Editing Techniques, The History and Purposes

The purposes of editing (why do we edit?)

The editing of a film or any form of video is a very important fact to consider. It determines the way the finished video will look like and the effect it could give the viewer. It brings out the intended meaning that the director and producers have created in the film. Editing helps to go over the four main structures of film/video narrative. The order of which you take in information about the plot, how much detail are you meant to take in in the narrative and how you perceive the characters and events that happen at a particular scene. The speed and pace of the film/video, also plays a big part. The editor decides on the duration of a particular shot. The pace/speed of a film determines on the mood and action of each scene. Usually when you view a long shot sequence, the pace is often slower. It shows the setting in detail for the viewer to take the information in. Shorter clips often show fast paced movements and the importance of the action.

The Principles of Editing Techniques

Slow Dissolve
I've noticed that in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, they use a slow dissolve editing technique on the the villain Norman Bates. The camera moves slowly into the the characters face until the final moment where his face is mixed up to show the skull of his mother. This editing often leaves the viewer hooked on the disappearing image for several seconds. The editor overlaps the end of one shot with the beginning of the next one.

Two-Shot and Shot-Reverse-Shot

Editing determines your judgment of a character or events.Sometimes the way a character is edited shows the viewer who they are and what they are doing. In romantic films, when we see a man and woman talking to each other, they can be shot in a two-shot or shot-reverse shot. A two-shot or shot-reverse-shot, sometimes shows the two characters in a certain level of intimacy between them. Sometimes however, a shot-reverse shot can make the audience assume that the characters are looking at each other because they are shown facing in opposite direction, it can often show the characters seem emotionally apart when they are not physically close.

In this scene from the Hunger Games film, Katniss is seen talking to Peeta in a close-up shot-reverse shot. We get to see who is talking and the emotions on the individuals face.



Long-Shot
In editing, the information that you provide for a particular scene holds the importance of a particular event. We see a long-shot in the 1963 Elizabeth Taylor's Cleopatra 7:09 into the part 9 clip. Cleopatra makes a grand entrance in a statue-like throne that is pulled by slaves. The scene gives the audience the majestic appearance that Cleopatra made when first entering Rome. We also see the Roman citizens in awe of this out-of-this world entrance.

Long shots also known as wide-shots, shows the whole human figure or object that is intended to be placed in some relation to its surroundings. Long-shots give the viewer enough detail to establish the sequence of a particular scene. Long-shot views often requires the use of a wide angled lens to capture more of the films surroundings.

Straight-Cut

There is an interesting scene I like from the Lawrence of Arabia 1962 film, it features one of the most famous cuts in British film making. It shows that instead of T.E Lawrence travelling from his office to the deserts of Cairo, he chooses to extinguish a match in the office that cuts immediately from the close-up of the match light to the stunning scenery of the desert and the orangy flame colour of the sunset. The straight-cut happens from 01:17-01:18 minutes.

Cross-Cutting/Parallel Editing 
This editing technique is mostly used in films and videos to establish action happening at the same time in two different locations. In a cross-cut, the camera will cut away from one action scene to another action scene, which often suggests that both sequences are happening at the same time, however this is not often the case. This editing technique is often used to create suspense by cutting between both clips to show and explain what is happening. In this clip of The Godfather (1972), parallel editing is used to set the theme. The cross-cutting goes back and forth from the baptism scene shows the questionable lives of Michael Corleone (Al Pacino). In the church scene, Michael accepts God and renounces Satan. In the parallel editing however, shows hitmen recruited by Michael to murder his enemies. It shows the split personalities of Michael, because in one scene Michael fulfills his religious obligations, in another, her carries on with his shady mafia duties.

Shorter version


Longer version


Fade In/Out 
A fade usually occurs when the picture starts to turn into a single colour, often in black or white, or when a picture begins to appear on screen. Fade ins often occur at the start of a film or act, in the other hand, fade outs are found at the end of a film or act. When fading an image, the editor fades one shot to black and then fades into the next. It is often used to indicate a change in time and place of the scenes.

Jump-Cuts
A jump-cut is a transition between two shots which appears to 'jump' due to the way the shots are framed in relation to each other. Jump cuts usually comes from a continuity error and it isn't much of a stylistic choice by the director. A jump cut occurs when a cut, designed to act as a camera angle change, shows a continuity error between the two shots. In this short clip from the French film 'Breathless', the first video shows the woman sitting in a car which is driven by the man (we don't see this but we can hear his voice), the camera keeps cutting of and moving on to another sequence of the same car setting. It created this jumpy feeling and looked as if the director and editor made error during the editing process. The next video has the same jumpy effect, this time there is a man holding a gun in one hand while driving (we get to see his character in this shot). It may seem as though the director made mistakes when shooting the project, but I believe, he made it on purpose to add an unusual effect to the film.

