that frames can be used such as close ups can aid in the meaning of the story of the film. Along with framing the lighting within the film is important to help with the emotion that the director wants from the audience, in early films without the use of natural light most films were dark as no adding light was added to the scene however the Lumiere brothers and Melies started to play around with different camera tricky and changing film exposure to add lighting to light the scene. Such as in the film Nosferatu, for this film the filmmakers found that lighting was very important to add tension to the film. By using the lighting to make the character of Nosferatu lookall the more threatening by creating shadows whichin turn make the character more threatening but also a lot bigger than he truly is. Along with a shot– reverse – shotbetween the character Nosferatu and his victimhoweverthis is used in such a fashion that as the camera is focused on the victim the next shot to Nosferatu he is a little closer to the camera. This shows that with every moment the monster is moving closer and closer to his victimadding tension to the pace of the film and making the audience believe that this monster could appear from anywhere withoutoverall this add fear to the scene and gives the character of Nosferatu a more feared mood. By correctly framing a scene it helps to develop an atmosphere which can be picked up on by the audience. In Nosferatu, long shots are used to show how odd Nosferatu looks whichin turn makes the audience more scared of this odd looking character and also allows the film to create a more tense feeling. AnalogueFilmEditing: Analogue film editing is a technique that refers to the traditional tape based video production. This style of editing allows the editor to take great care in when they cut a scene as it allows the editor to focus only on that scene. Howevermistakes can be very costly as it is possible to destroy or damage a wholereel of film. On the other hand some editors use offlineediting with allowsthe editor to copy the original reel and workon the copied version to see whatthe film willlook like with the cuts. This is a trail version of the film and allowsthe editor and director to make changes where needed and doesn’t damage the original film. When the film is workedout the editor will go back to the original film and by using a edit decision list that they would have created when editing the copied reel, they will edit the original tothe same cuts as before. Some Filmmakers use In-cameraediting as this style of editing, they use a linear fashion of editing when the film is filmed in order of the storyline. This makes the film more seamless and allowsthe audience tobuild relationships withcharacters, as the story line is more flowingto the audience. Sir Alfred Hitchcockworkedin a linear fashion during film as it allowed the editing production run more smoothly as the film had been edited in the camera instead of the editor having to create the story line in the editing room. In his film ‘Rope’ (1948) Hitchcockfilmedthe wholefilm in the style of in-camera Nosferatu (1929)
- 3. editing, this meant that after a scene the camera was stopped and then the camera was moved forthe new cut, this allowed the film toflow more natural as each cut was made on set and allowsthe editor to see the film in the way that the audience does as the film has been created in the way that it willbe seen on screen. Howeverthis method of filming did come with it’s problems, for one when the filmmakers used film it couldbe very costly for film production but also with time this method couldmake a film shoot run over its time. One example is ‘The Shining.’ Walter Murch said that Stanley Kubrick ‘wanted to shoot the film in continuity and to have all sets and actors available all the time.’ [1] This caused the film to be delayed because sets weren’t completed in time or they didn’t have enough room in the studios forall the sets at once. During filming Kubrick took nearly the entire of the film studio at Elstree (London). ContinuityEditinginMotionPictures Continuityediting is knownas the classic Hollywoodstyle of editing, this is because it was the preferred to make a scene appear seamless onscreen. This allowedthe film to looklike it was a true story and allowed the storyline to flow more seamless to the audience. Howeverforthis to workthere were a lot of rules put in place to follow this type of editing. D.W. Griffithused this type of editing for his film ‘The Birth of a Nation.’ In recent years the film has been highly controversialin a very negative form due to the time it was created. In 1915 there were a lot of racism all overthe worldand this film helped capture that. The problem now is how the film depicted of the African American and the glorification of the Ku Klux Klan was shown on film. One of the rules in Continuity Editing is by followingthe 180-degreerule,this rule controls where the camera is set in a shot and where it can move too. When the camera is positioned during a scene it can only more 180 degrees from that point. This is used so the audience doesn’t get confused in where the characters are positions, like during ‘Criminal Minds pilot episode Extreme Aggressor (2005) directed by Thomas Gibson’ during the scene when the two characters of Hotchner and Gideon are talking to each other on the jet home, Gideon is always on the right side of the screen when Hotchner is on the left. This alwaysthe audience to know where the twocharacters are positioned but also to see the mood of each character as they are speaking about Gideon’s mental state within the team after a bombing.
