Editing Concepts

Establishing shot

Establishing shot/re-establishing shot is an opening shot of a new scene that establishes the environment, setting of a show or scene. The establishing shot usually has a wide field of view and serves to orient the audience to the surroundings of the situation they are about to see.

Establishing shot in Pursuit of Happyness

The 180° rule

The 180° rule is a rule stating that a camera should remain the same side of the invisible line of a shot containing two people filmed in a scene. If The camera is placed on one side of the line first and then changes to the other side, the rule is broken which will result in confusing the audience and it wouldn't look right.

In this scene of Eastenders, this is an example of the 180° rule. The camera angle remains on the same side of the performers.

Shot-reverse shot

This shot is used in conversations or a person looking at another person or an object. A shot showing one character looking at another character with the camera angle over the shoulder and then is followed by the other character looking back.

In the film pursuit of happyness, this scene shows theses characters having a conversation with each other. The camera angle changes from one characters perspective to the others to show the audience that they are looking at each other and show their reactions during a conversation.

Eye-line match

Eye-line match is an technique which shows the a character looking at something or someone and then the next shot is of what they are seeing.

In the film Men in Black, in this scene the first shot shows the character looking at the alien then the next shot is showing the audience what he was looking at. The second shot is close up shot which shows the audience clearly what he is looking at and focuses on it.

Match on action

Match on action is an editing technique for continuity editing, in the first shot we see the performer begins to move then the shot cuts portraying the action of the subject in the first shot.

In the film Stomp The Yard, this is scene is an example of match on action. In the first shot we see this character from behind walking towards the other character and then the camera moves from behind to in front of the character walking towards the other character shouting to him.

MontageA montage is an editing technique of different shots which are juxtaposed in a

fast-pace fashion that compresses time, by combining different scenes together it emphasis their meaning.

Disney Pixar’s Up - Married Life

This short 5 minute clip is a montage, a range of shots edited together which shows their married life from the beginning to the end. The montage edit compresses the years of their married life, each shot relates to what happened within their life. As the has no dialogue the sequence of shots helps the audience understand the story.