Chris Burns Development of Film & Video Editing CDM Lvl 4

Development of Film/Video Editing Technology

Since the beginning of film and TV in the late 1800’s there have been undeniable changes in the way

motion pictures, film and television programmes have been shot and edited. You could say that the

earliest form of editing began at the same time as motion pictures with the invention of motion toys,

items that used illusion to cause the person to see motion from a set of still images. Such motion

toys were the thaumatrope or zoetrope (hitsorycooperative.org, 2015). This type of editing required

no state-of-the-art editing software or even a camera to complete, this type of editing was created

by the people using the thaumatrope whereby they seen what the illusion wanted them to see. This

worked on a principle known as “the principle of the persistence of vision” whereby the

thaumatrope switches images faster than the eye and brain can respond to the stimulation, i.e. the

image on the thaumatrope, making it seem like they are one image. If you do this with several

images it gives the impression of a moving image. (Orem, W. 2011)

Editing can be described as the process of manipulating and rearranging video shots to create a new

piece of work (mediacollege.com, no date). Editing can be done in either linear or non-linear form.

Linear form means starting with the first shot to edit from the edit tape onto the edited tape and

working through to the end, like working from A to B. Linear editing made it almost impossible to go

back and re-edit the mistake if one was made.

Advancement in film editing still required no editing software to create impressive pieces of film

history. All the editing done at this stage of the film career were done “in camera”. This meant that

no actual editing was involved to create the scenes the early viewers witnessed, instead the film was

shot in the order that it would be shown to the audience, also known as linear editing. The

continuation on linear editing also occurred during the next stage of editing technology, camera

movement. This again required no actual editing software and was done “in camera”, the only

difference is that this time the camera would film the scene with the camera in one position, pause

Chris Burns Development of Film & Video Editing CDM Lvl 4

or stop recording, move the camera to a different position and then begin recording again. This type

of editing allowed the film to conceive several angles similar to the editing practices of modern film

and TV editing. These advancements in editing allowed the creation of The Great Train Robbery of

1903, which not only included these elements but also was the first film to employ cross-cutting to

show two stories simultaneously. This film was created by Edwin S. Porter who was credited for

using the cross-cut in the film.

As time continued so did the advancement and evolution of editing technology. This next

breakthrough came in the form of “cut and stick”, which is exactly what the editors did. What this

means is after the scenes had been filmed, the camera roll, as it was not digitally recorded, was then

taken to be edited where the editors would scroll through the film reel and cut the reel at sections

where they wanted to edit using good old fashioned scissors and then stick the reel sections

together using glue so that when played back the film would have cut points from one scene to the

next. This was very tedious as it required the editor to constantly look at tiny film strips housing the

tiny frames and cut them in certain areas. The size of the frames would make the job difficult so a

magnifying glass would be used so as to take away some of the eye strain. Luckily for the editors a

new piece of technology was being created that would become the industry standard of the time for

editing film reels, the Moviola. However, this would not be born until 1924. Before then the Moviola

was more of a VCR of its time as its creator, Iwan Serrurier, wanted to invent a machine that would

allow people to watch films in their own homes. The Moviola was created to be a more modern take

of the phonograph, the Victrola, but due to it being too expensive Serrurier then began to adapt his

machine so that it would be able to be used in the cutting room to aid editors when cutting film reels

allowing them to be more precise with their cuts making the “cut and stick” editing much easier. The

film reel that was used for the editing on the Moviola was done on the positives of the film reel

rather than the actual footage so that the original wasn’t damaged should anything go wrong.

Chris Burns Development of Film & Video Editing CDM Lvl 4

Non-linear form of editing is more commonly used in digital editing of the modern era where the

editor can edit different sections of footage in a random order from a hard drive. Any mistakes that

were made were more easily rectified in the editing process and on-the-fly and when it is finished

the final video can be recorded back onto a disk or tape for viewing. Although mistakes could be

rectified more easily, digital editing caused a new problem as it allowed for several video standards

that could be incompatible with each other making editing more difficult (Pinder. V, 2016).

1971 gave birth to the first non-linear editing system, the CMX 600. This piece of hardware

unfortunately was the size of a washing machine but it could only store half an hour of video onto

the disk pack drives of the CMX 600. Another downside of the CMX 600 was that it was very costly to

use, but it did however, create an EDL (Edit Decision List). This EDL then needed to be transferred to

a separate machine, the CMX 200, which took the EDL created by the CMX 600 and composite the

final video from the disk pack drives. The 1980’s seen large companies, such as Lucas Film or Laser

Edit build systems of non-linear editing like the CMX 600 but used laserdisc or VCR’s, however these

machines were sluggish and created too much of a burden on the computers of their time.