- 4. HollywoodMontage andSovietMontage In the 1900’s editors started to play around with time andspace, this idea came from Georges Melies, a French Illusionist and filmmaker. He started to play around and manipulatetimeand spacein film. In his film ‘A Trip To The Moon’, in 1902 Melies used this new technique, whichwas the start of special effects. The scene of the meeting of people in the film is one good example of how Melies created a special effectinto the film. By having the actors hold up a objectand then having it cut to them holding chairs, it makes the audience believe that by magic they have changed the pieces of woodthey were holding before have been magical changed into seats for them to sit on.[8] Editors at this time believed that by removing small fragments from a film, the audience wouldn’t understand the narrative. Howeverwhat Melies did was to show by removing parts of a scene that isn’t needed condensed time within the film but also still allowed the audience to understand the story of the film. What Melies showed was the editor can play around withhow the film language which can create different emotions in the audience, this allowed others to follow onhow different effectscan change the way that the audience sees a piece of footage. In Russia in 1920 an experiment called the Kuleshov Effectwastried in film. By using the faceclose up frame of a man with a straight face looking at the camera and then cutting to another object,say a bowlof food,it made the audience think about what the man was feeling by the image that was shown after it. But it was in factthe same image of the man but with three differentimages, this allowed the audience to make their own conclusionon what the man was feeling but also allowed the editor to create the mood of which he wanted the audience to see. This was a pioneering technique of the time, as by using a range of differentshots to an audience and making them feel something different each time, by doing this experiment it showed that by using a different image next to the original image it created a different meaning. [6] The Kuleshov effectshowed how the audience adds more depth to the scene and allows the audience to lookmore closely at the emotion behind the scene they are viewing.This effectis similar to Sergei Eisenstein who used the audience’s emotion to create shockin his films. By working with this effectin film editing the goal is to capture the emotion from the audience that is needed from the film, whichis chosen by the editor. Kuleshov Effect A Trip to the Moon (1902)
- 5. Soon after the Kuleshov experiments were finished a Russian Filmmaker named Sergei Eisenstein used montage to choose what emotions his audience would feel. During his film ‘Strike’ (1925) he used film of people running in one direction and then cutting to a slaughterhouse foranimals. With this metaphor it makes the audience think about what is happening to the people in the film. Howeverthe problem is with this is that the editor is putting a lot of trust into the audience feeling what he wants and has tried to put in place. Hollywoodmontage is different to the Soviet montage as in the Hollywoodversion is when a series of shot are edited into a scene to condense space, time and information. As a montage is commonly referenced to Eisenstein’s workwith montage in his films to create shock, a Hollywoodmontage refers to piecing together small parts of different yet related takes and are put together often in the style of the music used. In Pretty Woman (1990) directed by Gerry Marshall, a Hollywoodmontage is used to show the main character change her wardrobe and her way of life in a short scene that gives the audience all the information they need. This style of montage helps to develop the story in the film forthe audience and allows the film tomove on. FrenchNew Wave French New Wavewas a film movement that chose to break all the rules. During the late 1950s French New Waves wanted to push the limits of editing to the limit. They started to edit their films in such a way that the cuts in the scene would become knownand draw attention to it. Other editors and directors of the time frowned upon this type of method because they were used to the classic Hollywoodstyle of continuity editing. By using this method of editing it reminded the audience the factthat they were watching a film, this is mainly achieved this by using jump cuts. A jumpcut is a cut in film editing in whichtwo sequential shots of the same subject are taken from camera positions that vary only slightly. This typeof edit gives the effectof jumping forwardin time. This technique has been used very since in films, such as the ‘Royal Tenenbaums’ (2001) directed by Wes Anderson. By using jump cuts the editor has shown the emotional distress that the characteris going through. However this style of editing can sometimes distracted the audience and the film will lose its pace, but it also could help to show that emotion that the character is feeling by using a range of different techniques with lighting and camera position make the audience feel forthe character.In the film it is used to show how much this character is in pain but also the factthat he does want to change, which starts withhis appearance but ends up bleeding. Strike (1925)
