Development and Principles of Editing

Editing in films is something that is important to modern films and is now a staple of them however back in the early days of film making editing was not done as films were all done in one shot.

Development

In camera editing

This is where instead of editing the shots into a sequence, the director or the cinematographer would shoot the shot within a strict order so that when the filming was finished, the edit was already complete.

The advantages of using in camera editing is that, it does not require the use of editing software such as premier pro and this can be quicker to put together due to it already being in the correct order and all that will be needed to be done is put all of the footage into a single file

The disadvantages of in camera editing is that, you will have more chances of mistakes being left in with because you wouldn't be able to correct any mistakes that might be in there such as problems with lighting or with sound, this will mean that you will have to put more focus on getting it right the first time.

An example of this of in camera editing is from vine and the reason that this is an example of in camera editing is because vine are typically filmed on phone and this meant that they had to film it in order so that they could upload it in its complete format.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JT6AvdqCoqA

Following the action

Following the action is where you follow all the movements made by the actors or the subject and the camera will follow what the focus actor/s or subject on the screen, this is able to give the audience more variation rather than watching the same type of camera angles and shot types being used again and again, leading a scene to be more interesting than if it wasn’t used.

Multiple points of view

This is when you have multiple characters and you are able to have a more natural chance to have a variety of shots and that they are able to have action take place from a different amount of perspectives. This is useful for the viewer as it is able to get more information about what is happening on screen.

Shot variation

This is a technique that uses multiple camera shots in scenes such as long shots, medium shots and close ups and many other type of shots. The use of a shot variety is able to help the viewer have an understanding of the location that the scene is taking place and the use of shot variation is also able to be, visually more intriguing and can also aid in the viewers understanding of what is happening on screen due to the different shots being used rather than a typical one or two shots being used.

Manipulation of diegetic time and space/montage

Montage is when you are using a series of shot clips to show a progression of the narrative with in a relative short space of time.

There are five type of montages that get used in films. The first is called metric montage, this is where the editing will follow a specific number of frames and will cut to the next shot regardless of what is happening on screen within the clip and this gets used because it is able to bring out the emotional reactions of the viewer. The second type is called Rhythmic montage is where the cut between the clips will have a seamless edit and is able to keep the flow of the film smooth. The third is tonal and this is where you use the emotional effect of the shot in order to draw out a reaction from the audience that would be more complex when compared to the metric or rhythmic montages. The fourth is called overtonal and this is a combination of the previous montages so it can have a more drastic effect. The fifth type is called intellectual and this is where you are combing from outside of the film with footage from the film in order to create meaning for the audience.

An example of this, is from the amazing Spiderman and within this scene it shows Peter Parker’s progression into his superhero persona, showing him making his web shooters and make him own suit, starting to stop criminals and this all takes place with the space of a few minutes and it ends with him in his completed suit finally become his superhero persona.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YlxDLIQWdI

Film/ video

In 1895 August and Louis Lumiere created something called a Cinematographe that was a camera, projector and a printer, this was the brother way of advancing film via the projector, the invention made it a lot easier to have public viewings of films as it only need to be hand cranked however this mean that it only be played for a certain amount of time. This invention was influential as it was the reason that modern cinema has become the social event that it has become today.

Analogue/ splicing

When film was edited in the early days, the film was cut using a splicer and this physically cut the footage and after this was done it need to be taped back together by hand, the is a down side to this method and this was that you had to make sure that you got all of the editing done right on the first try as it isn’t like it is now and you had no chance to go back to change anything that you didn’t like one you cut it using the splicer.

However, the advantage of this is that it can be a lot easier to keep safe as you wouldn’t need to worry about it being on the computer and the potential of the computer erasing all of the edited footage.

Digital

Eventually it got to the point when digital editing on computer started to overtake the use of the analogue/splicing method and the main reason that this started to overtake was due to it being a lot fast when previewing the footage and then taking away footage from the filmed clip. This meant that you are able to see how it will look and unlike before you are able to go back and change anything that is sticking out after the first edit.
There was also the fact that you are able to use things like green screen as you are able to use the editing software in order to cut out the green, so that you can but in a more interesting background that can be more visually interesting for the audience, it also allowed the use of other editing techniques such as fade meaning that the films could be more visually interesting for the audience.

Another advantage is that you are able to send the work that you have done for edit via email, this meant that you were able to get your work out to people across the world and that you are able to get it to people without having to physically going there and giving them the physical film reel.