Time and the development of technology kept advancing and in 1992 computers went from being

able to access only 50Gb’s of data to over 7Tb’s of data allowing for better and faster non-linear

editing causing the 35mm film editing to begin drawing to a close (Herman. J, 2012). Further

advancement of editing technology as well as computer systems allowed for the creation of editing

software on computers themselves, rather than as a separate machine, causing software such as

Final Cut Pro, Wondershare Video Editor and Movavi Video Editor to be born. These types of

software continued the era of non-linear editing and allowed editors to edit in whichever form the

chose. These types of software also allowed for multi-editing as well as editing of audio, not just

video. You could also add special effects to your video using built-in features to create a unique final

piece.

Chris Burns Development of Film & Video Editing CDM Lvl 4

As well as editing technology being improved, editing practices would have developed over time

along with the technology. These practices would not be a rule of how to edit but would be there

more as a guideline for people wanting to edit so that they could edit videos to a professional

standard and without too many complications. Some of the best practices for video editing would be

to repurpose existing content. There would be no point re-shooting the same scene again if you have

already shot It once as this would cost time and money and as films and TV shows have time and

budget constraints, repurposing content is an efficient way to keep these constraints down. An

editor can re-use certain content but provide it with a new twist for a new show or film. One

example of this would NCIS. Over the years the show has been filming they have used several

different scenarios as well as locations but those locations or scene that can be re-used, are re-used.

Such locations include the NCIS headquarters building or a house that the investigators visit This re-

purposing for newer episodes allows the programme creators to keep down their budget. Another

editing practice would be to keep work consistent. It might seem like a silly thing to say but if work Is

not kept consistent then the final product can throw the audience as they are the ones that try to

make sense of what they are watching. Video files that are not in the same format will provide a new

sense to the final video when being viewed as it could go from comedy to horror only because of the

way the software has rendered the final product with the inconsistent file format. Consistency can

also be an editor’s calling card as each editor has their own way of editing files and this can be

shown in the final edit. By not keeping consistent then people might not know who edited a certain

shot or frame and if people like a certain editor to edit their favourite shows, this could cause people

to stop watching (videomaker.com, 2014). Other practices include the 180o rule, continuity and

motivation. The 180o rule is where two people in a scene always have the same relationship in the

shot so when editing you cannot use shots that break the 180o line as this could confuse the

audience. Continuity plays a big part of editing. Shot sequences are arranged so that it flows and

maintains a clear continuous narrative. If this is done incorrectly or poorly then the narrative is lost

Chris Burns Development of Film & Video Editing CDM Lvl 4

and the audience will become confused. Excellent continuity would make it impossible to notice

allowing the smooth flow of the narrative. Motivation editing is the idea that behind every edit there

is a reason for that edit and it was not just put in the final video for no reason. If two shots edited

together make no sense and there was no reason for that specific edit, then like with other editing

mistakes the narrative will be lost and the audience confused (filmandvideoeditingbd. Blogspot.

Co.uk, no date). Good editing practice can make the process of editing a lot easier and smoother if

done correctly. Editing practices would have adopted other approaches with the modern

technology. Such practice would be to keep everything in order when using editing software such as

Final Cut Pro by arranging the files in named bins so that they are easily accessible and it keeps the

project folder looking neater. This practice would help a lot in other editing software’s as well.

Having a project folder neat and tidy like this would make it easier to find the desired clip you wish

to edit into the final video making the process run smoother and quicker.