Clip 1


Clip 2
 Continuity/Invisible Editing
This technique creates action that flows smoothly across different shots and scenes without it looking like it has inconsistencies. The scenes go in a chronological order so that it creates a sense of a story to the viewer. It's main purpose is to smoothen over any discontinuity of the editing process and to establish a logical relationship between each shots. This image shows the girl opening the door and about to enter the room, the next shows her opening the door and slowly coming out while in the third picture, she has emerged from the room and is almost fully out the door when in the last image, she is completely out and the door is closing behind her. These images depict an order that runs in a chronological way.


Cutting on action

This is used by editors when they want to cut from one shot to another shot that matches    the first shot's sequence. The shots can often be shot hours apart from each other but as longs as the cutting provides an impression of continuity when editing the film, the the audience will understand the film/video without wondering what is happening. Often when an action is the subject of such editing, the shot can be carried through to completion in the next scene, allowing the editor to create a visual bridge, which in turn can lead the viewer to be distracted from noticing the cut or any continuity errors between the two shots. 

180° Degree Rule
Many film editors use this technique. The 180-degree rule is a basic guideline about the on-  screen spacial relationship between a character or object within the scene. An invisible line called the axis, connects the characters and keeps the camera on one side of the axis for every shot in each scene, the first character will always be placed in the frame of the right of the second character who in turn is always framed left of the first character. This example is shown in Natalie Portman's V for Vendetta film where the camera is focused on her and her surrounding as she moves into the room.

From about the beginning of the clip to almost 02:00 minutes into it, shows an example of the film's 180  degree shot.

Fast Cutting
Fast cut editing is when several continuous shots (of a duration of around 3 seconds or less), is shown in the film or video clip. This technique can often be used to convey a lot of information quickly or just to show the energy or disorder of a particular scene. Fast cutting is often used to shoot a dialogue involving two or more characters, in turn changing the viewers attitude to either concentrate on the reaction of another character's dialogue or to draw attention of the non verbal actions of the speaking character. In Moulin Rouge, a 2001 film by Baz Luhrmann (Romeo + Juliet, The Great Gatsby), he used the fast cutting editing technique which can be seen in can-can dance sequence,



The scenes kept switching to the next consecutive scenes in fast paced action. The theatre performers sang a lively, fast and dramatic song that worked well with the editing's speed. It video showed a lot of energy expressed by the characters and the music.

Montage
A montage is a editing technique used in films/videos. It is when a series of short shots are edited into a sequence which shows space. time and information. It has been formally introduced to the cinema by Eisenstein, early Russian directors also used this technique for when they edit their films. In France, the word 'montage' means cutting.

These images shows the sequence of each scene being shown one after the other. This means that they've used the montage technique. In the 1930's to the 1950's, filmmakers have often combined different short shots with optical effects like fades, dissolves and split screens.

This youtube montage clip shows romantic scenes from seven films.

Slow Motion

Slow motion or slowmo, as it is commonly abbreviated, is a editing technique where the video clip showing is a scene's time is slowed down. Invented by  August Musger, an Austrian priest and physicist, this technique is used a lot in films/videos and games.



The 2006 film 300, features a slow motion sequence where Leonidas (the main character) charges through a horde of Persians who all failed to bring him down. The scene is full of chaos, blood and gore sprayed all over. Leonidas makes killing people seem like he's killing a fly.   



In the 1987 film 'The Untouchables', there is a scene in the film at the Chicago's Union Station, in which Kevin Costner (the main character) tries to ward of Al Capone's mafia accomplices (who do the dirty work) whilst being distracted by a runaway pram. The whole scene is tense from start to finish with Kevin and the mafia gang having a shoot-out at the train station, a young woman crying for her baby who's pram is slowly descending down the staircase, until Andy Garcia's (Kevin Costner's side-kick) last-minute save is really cool and came at the right time. If the scene was faster, it wouldn't have the same tense effect.

Fast Motion
Fast motion is an editing technique used to make the film clip look faster than normal on the screen, it is mainly done by filming the scene at a less than normal speed in the camera, then later projecting it at a normal speed rate.