The Development of Editing

Editing is a technique that has been used for over 100 years, and it is still used to a greater extent today. In the early 1900's editing was all done by in camera editing. This was done by simply turning off the camera then turning it on again in another scene.

One of the earliest films using this simple editing technique was Edwin S. Porters, Life of a Fireman. This is where continuity editing was used as the story is shown from a woman in danger from a fire and also the fireman. This is was 'overlapping action'.


Edwin S. Porter continued to use different editing technique in his second film The Great Train Robbery. This film shows two scenes going on at the same time, and is considered the early form of parallel editing. The story shows two simultaneous scenes from following some outlaws robbing a train and also the rescuer who stops the train robbers.


D.W. Griffith's was the next film-maker to change the way films were edited. After his controversial film 'Birth of a Nation he made Intolerance, which was a film shot four different stories. Using techniques from his previous film Griffith introduced close-ups, moving shots and the continual of parallel editing. The film was considered one of the greatest silent films.


From then editing evolved quite a lot. Film was editing by used a long length of film and cutting and pasting parts together and then threading it into a machine. This took a lot of time so many film-makers avoided it if they could. After some time this type of editing was not used any more, and two video tapes were used. Using one to view the raw footage, then choosing the parts you wanted and putting them into the second tape. This saved a lot of time, the downside was if you made a mistake, the footage would be overwritten.

Once computers were invented, editing changed drastically. Non linear editing saved editors a lot more time as any piece of footage could be cut together without the risk of damaging or loosing the film. Capturing the video and audio onto a hard disk and then stored saves time and reduces a lot of risks. Transportation of the film is easier as they can be saved onto hard disks and moves to other computers. To this day we still edit using computers, but the editing software is a lot more advanced.

Motivated Edits

A motivated edit is a cut made by an action or a sound. These cuts can create tension or action as it averts the audience eyes from the character. This type of edit is popular in horrors and thrillers as it can be used to create tension and fear.

For example in A Nightmare on Elm Street, the character Tina is walking out onto the street, then the focus switches to a rolling dustbin lid. This averts the eyes of the viewers and also leads to the death of Tina because she looks towards the lid and Freddie is behind her.

Editing Rhythm

Editing Rhythm is used so that the cuts in editing keep up with the pace of the film. With major action fights the film-maker will want to use fast edits and cuts to keep up with the pace of the fight. Otherwise if the film is cut slowly it will seem less boring because your seeing longer sequences with fast cuts.

An example is in the rocky fights. When an action is made, such as a punch, a fast cut is made to keep up with the pace of the fight.

Parallel Editing/Cross Cutting

Parallel Editing or Cross Cutting is where two scenes are happening at the same time but in different places and the cut between them. This is effective as it shows multiple points of view and can show two completely different scenarios overlapping each other.

From the previous clip in dog soldiers, they also use cross cutting as they are showing the two recruits fighting the werewolves upstairs, then downstairs is another one by himself.

Providing and Withholding Information

Providing and Withholding information is used by film-makers to decide when certain information is released to the audience. Many film-makers allow the audience to find out information before the main character, but others find out as the character find out.



An example of Withholding information is in the film Dog Soldiers. The leftover recruits discover that the werewolves are a family of people and in fact the woman that has been helping them is secretly a werewolf.

Continuity Editing

Continuity Editing is vital in filming and editing. Making sure shots can continue on from each other without any mistakes is important. Shots that don't match can confuse the audience and also ruin the film. These accidental mistakes are often not noticed as they are minimal.

Older films like Dr. No and Star Wars have a few mistakes but these are minor and the majority of the audience do not notice them. Small things like ashtrays being in a different places than in the previous shots don't have major affects on the film.

Transitions

A transition is used to describe the continuation from one shot the the next one. Although many films simply cut to the next scene others use a effect to continue. Effects such as dissolving, fading or wiping are used in many films.

One example that uses many transitions are the early Star Wars Films. On many occasions an effect is used to change shots especially when its in a different location. For example for the first part of Star Wars Episode 4, we see the space ship flying away from the planet, then a diagonal wipe is used to cut to the planet where we see the robots.