With the ever growing film industry and the editing technology, practices and film genres different

editing techniques would have been developed for each genre, with there being genres that had

overlapping techniques. Genres such as action would have quick cut shots from clip to clip with

dramatic music, while romance films would have longer clips with subtle transitions and more

ambient music. Each genre would be accompanied by certain editing techniques that would give it

not only the look and feel of the genre in question but also help set the tone of the film for the

audience. One such genre would be Science Fiction/Fantasy genre with films like Star Wars. This

genre can trace its roots back to ancient mythology with Homer’s Odyssey, which was written in 9 th

century BC. Other forefathers of this genre would be Beowulf, the legend of King Arthur, William

Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Gulliver’s Travels and The Adventures of Baron

Munchausen. Although the fantasy genre was written about in Greek mythology fantasy did not

appear in films until 9287 with Georges Meilies’ The Bewitched Inn, which tells of a traveller who

gets a fright when a candle moves, a chair collapses and his clothes come to life. Other fantasy films

Chris Burns Development of Film & Video Editing CDM Lvl 4

did not come about until the 1930’s such as King Kong and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs by

Walt Disney. These films also depicted other genres within their screening, just like nowadays where

most films could be classed as more than one genre. More fantasy films arrived on scene in the

1940’s with The Thief of Bagdad, which gave birth to the adventure fantasy and included the genie

and flying carpets and other special effects that would later be used in other fantasy films. In 1974

the board game Dungeons and Dragons was created and became a major success. Due to its success

a swords and sorcery boom occurred in the 1980’s with films including Excalibur and Conan the

Barbarian being released. The noughties seen the release of such fantasy films as Peter Jackson’s The

Lord of the Rings trilogy (Sykes. P, 2004-2016). The fantasy/sci-fi genre included within it items and

objects and creatures from the realm of fantasy, hence the name fantasy genre, while the science

fiction genre included elements that could very well be possible with the evolution of science such as

planet to planet space travel or colonisation, teleporters and flying cars. Star Wars, as mentioned

above, falls into the Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre but also includes elements of the Action genre as well.

Action genre films use fast-paced editing, which signifies the adrenaline used by the character as

well as setting a sense of fear and danger to what is happening on screen or what is going to happen.

Action films use long shots to establish scenes that the action will take place in, referring back to Star

Wars, you can see several long shots of space just before the action occurs such as a ship coming

under fire or when the rebels are about the attack the Death Star.

Other such techniques that are included in video editing would include flash cuts/short cuts;

subliminal cuts; cross cutting; jump cuts and montages. Flash cuts are a form of editing whereby the

sequence of shots are cut so that they are very brief, usually less than two seconds in duration

(kscraps88, 2013) and combines compressed time that can quickly and intensively gets inside a

character’s head (joyoffilmediting.com, 2009-2016). Subliminal cuts are cuts that consist of only a

few frames but pass by on screen with speed that the audience is only subconsciously aware of

them. Cross cutting describes the alternating of shots of two or more lines of action occurring in

Chris Burns Development of Film & Video Editing CDM Lvl 4

different places but is usually simultaneously during the film (kscraps88, 2013). The interaction

between the characters, settings or subjects are direct so that they are aware of each other, this kind

of cut works well in battle scenes (joyoffilmediting.com, 2009-2016). The jump cut, unlike other

forms of editing, is used to break the continuous flow of time to show that time has elapsed more

directly than keeping a narrative flow. This breakage in time is very brief and is usually used to get to

the important parts, such as if someone is making a speech and you wanted to leave out the boring

parts so that the audience doesn’t get bored. The last form of editing to be used in films are the

montages. Montages, or known from the French term “to assemble” is a series of images or videos

cut together to show a theme, a contradiction or the passage of time (Bronzite. D, 2013). One such

example of a montage is in the film Rocky, where Rocky Balboa begins training for his big fight with

Apollo Creed, the director uses a montage to show the passage of time as his training progresses and

we can see Rocky getting better at boxing.

Other forms of editing of this genre would include the transitioning from one shot to another due to

the large gap in time that the film would cover. This transition is more favourable than the straight

cut as it allows time to pass quickly yet not throw off the audience to the story being told, they can

see that a time lapse has occurred but the transition had been smoother than it would have

between two shots as one shot can turn into the other and the object of the first shot transitions

into the second but time still has elapsed. Such editing can be seen in Aliens where a pod of glass

becomes a planet. This is known as a match cut. The match cut helps to establish a strong continuity

of action and linking the two shots metaphorically. Fades are another form of editing in the sci-fi

genre where one shot fades into another. These edits can also be accompanied with the passage of

time like the edits above (freeonlineresearchpapers.com, no date). Star Wars uses a lot of fades

during the editing of the film as there is a lot of passage of time throughout the film, especially in

scenes where the Death Star is being rebuilt. Without the passage of time from video editing then

the Death Star would resemble a stop motion picture where the Death Star is being built frame by

Chris Burns Development of Film & Video Editing CDM Lvl 4

frame, instead of smoothly over time. Science Fiction can also use the close-up shot. This is mostly

used on scientific elements such as alien technology or scientific elements to emphasise their

importance to the genre. Star Wars uses these techniques when showing the audience, the

lightsabre for the first time as this emphasises the “alien” technology and its importance in the film.

