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Film and Video

Editing Techniques
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Learning Outcome 1

Understand the development and principles of editing

Development: in-camera editing; following the action;
multiple points of view; shot variation; manipulation of
diegetic time and space; film, video; analogue; digital
Purposes: storytelling, eg engaging the viewer,
development of drama, relationship to genre, creating
motivation; combining shots into sequences; creating pace
Conventions and techniques: seamless; continuity;
motivated; montage; jump-cutting; parallel editing; 180o
rule; splicing; transitions, eg cut, dissolve, fade, wipe;
cutaways; point of view shot; shot-reverse-shot; providing
and withholding information; editing rhythm; crosscutting;
cutting to soundtrack
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Assessment
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Session Outline

History of film editing

Continuity editing / Aspects of Editing

Model analysis

Group task

Assignment
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History of film editing

Advent of film a medium in the late 19th Century [Lumiere Bros.]

Early film production like that of Lumiere Bros./Thomas Edison

were short films with long, single take, static, locked shot.

The motion within the frame was sufficient to amuse the

audience moving cars, trains, etc

No story

No editing

Filmmakers were afraid to edit film shots together as they

assumed that splicing together different shots of different
things from different positions would simply confuse audiences
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Primitive Editing

Early experimentation with editing began in very late

1800s

Life of an American Fireman [1903] and The Great Train

Robbery [1903] were examples of early use of plot,
action, close ups and dissolves

George Melies also produced Journey to the Moon [1902]

and other films in the early 20 th Century that used
editing techniques we recognise today

Early on the cuts were made in the camera - the

cameraman would simply stop cranking at the exact end
of a shot, and begin cranking again for the next shot
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Great Train Robbery
[1902 Erwin S Porter]
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Montage

Sergei Eisenstein transformed the principles of classical

editing into something more conceptual, he called this
montage.

Which is, putting together shots to forward theme as well

as action

In Charlie Chaplin'sModern Times(1936), a shot of a

faceless, crowded group of men emerging from a subway
on their way to work is followed by a shot of a herd of
sheep being led to slaughter. There is one black ram in
the middle of the herd. We immediately cut back to
Charlie emerging in the midst of the crowd: the one black
sheep in the fold. [CLIP]
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Aspects of Editing

Very simply, a film editor joins shots together; the end

of shot A and the beginning of shot B

A B

Editing can be defined as the relationship between shot

A and shot B
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Types of Edit

Cuts: instant transition

Fade-outs: screen goes dark

Fade-ins: screen becomes lighter

Dissolves: end of shot A is briefly superimposed over

the beginning of shot B

Wipes: a moving boundary line crosses the screen.

Shot B pushes shot A off the screen [George Lucas
and Star Wars]
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Aspects of Editing

Editing allows a director to select and control a variety

of relationships on the screen. There are 4 sets of
relationships.

1. Editing and Graphic Relationships [PICTURE]

2. Editing and Rhythmic Relationships [RHYTHM]
3. Editing and Temporal Relationships [TIME]
4. Editing and Spatial Relationships [SPACE]
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Editing and Graphic
Relationships
[PICTURE]
Images may be intended to achieve graphic/pictorial
continuity [e.g. no colour clash, similarity of
movement from shot to shot, formal elements
consistent from shot to shot]

Images may be edited to achieve graphic/pictorial

contrast [e.g. bold colour clash, opposite movement
from shot to shot, formal elements clash]
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Dead Zone
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Editing and Rhythmic
Relationships [RHYTHM]
Editing can control the rhythmic succession of shots by
adjusting their screen duration. A film may use long
takes, or short takes, or a balance of both, thus
contributing to the tempo, or pace, of a scene.
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Kill Bill Vol. 1
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Bourne Ultimatum
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Editing and Temporal
Relationships [TIME]
Editing can suggest dimensions of time, either
extending time or contracting time

Editing can move time forwards [flash forwards] and

move time backwards [flash backs]
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2001: A Space Odyssey
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Were gonna need a
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Edgar Wright Shaun of the
Dead
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Editing and Spatial
Relationships [SPACE]
A dominant form of editing is called Continuity
Editing [also known as a Hollywood method which
became prevalent during the 1930s/40s].

This is concerned with ensuring the smooth flow of shot

to shot and establishing a firm sense of space and
spatial relations. We can look at this in three ways:
1. The 180 Degree Line
2. POV and Identification
3. Cross Cutting
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The 180 Degree Line

The space in a scene is constructed along a 180-

Degree Line. The action in the scene is assumed to
take place behind an imaginary straight line, and the
cameras [or cameras] positions will not cross that line
in editing

This allows for:

Establishing shots
Breakdown
Shot/reverse shot
Re-establishing shots
Continuity of space and action
Eyeline matches
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180 degree line/axis of action
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When Harry Met Sally
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LotR: Two Towers
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The Good the Bad and the Ugly
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The Good the Bad and the
Weird
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POV and Identification

Editing can invite us to see the point of view of a

character, through the shot-reverse shot sequence.
Shot 1 shows a character looking; shot 2 shows what
they are looking at.

If a filmmaker returns to the first shot [shot 1, now

becoming shot 3] s/he is inviting identification with
the character.

For example, see the Psycho clip.