- 6. Pioneersofthe FilmIndustry In the film BlackHawk Down(2001), created by Sir Ridley Scott,he found that by changing the sound during the scene of seeing the Black Hawkhelicopters forthe first time together as they were flyinginto Somalia can impact the pace and mood of the scene. By using some low volume music and with sound effectsadd to the scene it changed the tension of the film. [6] This also createdthe pace of the film of fast action. Howeverthis also creates the tension needed to prepare the audience forwhat is about to happen, as the mission that the soldiers were ordered to take goes horrible wrong.By using sound through out the film by cutting the film to the soundtrackit allowsthe music to controlwhat he wanted to the audience to feel during the film. This controlis normally used in music videos howeverit was very affectivein the film. But it also reminded the audience of the physically and mentally draining the soldiers must have felt as they travelled to their deaths. Drama has been added to the scene by using range of different angles of camera angles like low and high shots to capture each of the Black Hawks as they head towards Somalia. Also the scene contains camera movement in the forms of tilting up to see a BlackHawk whichis flying higher and down to capture the ground and any low flyingHelicopters. Also Scott used footage where the camera is set as a point of view shot from one of the soldier’s looking out at the other Black Hawks.With all of these different shots, it makes the audience feel drawn into the action and to feel some of the emotions that the soldiers must have feltduring the flight. For those whoknew more information about the mission that this film honoured this scene is a living memory forthose soldiers whodid not return. Scott used this scene as a long take withsmooth cuts from a range of differentpositions, by doing this it created the correct mood and feeling that the continued throughout the film. During Lord of the Rings: TwoTowers(2002) directed by Sir Peter Jackson,they used motion capture to allow the animators to see how a CGI characterwas going to be like during a scene, this had been done beforein Gollum’s scene for The Fellowship of the Ring in 2001. Howeverin TwoTowers, brought a new problem, for this film a CGI character wouldhave tobe next to twoof the main actors in the film and needed to be as real as the twocharacters next to him. Howevermaking a CGI character become an actor hadn’t been convincingin other films before it. In the creation of Gollum, Sir Peter Jacksonhired Andy Serkis as the voicebehind Gollum. However by watching Andy Serkis audition tap he saw how much effectthat Andy was putting into the voiceby moving and changing how he used his body to create the voice.This changed their view on how they were going to create Gollum altogether whichAndy was happy about, so they came up withthe idea of allowed Andy to physical play Gollum when filming. Howeverthis caused a problem as the audience wouldn’t be seeing Andy on the screen but Gollum, so by working with the animators they found that by using motion capture and key frame animation together, whichat the time where having problems over whowould be controlling the Gollum character, but by working the two Andy Serkis – Two Towers (2002)
- 7. techniques together allowed them not to just create a CGI creature but a characterthat looked and acted as real as the actors on set. Also by allowing Andy to change how Gollum delivered the script and how he acted around others giving more depth to the character and engagingtheaudience to care forthe creature that they should hate. [11] This technique has been used as the backboneof CGI character ever since and helped move digital technology forwardin how to create a real life character that willappear real on the screen. Since then digital technology has allowed CGI to become a common thing in films and now the audience accepts them, and allows the director to create large action scenes that would have been toocostly to film and produce possible. However sometimes CGI toomuch can limit how the film comes together and doesn’t help the actors react to something that the audience will see as they have no idea what they are acting too. In The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) directed by Sir Peter Jackson, during filming forthe Trolls Hoard scene, the actions found it difficultto act to what they had to imagine was a troll which was ever a football on a stick to give the correcteye line or stunt performer in full projected clothing with a large weight bag. Aidan Turner descried it as ‘having to perform to a person whois played by a tennis ball and then that person doesn’t react or give any type of response it can be difficultto give a good performance.’ [17] George Miller’s Mad Max Fury Road (2015) uses different techniques in followingthe action on scene. During the chase scene the camera is positioned so the audience’s eye followsthe action. When one of the bikers travels fromright to left of the scene the next move in the action sequences willbe from leftto right allowing the audience to follow the action, but if this doesn’t happen the audience can miss some of the action on scene and quickly get confused. During the scene, whichis classed as a chase scene uses a range of differentshots from high and low angled shots but also by tilting the camera and by moving it in a pun fashion helps the audience see the action. By using these angles, it helps the audience to see more of the action that is playing out on screen. [12] In the film Bonnie and Clyde (1967) directed by Arthur Penn, the editor uses a range of combinedshots for the endsequence,by using a long take but with very quick cuts to show the violent end forthe two characters give the audience the shockfactor they were looking for howeverwith this the audience can’t lookaway from the action. Before their deaths, the camera is cut to different locations such as to the car, the truck, and the trees and then to the twomain characters as they try to work out whatis about to happen. These cuts become quicker to add tension to the scene and make the audience believe that something is going to happen. Also by adding the of the who character’s looking at each other right before the first shot is fired, gives the audience the idea of the twolover saying their final goodbye before the gun fire starts killing both of them where they stood. By creating this dramatic climax in the end of the film shocks audience members but also created a new style of showing the violence and action. [6] Digital AgeandDevelopment In the beginning of film development the film was recorded on film, which meant that an editor had to edit by splicing the tapes and gluing the shots together. This was called splicing. This was a technique that was commonly knownas a ‘women’s job’ because of the technique being similar to sewing as the pieces of film have been stick together.
- 8. As the industry changed to use videotapes as a method of viewing films at home, still using the film howeverthis allowed films to be coped and brought for home use. Howeverthis still was a costly business as film was a costly material to buy. However this was the beginning of a new stage of the film industry as it allowed people to view their favouritefilms at home. Howeverfrom tape the film development changed to a more modern method which is digital.This allowedprogrammes like Final Cut to allow the film to be shot in a non- linear fashion and the final film is created from shots that were taking in different times. This style of editing allowed filming to be planned more easily as with some actors who could be working on a number of films at once can complete all the scenes they are needed for in the time they have. In an editing fashion, by using digital it allowed the editor more freedom to change the meaning or storyline of the film in the editing room. Walter Murch won the Best Editing Film for his edit of ‘The English Patient.’ It was also the first filmthat was edited completely with Avid. [6] By using digital, it allows the editor to start to edit before the completion of the film, using pre-visualisation mainly helps with this. Editor Alan Heim said during editing to be allowed to ‘cut the script allowed him to make a better ending.’ When cutting Lenny that he thought the ending didn’t workfor the film and they had scenes that didn’t allow the build up towhich the film was creating to workby using a long scene with dialog, instead cutting it to when they find Lenny’s body workedbetter to the story line. [6] The way that the film editing has moved so quickly over the last few years makes people believe that it will not stop changing. Michael Tronick,the editor of Remember the Titans compared editing to magic and that editing was like a ‘discovery of something new that was not meant to happen that brings something new to a film.’ [6] This helps to give the idea that editing willcontinue to change and like in more modern films, the cuts will become faster howeverthis is not a bad thing forsome parts of the filmas it allows the audience to see more action and creates more tension to the film. However this is met by some problems, some editors believe that these fast cuts are sometimes too much and can destroy the scene. When the MTVstyle of editing started in the 80s editors and directors where pushed into followingthis style by producers and they were found to be right that it was the thing that the audience wanted. Steven Spielberg the director of Schindler’s list has said that ‘this style of cutting can be effectinside a movie to shake the audience up and rattle their souls but for throughout the wholemovie can be a little painful.’[6] But forsome editors this style of editing is something that they enjoy using and understand it however it is up to how the editor and director feel about it that counts in the movie. PurposeofEditing The reasons for editing is to create a story that will interest and engage the audience. The way that editing is done for a film is very important to allow the storyline to flow natural and easy forthe viewerto watch. RuleofSix Walter Murch book ‘In a Blink of an Eye’he talks about what is the six main reason in why a cut needs to be made. 1. Emotion 2. Story
