Task 4 Lauren Rosenfeld

Editing principles and purpose Editing is the process of manipulating and

rearranging raw video material in order to produce new work. Editing is a post production task. It can also include the rearranging, adding or removing of sections of video clips/audio clips. Colour correction, filters and other enhancements can be added and transitions can be created in-between clips. By editing, unwanted footage can be removed, a purpose can be created such as telling a story and effects can be added. There are four principles of editing. These are story telling, combination of shots, creating pace and the 180° rule.

Editing principles and purpose Editing puts together scenes in order to tell a

story. Storytelling is ensuring that the director and the editor put scenes together so that they are in a logical order. When telling a story there is a narrative, which is the arrangements of events. When storytelling, the director and editor need to make sure that the message is put across clearly. A linear story line is a story line going in chronological order, whereas a nonlinear storyline goes in non chronological order. An example of a linear story line is the show The Walking Dead (2016), as it has no flashbacks, it is present time whereas an example of a non linear story line would be the show How I Met Your Mother (2005), as it constantly goes forward and back in time.

The Walking Dead: Season Six

How I Met Your Mother

Editing principles and purpose A movie or show can also be open or closed

ended. Opened means that something is left unfinished such as on a cliff-hanger. An example of this is the movie Black Swan (2010), as the audience are left with further questions as to what has happened. However closed ended means that something is left finished leaving the audience with no more questions e.g. The Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 2 (2015), as everything is left resolved for the audience with nothing left to happen.

Black Swan

Mockingjay Part 2

Editing principles and purpose A movie or show can also be multi strand or

single strand. A multistrand movie or TV show has several storylines occurring in a single episode or film. An example of this is Game of Thrones (2011), as the TV show follows around five or six characters story's in a single episode. A single strand movie or TV show follows only one storyline in a single episode or TV show. An example of this is the TV show The Flash (2014), as the story only follows the storyline of/revolves around one character – Barry Allen.

Editing principles and purpose Combination of shots is using several different

shots types and angles together. These help to create setting, feelings and relationships for the audience. Shots should be edited together in a sensible way, in order to not disorientate/confuse the audience. An example of a good combination of shots is from Game of Thrones battle of the bastards. In this scene, several shots are used, which flow together in a way which does not disrupt the viewers watching. For instance, a wide range of shots are used in this one scene, such as extreme long shots, mid shots and close ups.

Game Of Thrones Season Six

Editing principles and purpose Editing is also used to create pace within TV

or film. The editing used should match with the sounds or music within the show or film. For instance, different genres have different styles used in editing. For example, in an action movie or TV show there would be fast cuts and quick paced music. An example of this is shown in the TV show Arrow (2012). During the fight scene, several quick cuts are used and music with a quick beat is used. This makes the scene more intense and builds up suspense.

Arrow Season Three

Editing principles and purpose The 180° rule states that two characters in a

scene must remain on the side of the screen that they have been established on throughout editing. This is done in the movie The Dark Night (2008), in the interrogation scene where the joker is questioned by Batman. In this case, it has been done on purpose to show the tables have turned and now Batman's the one being pressured and interrogated. Breaking of the 180 degree rule in this case changes the audiences perception of who has power in the scene.

The Dark Knight

Techniques Several techniques are used within editing.

Cutting to continuity ensures that a film or TV show makes logical sense by keeping the mise en scene constant and maintains a clear narrative. Continuity editing makes sure that shot sequences flow into each other and is easy for the viewer to watch. An example of bad continuity is shown in the movie Twilight (2008), where the tubed change position when going from an extreme close up to a wider shot. Match on action is a technique where action happens in one shot and is continued/completed in the next shot. An example of a match on action shot is shown in the show Friends (1994). Here, the kiss between the two characters starts in one shot and ends in the next shot which is more close up.

Techniques Parallel editing is cutting between two or more

storylines that are taking place at the same time, but at different places. An example of this is shown in the movie Silence of the Lambs (1991). Here, parallel editing joins together the FBI and the criminal. Parallel editing is used to create juxtaposition, which is a contrast between the two scenes. A cutaway is another technique used in editing. A cutaway shot is cutting from the main subject to other things happening around. This is used to give perspective/context to the audience and so it is not boring for the viewer. A cutaway is used here in the movie Suicide Squad (2016). Here, two people are having a conversation about a character and the camera cuts to other characters in the room, to see their reaction to what has happened.

Silence of the Lambs

Techniques A jump cut is the reducing of a long take by

editing out sections. This is used to show the passing of time. Jump cuts are used in the movie Breathless (1960). Here, the camera remains at the same angle, but at every cut, the character does something different/we see a change outside of the car such as the character looking in a mirror and then at the next cut looking around her. Shot reverse shot is used when two characters are conversing. Here, the camera goes from character A to character B and back to character A. This is used to show the reactions of the characters. The example used here is from the movie the Hunger Games (2012). Both characters are conversing, and the film cuts to the reaction of the other character when one is talking.

The Hunger Games

Breathless

Techniques A match cut is action in one scene is

repeated in the next scene. This is to show a link between the two scenes. An example of a match cut is shown in the TV show Breaking Bad (2008). Here, a drain is leaking and in the next shot a teabag is dripping. This makes a connection between the scenes. A graphic match cut is an object or shape that transforms into something similar in the next shot. This is used in the movie Psycho (1960) where blood washes away down the drain with the water and the centre of the drain becomes the eye. Again, a connection is made between the scenes.