However, even though that you were able to use different special effects in a film the over use of them has the possibility to spoil the film as it might just become a distraction for the audience and make them disinterested with the film.

Purposes

Storytelling

This is all about make sure that you are engaging the viewer with pace of the editing, having a good amount of shot variation and also a good use of sound effects. The main reason that this is done is so the viewer is able to follow the narrative of the film and not get confused by it.

Creating pace

Pace is a type of edit that is designed to speed up or slow down scenes and the pace is important because it can help to direct the audience’s perception of a scene, sometimes the pace of scene can sometimes be based on the genre that the film is in, for example in an action film if there is a lot that is taking place in the scene then it will case the pace of it will need to be fast and to do this it will need to have a lot of cuts to the other clips in the scene, so It can appear in a fast pace

Conventions and techniques

Continuity/ seamless editing

This is a type of editing that is done in the post production stage and the point of it is to keep a constant and a smooth flow between the different shots this is done by syncing the footage together and one of the reasons that this is done so that it can help the viewer to focus on what is happening with in a scene. There is major disadvantage with this that being that it isn’t and that is if the footage isn’t sync properly then it is likely to be a distraction for the audience

Motivated

This is where the clips are edited or cut in order to cut to something that be able to add to the narrative or could move it along. The reason that it is used is because it is able to cut away from clips that are clips that aren’t showing anything that is adding anything and if this doesn’t get done then there is a chance that it could lead to the film being too long and can be boring in some people.

Jump cut

A jump cut is where you have an abrupt transition from one cut to the other and this does break the rules of seamless editing as the cuts mean that it is can’t be seamless.

Jump cuts don’t get used a lot in film as films do try to convey a sense of realism and that’s why they will not get used. However, should they get used then it mainly is because it is can remind the audience that it is just a film.

Parallel editing/ cross cutting

The technique of alternating two or more scenes that often happen simultaneously but in different locations. If the scenes are simultaneous, they occasionally culminate in a single place, where the relevant parties confront each other. The reason that this gets used is to show that there is a possibility of the events within the two scenes are likely to meet.

180-degree rule

The 180-degree rule is a cinematography guideline that states that two characters in a scene should maintain the same left/right relation to one another. When the camera passes over the invisible axis that is connecting the two subjects, it is called crossing the line and the shot becomes what is called a reverse angle and can make it seem like the characters in the seen have swapped position and can be a little disorienting for the viewer.

Transitions

A transition is a video effect that you can use either before or after a clip as a way to change in to a new scene. There is different type of transitions that are used for different reasons, the first type is a dissolve this is where the clip will gradually fade out in to another clip and this is mainly used to show the passage of time, the next type is fade in/out - a fade is where there is fade to a coloured screen and this is typically a black screen and a fade out is used typically in the ending of films and a fade in is used in the opposite way to a fade out, lastly there is a wipe and this is where the clips is ‘swiped’ along to the next clip and this is used to when you are changing scenes.

Cut away

A cut away is where you are using a shot that isn’t part of the main scene’s actions and it can be used as a cover up for a part of a scene that can be particularly boring or it can also be used for comic effect, as it could have something serious happening on screen and then it could cut to some thing to lighten the mood, this can be done like this only if it is appropriate.

Point of view

The point of view shot is where you will see from a character’s point of view and this can impact the audience by making them empathies or possibly sympathies (depending on the film) with the character whose point of view that we are seeing from and this can mean that we could be more attached to the character depending on what is happening in the scene.

Shot reverse shot

This type of shot gets used when you have two characters having a conversation he first shot is a character looking offscreen and then the second shot would be a shot taken from the reverse angle of the second character. The main reason that this can be used is because it can be more interesting than simply cutting to a reaction shot of the other character in the conversation.

Providing and withholding

Providing is where you give the audience enough information to understand that action that is unfolding with in a scene, this can be done when you leave curtain shots on longer than you normally would and this can help the audience think about what has taken place in the scene, however the main issue with this is that it can sometimes be too easy to give away too much information and then leave not suspense or interest for the audience.

When you withhold information is when you don’t give the audience enough information so the audience doesn’t know what is happening or the lack of information can also mislead the audience and doing this is able to create a sense of suspense as you are unsure of what is going to happen next or where it is going to go but if you are withholding too much information then there is a high chance that the plot of the film not be understood as easily or to the point where it doesn’t make any sense at all.