- 9. 3. Rhythm 4. Eye-trace 5. Two-dimensional plane of screen 6. Three-dimensional space of action The six main reasons for a cut start with emotion and it is the hardest thing tofind. The editors’ role for this is to make the audience feel something. ‘How do youwant the audience to feel?’ is the question that Murch asks himself when he is editing the film. Howeverif a cut doesn’t meet all the six than editors say that they can sacrifice some of the rules from the bottom up. [1] ProvidingandwithholdingInformation When watching a film, the audience is getting small amounts of information about the story line. This is because of the editor, has chosen what information they are giving to the audience. This is to keep the audience involvedwith the film and doesn’t lose interest. Like in ‘Criminal Minds pilot episode Extreme Aggressor (2005) directed by Thomas Gibson’ the audience is giving little bits of information about who the killer might be. In one scene this is given by using a camera tilt to a set of keys that the killer is carrying with a key ring. Now this is the last piece of evidence that is given whichties in the all of the other information that has been given. [2] Other Techniques Motivated A Motivated technique is scene cut that cuts to another scene or object that was not in the scene. This can be used in a flashbackto create an emotion connection with the audience. Like in the film Ladder 49 (2004) directed by Jay Russell and edited by Bud S. Smith was based on taking the audience through a fire-fighters life. Thought-out the film the story is told about a fire fighter named JackMorrison, in the beginning of the film the vieweris met by a horrible fire at a factory and how Jackhelped save one of the workers right whichmakes the audience feel proud and happy that the man was saved. But soon after an explosion sends Jackfalling through a number of floorsadding tension and shock to the viewers. By then using flashbacks to shows how Jackhas ended up there, makes the audience hope and pray for Jack’srescue. Howeverby showing his life through the firehouse makes the audience feel for the character, and how much the young man has gone through in his time but also makes the audience see the true dangers of the job. By using flashbacks it also takes the audience through a journey of pain, sorrow, tension but also happiness, joy and excitement. Smith, edited together a range of different angles of shot to the film such as a range of different close ups and canted angles to show the character’s emotions at that moment in time and how they reacted to the scene. Like when Dennis Gauquin
- 10. another fire fighter hears a crackfrom underneath him, with a quick zoom to a extreme close up shows the fear in Dennis’ eyes as he shouts forhelp as the roof cavesin taking him into the fire. This type of scene makes the audience feel horrified at what they have just seen and in pain at watching someone they had gotten to know on screen die, this is followedby the other fire fighters reactions and allows the audience to moan the death of a fire fighter along withthe characters. Also the film uses establishing shots to show the different locations in the film but also to give the audience a sense of knowing where the characters are at and how they are feeling in that shot, like forthe opening scenes, it is shown froma high angle of the factory alight and the editor gives the audience the information of that this fire is very important in the film in how the different angles are used to show how dangers but along withthe music builds the tension of the film. Parallel Editing/ Crosscutting Parallel Editing or crosscutting is when two different scenes appear to be happening at the same time but in different locations. This will be shown to the audience by cutting between the twoscenes whichshows the audience that there is a link between the to different areas and it also makes the audience think about how the scenes are connected and how they will join together. This howevercan be difficultin a main storyline as it could angle off making the story more complicated forthe audience. Howeverdoing this correctly and in the correctfashion can make a film hold more meaning and if it is based on a bookcan show parts of the story that couldn’t be fittedinto the film and gives the audience the chance to connectthe dots of the film to workout what the film is about but also the emotions of the characters. One good example is the Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (2002) directed by Sir Peter Jackson, when in one scene the audience is followingFrodo and Sam as they head towards Mount Doom and the other scene of Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli are chasing after the orcs whohave kidnapped Merry and Pippin. This allowsthe audience to see the twostory lines in only a couple of scenes and how the characters are moving away from each other. This also gives the audience a multiple points of view to add more emotion and meaning behind the scene and how worried all the characters are about different things. [11] Transitions Transition is referring to how differentcuts flow into another, in ‘Criminal Minds pilot episode Extreme Aggressor (2005) directed by Thomas Gibson’, during the case Gideon points to an image of the evidence of the last crime scene. This scene then is cut tothe agents being at that crime scene, this gives the audience the sense that they have travelled their but also by how the scene has been set gives an old feeling of how the killer didn’t care about where he got rid of the body as he didn’t care much forthem.