Breaking Bad

Psycho

Transitions A fade out/fade in is a transition from one shot to

another, which shows a new scene beginning. An example of a fade is shown here in the opening credits of the TV show Six Feet Under. (2001). The scenes fade into each other, creating a smooth transition to link two scenes together and is usually used for a dream sequence. The example features many fades to black and a couple brief fades to white. A dissolve is shown here, this ends one scene, and begins another. The dissolve is an editing technique where one clip seems to dissolve, or fade into the next. As the first clip is fading out, getting lighter and lighter, the second clip starts fading in, becoming more and more prominent. The process happens subtly and quickly, so the viewer isn't even aware of the transition. The example shown here is from the movie Citizen Kane (1941).

Six Feet Under

Citizen Kane

Transitions A wipe is a type of transition where one

shot replaces another by travelling from one side of the frame to another. An example of a wipe being used in in the movie Star Wars (1977). It is commonly used here to give a comic book effect. Superimposition is when one image is placed on another, and is often used for dissolve shots. By superimposing, a layered transition is created. This is an example of superimposition from the movie Metropolis (1927). Frames are overlapped, in order to achieve a layered transition.

Star Wars

Transitions Slow motion/fast motion is slowing down or speeding up

time to emphasise movements. Slow motion is used in the Xmen films Days of future Past (2014) and Apocalypse (2016), to show the character of quicksilver and how fast he is moving. Fast motion is used in the movie The Mask (1994), where the characters speed is sped up to show how fast he is. This is also used to create a comical effect. Ellipsis is the editing out of time, so the events are left to the viewers imagination. An ellipsis is used here in the TV show American Horror Story My Roanoke Nightmare (2016). The audience sees one scene happen and the characters are scared, and then see time has passed by the change in lighting and see the characters more calmed down. Giving the impression to the audience that a character has talked to and reassured the other characters.

Xmen Days of Future Past

The Mask

Development of editing The earliest films in cinema were done with no

editing and in one shot, filming until the camera man got bored or the camera film ran out. People believed that there was no future for cinema, so Edwin Porter began to cross-cut scenes, alternating scenes between each other. The reason this was done was because it was much more exciting for viewers, who thought filming one thing continuously is exactly the same as going outside onto the street to watch something happen.Therefore, only by editing shots together could longer narratives be achieved. By cutting shots together and using several angles, different perspectives could be created and a storyline would be accomplished.

Development One of the first movies created was Life of

an American Fireman (1903), directed by Edwin S. Porter. That had a narrative which involved a fireman rescuing a woman from a burning building from two perspectives – the fireman and the woman. Here, parallel editing was used and showed that cutting could carry out its own rules of time and space on a narrative. The audience are shown two views, one of the woman in her house and a fire starts, and then we begin to see the fireman come to save her.

The Life of an American Fireman

Development Porter's The Great Train Robbery (1903) follows a group

of outlaws robbing a train and cutaways showing the rescue of a telegraph operator that the outlaws earlier had tied up. Again, this is an early example of parallel editing, showing two lines of narrative action happening at the same time. Editing continued in 1915 when David Llewelyn made Birth of a Nation (1915). This began to move onto more editing techniques, such as using a close-up in the same shot, including a flashback and parallel editing. The close-up were used to see the facial expressions of an actor, what they’re feeling and how the audience should react to that. Flashbacks were memories of a character, which changed to a different scene, so the audience saw and heard what the character saw and heard, and parallel editing.

The Great Train Robbery

Birth of a Nation

Development Sergei Eisenstein produced battleship

Potemkin (1925), in which he wanted to create the emotional response of sympathy from the audience. He also wanted the audience to feel different by experimenting with different editing techniques such as Montage. This is an editing technique in which shots are put together in a fast-paced manner that compresses time and transfers a lot of information in a short amount of time.

Battleship Potemkin

Analogue editing Analogue editing was used before editing on a

computer, which was all done by hand, nothing was done by using software. People had a copy of the film where all the footage went onto when it was filmed. They then took the film and cut it in different parts using a splicer and pasted it onto different pieces of film to create the cutaways. This was seen as a woman's job. Editing also went on to add colour to film, this was the process of film colorization. To do this, each shot was individually coloured by hand. With analogue editing it then had to be passed through a machine, such as the moviola.

Digital editing Soon, a new method of editing was invented

known as Non-Linear editing, allowing you to access any frame in a digital video clip . This involved editing on a computer using digital film. This gave editors more flexibility and the editing process became a lot faster as the footage didn’t have to be manually cut together. Editing software has evolved in the film and media industry. The first digital non-linear editor was the CMX 600 (1971). Since then, editing has been reduced into a computer program and can be used by anyone. Some of the most popular editing software used today includes: Sony Vegas Pro, Adobe Premier and Final Cut Pro.

Smartphone software Nowadays, using professional equipment to film is not

essential. The smartphone has the ability to film and edit raw footage to create a product. However, there are some limitations to this. For instance, it may not be of the same video quality as a professional camera and the internal mic might not be very powerful. Editing video on a small device is not ideal, as some apps have limited capabilities, like one audio track and the small screen makes editing and trimming clips harder. However, there are also some advantages such as it can record videos and the quality is good and it is compact and easy to use. There is also the ability to download video editing apps to adjust the footage and edit on the go. The file can also be small enough to upload easily.