One great aspect of science fiction films is the use of special effects. Special effects can be traced

back to the 1950’s with George Pal’s Destination Moon, where models were used as part of the

special effect to give the appearance of the moon landscape as well as the journey to the moon

(filmsite.org, 2016). Over time the special effects improved and became more than just props that

needed to be created for the film. Special effects became known to be CGI (Computer Generated

Imagery) that first debuted in Futureworld by Richard T. Heffron in 1976. Star Wars became the next

film to use CGI to create impressive visual effects and completely revolutionised the special effects

industry (theneweconomy.com, 2014). This revolution continued to grow, as did the computers

capable of creating those special effects, until the modern era where special effects can be created

to impressive standards, which can include objects and elements that aren’t even visible when

creating the film. Special effects can also alter the very face of an actor so that they look completely

different, just like they did with Chris Evans in Captain America, where they took his massive frame

and reduced it to the appearance of a small man with no muscle. These special effects can also be

seen on Star Wars where you can see not only creatures of all shapes and sizes but also the large

open space galaxies, as well as the blaster from the weapons.

All of these edits merge together to allow the creation of the sci-fi genre, and other genres use their

own edits to create different effects. Without the ability to edit clips together most narratives would

be universally the same no matter which story you tried to convey so editing is just as big a part of

the film as is what is being filmed. The more technology advances, the greater the development of

the industry and the greater development of editing technology, techniques and practices.

Chris Burns Development of Film & Video Editing CDM Lvl 4

References:

Bronzite, D. (2013) A Glossary of Screenwriting Terms & Filmmaking Definitions. Available at:

http://www.movieoutline.com/articles/a-glossary-of-screenwriting-terms-and-filmmaking-

definitions.html#J – Accessed 01/06/2016

Filmandvideoeditingbd (No Date) Relationship to Genre. Available at:

http://filmandvideoeditingbd.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/relationship-to-genre.html - Accessed

21/04/2016

Filmsite.org (2016) Greatest Visual and Special Effects (F/X) – Milestones in Film. Available at:

http://www.filmsite.org/visualeffects7.html - Accessed 01/06/2016

Freeonlineresearchpapers.com (No Date) Editing in Science Fiction Film. Available at:

http//freeonlineresearchpapers.com/editing-science-fiction-films – Accessed 15/04/2016

Herman, J (2012) A Brief History of Film Editing Technology. Available at:

https://www.editorsguild.com/magazine.cfm?ArticleID=1104 – Accessed 16/04/2016

Historycooperative.org (2015) The History of the Hollywood Movie Industry. Available at:

http://historycooperative.org/the-history-of-the-hollywood-movie-industry/ - Accessed 21/04/2016

Joyoffilmediting.com (2009-2016) Cut of Month. Available at:

http://joyoffilmediting.com/index.php/cut-of-month/ - Accessed 01/06/2016

Kscraps88 (2013) Editing Techniques. Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/kscraps88/editing-

techniques-15915736 - Accessed 01/06/2016

Chris Burns Development of Film & Video Editing CDM Lvl 4

Mediacollege.com (No Date) What is Video Editing? Available at:

http://www.mediacollege.com/video/editing/tutorial/definition.html - Accessed 15/04/2016

Orem, W. (2011) What is a thaumatrope? Available at:

http ://indianapublicmedia.org/amomentofscience/thaumatrope/ - Accessed 01/06/2016

Pinder. V (2016) Development and Techniques of Film and Video Editing. Available at:

https://prezi.com/oz0xeipw19hu/development-and-techniques-of-film-and-video-editing/ -

Accessed 15/04/2016

Sykes. P (2004-2016) Brief History of Fantasy. Available at:

http://fantasy100.sffjazz.com/admin_history.html - Accessed 15/04/2016

Theneweconomy.com (2014) How Star Wars changed the special effects Industry. Available at:

http://www.theneweconomy.com/home/how-star-wars-changed-the-special-effects-industry -

Accessed 01/06/2016

Videomaker.com (2014) Best Practices in Video Editing. Available at:

http://www.videomaker.com/forum/topic/best-practices-in-video-editing - Accessed 15/04/2016