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.

Cutting to soundtrack

Cutting to soundtrack is when the editing keeps up with the pace of the music. For example in music videos they would be fast editing for fast tempo songs.

An example of this is in Hadouken - M.A.D. the song is very fast paced at certain points, and during the fighting scenen the edid cuts to the beat.

Cutaways

Cutaways are used to cut from one shot to another. If there is a shot of a person standing, and we want to see where he was standing or who he was with, a cutaway would be used to show this.

For example in this shot we see the main character placing a knife in the dirt. A cutaway is used to show where he is and to widen the shot.

180 Rule

The 180 rule is a rule used by filmmakers, that says that for example if there is a conversation between two characters, the camera should not cross a line the goes between them as this can confuse the audience.

For example in the beginning of this scene we see Neo and the agent standing across from each other. The camera only stays on one side of the imaginary line.

Point of View Shot

A point of view shot is used to show the audience exactly what the subject is seeing. If a person spotted something on screen, a POV shot would be used to show the audience what the character has seen.

In this example, we see the character glance out the window, and a POV shot is used to show the he is looking at the woman dancing in the window opposite.

Shot Reverse Shot

A shot reverse shot is used mostly when two characters are in direct conversation and two or more shots are editing together to almost show the audience what they're looking at/talking to. Over the shoulder shots are commonly used in shot reverse shot because the audience can see both characters in the shot.

In this example from Jerry Maguire, the two characters are having a conversation and the shot reverse shot technique is used to show both characters talking.

Establishing Shot

An establishing shot is used to introduce a location or a setting. Establishing shot are very wide set shots that allows the audience to view the whole setting. Establishing shots usually shows important locations, the characters or objects.

This clip from The Lord of the Rings shows a good example of establishing shot. This sequence is used to show the audience the small village where the main characters lived and where the story starts.

Montages

A montage is an editing technique developed by Soviet Film-makers in the 1920's such as Pudovkin, Vertov and Eisenstein to play out a longer sequence of time into a shot clip. By using a montage a lot of time in a film can be saved by compressing a large amount of time into a much shorter clip. A big of example of a montage is in Rocky III.



In this clip, the film-maker decided to compress a long training process into a shot clip. This is used to show the audience the training very quickly and effectively. The clip contains inspirational music to emphasise the training Rocky had to go through.