Also, in Haloween, Michael Myers does not get shot 3,

whereas Laurie is featured in shot-reverse shot, shot 3
is prevalent.
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Psycho
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Cross Cutting

Cutting between action taking place in two or more

locations is called cross cutting.

Cross cutting can create powerful dramatic effects

Sometimes it may be referred to as parallel editing

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The Godfather
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Silence of the Lambs
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Kuleshov Effect

Lev Kuleshov, a Soviet filmmaker, was among the first

to dissect the effects ofjuxtaposition.

Through his experiments and research, Kuleshov

discovered that depending on how shots are assembled
the audience will attach a specific meaning or emotion
to it.
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Ellipsis

From thefilm glossary:the shortening of the plot

duration of a film achieved by deliberately omitting
intervals or sections of the narrative story or action

An ellipsis is marked by an editing

transition(afade,dissolve,wipe,jump cut, or
change of scene) to omit a period or gap of time from
the films narrative.

One of the most famous ellipsis in film history happens

on2001: A Space Odysseywhere Kubrick cut from a
bone to a space station.
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Hot Fuzz, Edgar Wright
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Contemporary Editing and
Intensified Continuity
Since the 1930s the continuity system has been widely accepted as the
standard approach in commericial filmmaking with some changes
through the years.

Todays editing practices abide by these principles, but amplify them in

certain ways.

1930-1960 [approx], most films typically consisted of 300-500 shots, but

in the years after cutting pace increased

Contemporary feature films might have over 2000 shots, with action
films containing 3000 or more shots. [Ave. shot length in The Bourne
Supremacy is 2 seconds]

Partly due to faster editing scenes are built out of a relatively close view
of characters rather than long shot framings

See: Mystic River, Hulk, LA Confidential, modern action cinema

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Assessment
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Example responses

P1: learners will provide an outline of the development and

the main principles of editing, in which all aspects are
accurate and relevant but detail will be limited. They may
deal with the two matters separately, or demonstrate their
understanding of the principles through their description of
the development of editing. They might refer to individual
films but will not select details from, or elements of, those
films to exemplify points made. A pass grade learner might
note, One of the main rules of continuity editing is the 180o
rule. This means that the camera must always stay on the
same side of the line along which an action takes place.
Evidence will show a basic understanding of technical
terminology but learners will generally be unsure about this
vocabulary and will make fairly frequent mistakes when they
do use it.
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Example responses

P1: learners will provide an outline of the development and

the main principles of editing, in which all aspects are
accurate and relevant but detail will be limited. They may
deal with the two matters separately, or demonstrate their
understanding of the principles through their description of
the development of editing. They might refer to individual
films but will YOU CAN DO
not select BETTER
details THAN
from, THIS! of, those
or elements
films to exemplify points made. A pass grade learner might
note, One of the main rules of continuity editing is the 180o
rule. This means that the camera must always stay on the
same side of the line along which an action takes place.
Evidence will show a basic understanding of technical
terminology but learners will generally be unsure about this
vocabulary and will make fairly frequent mistakes when they
do use it.
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Example response

M1: They will explain why particular techniques are used in specific
circumstances or to explain the strengths and weaknesses of given
techniques. Detailed illustrative exemplification drawn from details
or elements of the films studied will be given to support what is
said, but learners will not elucidate these examples to show how
they illustrate the point they support.

A merit grade learner might note, One of the main principles

of continuity editing is the 180 rule. This means that the
camera must always stay on the same side of the line along
which an action takes place because if it did not the viewer
would soon become confused about what was happening. A
good example of this is the scene in Platoon where Barnes
goes looking for Elias in the jungle in order to kill him.
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Example responses

D1: Typically, distinction grade learners will merge discussion of

development with discussion of the principles of editing, demonstrating
their understanding of the latter through the former.

A distinction grade learner might note, The 180 rule developed very
early, being used in the silent era. It was developed so that
viewers could follow an action without getting confused, and is
particularly useful when two related sequences of action are
happening simultaneously. For example, in Platoon, when
Barnes is pursuing Elias through the jungle in order to kill him,
Barnes always moves from left to right across the screen, and
therefore away from the rest of the platoon, while Elias always
moves from right to left, which is back towards his platoon and
hence to safety. Once this sense of direction has been clearly
established it is carefully maintained, so that as we cut from
one to the other, we can tell not only who is going where, but
are vividly aware of the fact they are about to meet each other.
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In a nutshell

Point

Example

Explanation

Link

The hallmark of Merit and Distinction work is the usage

of examples to support assertions and definitions

To then expand on why the example is good/bad/etc

and link to other examples is where a Distinction
begins to happen!
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Assessment

State a technique State a technique State a technique

Accurate outline Accurate outline Accurate outline
The 180 degree line is Good Good
No supporting example terminology/technical terminology/technical
No qualitative statement language language
The 180 degree line The 180 degree line is
is An example of this is
An example of this is Link to other similar
Some qualitative examples
assertion Make qualitative
contrast/comparison
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Questions to ask?

When any two shots are joined, you can ask several
questions:

1. How are the shots graphically continuous or discontinuous?

2. What rhythmic relations are created?

3. Are the shots spatially continuous? If not, what creates the

spatial discontinuity? [Cross-cutting? Ambiguous cues?] If
the shots are continuous, how does the 180-degree system
create the continuity?

4. Are the shots temporally continuous? If so, what creates the

continuity? [e.g. matches on action?] If not, what creates
the discontinuity?