Editing Activity

 Understanding and Using Editing

• Gestalt: a theory in psychology that suggest, even though the mind only sees the parts, it fills in the gaps to create a whole.

• Editing relies on gestalt and the audiences ability to make narratives out of what they see and hear

• You need to be able to effectively use editing to tell a story so that audiences can understand the intended narrative

Birth of Narrative Film

• In 1903, Erin S. Porter constructed a film that told a story from multiple shots rather than simply one continuous shot in front of a stationary camera.

• First to use editing as a means of progressing the film’s storyline 

• Developed many of the transitions that become common in film-making.

• First to use found footage to tell a story that was unconnected with what the footage was originally intended to portray

• Editing pioneer Sergei Einsenstein developed the idea of juxtaposing images to create meaning

• Good edition combines the different audio and video elements of a film in such a way that the audience are unaware of the technology and craft involved.

• Editing can draw attention to the artifact of the story through transitions and the amount of footage that is left in or removed

• Transitions are the method of moving from one shit to the next

Editing:several functions

• Make a programme the required length and to remove unwanted material or mistakes

• Alter the sequence of event, to move from one location to another and to move back and forth through time

• To establish a style of the production

• To move from one persons point of view to another, to create relationships between characters or between characters and objects

• Alter the pace by lengthening or reducing time

Transitions

• Match cut/graphic match - a cut between either two different objects, two different spaces, or two different compositions in which objects in the two shots are similar in some way.

⁃ Helps establish a strong continuity of action by linking the two shots metaphically

Manipulating Time

• Elliptical Editing - extending time so that events take longer than they would in reality

⁃ Purpose is to draw attention to the action and heighten tension

⁃ Often used when a bomb is going to explode and editor makes a countdown of five seconds last much longer

• The frequency at which the editor cuts affects how the scene is understood by the audience. 

• The more frequent the cuts, the quicker the scene appears to be. 

• Conversely, the slower the editing, the slower the feel of the scene

• the speed at which footage is edited can also add another dimension to characterisation

• the editing from long shot to midshot and back to long shot creates a schizophrenic effect which is further compounded by Spud’s frenetic dialogue

• Jump cut - a very rapid move from one shot to another without showing a connectiong shot

⁃ Dramatic edit that breaks time and space continuity by drawing the viewers attention to the edit

⁃ Adds an extra dimension to a character

⁃ Speed of editing can reflect and create atmosphere

Using Editing in Practical Production Work

• Editing is designed to tell a story to your audience and the way in which you tell your story ultimately be down to grow you edit your raw footage

• Narrative structure

⁃ Does the narrative make sense to the audience 

⁃ It is a good idea to get someone else to watch your edited footage and ask their

• Characterisation

⁃ Have you used editing techniques to add depth to the meaning of your character 

⁃ You will need to be clear about how you want your character to come across

• Atmosphere

⁃ the quick editing creates a bizarre atmosphere here when set against

• Montage

⁃ a useful way to convey astory using images without having togo into narrative detail. 

⁃ In a montage,a series of short shots are edited into asequence to condense space and timewhilst still conveying information. 

Activity 1

• The clip that tells the story is “The Life of an. American Firefighter. One specific editing technique that was used was the cut when the firemen were going in and ou tof the house to rescue the family stuck inside.

Activity 4

• The editing shows the passage of time by using some fades and cuts to show the progression of their married life together until Ellie passes away. The information that was conveyed in this sequence is how the couple grew up together until Carl’s wife passed away.