- 11. Pointof viewshot A point of view shot is when the camera becomes the eye of the character so the audience can see whatthe character can during a scene. In Ladder 49 (2004) directed by Jay Russell, this is used every time they are traveling to a scene as the audience is set to see what the driver can see through the windshield. This grips the audience to feel like they are also traveling with the fire fighters. [3] EditingRhythm When editing rhythm of a film the relationship between shots functions to controlthe film’s pace, this an be used to add emotion to a scene like by speeding up a scene can increase the tension. By the way the film is edited, it gives the audience an idea in how the film is going to like. Like in Fast Five (2001) directed by Justin Lin, the way that the film has been put together in a fast pace edit gives the audience the idea of the film being full of action and tension. With a mixture of long and medium shots of the characters is also allows the action to be followedby seeing ever inch of the action that unfolds on screen. Howeverto some editors, they believe that sometimes a fast pace film isn’t good unless it is done very careful as this can make the audience miss some of the action and the meaning as the film is moving too quickly forthe audience to watch. Martin Scorsese says that he is ‘afraid of how is effectsthe culture, the sense of taking something in and throwing it away’ instead of developing something. This fear isn’t with just Scorsese but with many editors whodon’t want the audience not to understand whatthey are watching. [6] Compared to How to Kill a Mockingbird(1962) directed by Robert Mulligan, whichis a slow paced edit witha collectionof long takes created by using different shots from different angles to show what is happening in the scene, like in the courtroom.The shots are very long and sometimes have very little dialog such as when evidence is given be Mayella about the attackand when Atticus starts to question her the camera holds on Mayells’s to show the audience the girl’s reaction and this at times places question in the audience’s mind with if he did attackher. However this is the editors way of making the audience think about what they are hearing in the case and in how in the end it didn’t matter the factthat the Tom Robinson whois on trail forraping a young white girl Mayella, with the evidence gives was that he hadn’t done the crime but still is convicted and is later killed, all because Tom was black. The pace of the film allows the audience to think about why this man was targeted because of the colourof his skin and makes the audience aware of how people were targeted because of their skin colour. This is proven
- 12. by the establishing shots of inside the courtroomby showing how many people where inside. The audience quickly noticed that nearly all the people inside it where white. The pace of the film has been set also to allow the audience to the see the emotion in each character, as a new piece of evidence was given or something was said. [16] Compared to Fast Five(2001) directed by Justin Lin this film has been edited in a slower pace and allowing long scenes with no dialog whichin turns adds more tension and makes the audience get more involvedwith the narrative. This makes them think about how in the past the colourof someone’s skin meant the diffidencebetween being believed or not. On the other hand in Fast Five the edit has been developed to add more action to the film and to create more tension in the action scenes in a similar way to How to kill a Mockingbird, both films use closeups, establishing and long shots to add tension but also draws in the audience to the narrative and makes the viewercare about the people involved. Summary– Artistsorstorytellers? Overall editors are the backbone of movieproduction and are the rightful storyteller. They workclosely with the directors to work on creating the best possible film for the audience to see and enjoy. With the evidence of how editors weren’t seen important at all in the beginning to being as important as the director they have come a long way to show how they have changed the film industry to the form it is in today. In my opinion, they are both the storytellers of the film world but also artists in making the audience feel or think a certain way when watching the film. This skill of making the audience feel or think what the editor wants as one of the rules of six that Walter Murch talks about in his book ‘In the Blink of an Eye’ as it makes the audience feel the emotion the editor wants. This skill may sound easy but it can be very difficultand is a skill that the editors pride themselves in. In the act of editing, editors like their workto show the style of their own editing. They are the backbonebehind the film industry but ask for nothing in return. They just enjoy making a story for thousands for viewersto see and connectwith the characters they are watching.