LO: - Develop understanding

of Editing

What is editing?

A process of cutting down.

Connecting one shot to another.

It is the “art of storytelling” and is unique to audiovisual productions.

What is happening here? What is the meaning?

What is the next shot?

What is editing?

Editing can be split into two sections:

1. Juxtaposition of shots

2. Transitions

Juxtaposition of shots

The placing of shots side by side to create meaning.

The editor and director will decide after shooting is complete which shots to use in the ‘final cut’.

The director might well have hours of footage to select from.

Count the cuts Watch the clip from ‘Lord of the Rings’ How many cuts are there? What can you say about they way the

cuts are put together?

Classic Hollywood style (or Continuity editing) The classic Hollywood style of editing is all about

simplicity and is also known as continuity editing.• http://classes.yale.edu/film-analysis/htmfiles/editing.htm#22

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Editing in this style should be ‘invisible’ so that an audience are unaware the sequence has even been edited.

Classic editing normally begins with a master or establishing shot, then cuts to a two shot or mid, followed by a close up.

Cross cut

Alternates 2 (or more) lines of action that occur in different places, usually at the same time

The 2 actions therefore become connected – associating characters and events from both lines of action.

Cross Cutting – an example In this extended clip from Edward Yang's Yi Yi (Taiwan,

2000), father and daughter go out on dates at presumably the same time, and go through the same motions, even if the father is in Japan and the daughter in Taipei.

To further stress the similarities, the father is actually reliving his first date with his first girlfriend (whom he has just met again after 20 years), while his daughter is actually on her first date! Yang uses parallel editing across space and time to suggest that history repeats itself, generation after generation.

Match On Action

Cut which places two different views of the same action together at the same moment in the movement, making it seem to continue uninterrupted.

These characteristics make it one of the most common transitions in the continuity style

Montage

Montage editing is the process of using images that on their own have separate meaning but when put together create an altogether different meaning. It’s similar to a an art collage

Look at this example from Spooks – do you think it is effective?

Transitions - Visual Punctuation

Transitions are often likened to punctuation in writing. Cuts, fades, dissolves, wipes are like commas, colons and full stops.

What are the purpose of transitions?

To signify the passing of time or change of scene. The longer the transition the more significant?

Iris wipe

• A round, moving mask that can close down to end a scene (iris-out) or emphasize a detail, or it can open to begin a scene (iris-in) or to reveal more space around a detail

Wipe• A transition between shots in which a line passes

across the screen, eliminating the first shot as it goes and replacing it with the next one. A very dynamic and noticeable transition, it is usually employed in action or adventure films. It often suggest a direct connection between the two images

Some key examples

Dissolve• A transition between two shots during which the first

image gradually disappears while the second image gradually appears; for a moment the two images blend in superimposition. Dissolves can be used as a fairly straightforward editing device to link any two scenes, or in more creative ways, for instance to suggest hallucinatory states

Fade• A transition between shots or scenes that appears on

screen as a brief interval with no picture

Some key examples

Editing Effects

As well as cutting, co-ordinating and using transitions the editor and director have to decide whether editing effects should be used. Not all films use editing effects but those that do want to make the editing obvious.

Editing Effects:

Motion Control: slow motion, speed up, freeze frame.

Picture effects: Black and white, tinting/colouring, extra grain, split screen.

Bordwell and Thompson

Bordwell and Thompson came up with four theories of what they called ‘editing relationships’. We will focus on:

1. Rhythmic relationships

2. Time relationships

Rhythmic relationships

Rhythmic relationships are about the pace of the editing:• Quicker editing for quick action sequences?

• Slower takes for longer character studies?

Time

Time relationships is about condensing periods of time:• E.g. a whole week in the narrative can be

condensed to ten seconds in the edit suite.

Analysis – Lord of The Rings Example of obvious editing. Make notes on:

• Juxtaposition of shots/shot selection

• Editing transitions

• Editing effects and motion control

Task: how does the editing create meaning for the audience?

Editing task – draw storyboards into a sequence.

A mid shot of a blood stained shirt A mid shot of an open window A close up of hands A wide est. shot of an office block A dog’s eye view tracking shot of some feet walking A static long shot of a man in a room through a window A POV of someone walking An ECU of an eye/eyes A cutaway to a clock A high angle CCTV shot of a dead body

In order you feel tells the story best! Only use the 10 shots provided You don’t have to use all of the shots You can repeat the shots