Film editing occurs at the post production stage of filmmaking. Film editing is about putting together footage which the director has shot and then placing it together to make the film make sense to the audience. Editing has many purposes but the main is to tell a story to the audience. Other purposes include creating pace throughout the film and engaging the audience.
Early editing
When producers first started to create films in the 1900's it was all done on camera without any editing meaning they had to shot the shots in linear. An example is The Great Train Robbery as they shot all the scenes in one go and used different techniques at the same time such as cross cutting.
Editing has been used for many years and has changed drastically from when it first started. To edit a film years ago they had to cut film tape and stick it together, this mean't that there could be no mistakes and had to get the cut correct, it wasn't until the 1990's that non linear was created allowing editors to use computers and it was easier to edit clips together, this also mean't clips were more effective and smooth.
To edit a film together now you would use digital technology on computers such as Final Cut Pro, by using this technology it means you can make as many mistake as you want because the original copy will always be there and editors can experiment as much as they like. The film will be shot using a camera then the footage will be transferred over to a computer to edit on. Sometimes the best technology, such as a mac computer, could crash that is why the editors always need to back up their work.
David Griffith created many techniques such as parallel editing and was known for his role in The Birth of a Nation, in which he used techniques such as shot reverse shot and the 180 degree rule. His film The Birth of a Nation is classed as 'classical Hollywood' from the style of editing and also his film Intolerance, the classic style he uses shows advancing narrative and continuity throughout the films.
One of the purpose of editing is to create emotions and Griffith did this from using different camera angles in his films, this means you can see all sides to a character this way and get more emotions especially when all the clips are editing together.
The clip above is a trailer for The Birth of a Nation. There are many cuts used as they change from scene to scene, as this is a trailer they cut to different scenes so the audience can get an idea of what the film is going to be like. At the beginning of the clip they use a dissolve transition so that one scene dissolves into another scene however both of these scenes include fighting they are just in different locations.
The Birth of a Nation includes continuity editing, the purpose of continuity editing is to smooth over the discontinuity of the editing stage however the reason Griffith used it in his film was because the narrative was basic so he was showing what you could do with more than one camera such as the 180 degree rule and shot reverse shot.
Lev Kulesov was a Russian director who is best known for the 'Kulesov effect'. When editing films he used techniques such as crosscutting.
This clip shows an image of a man looking at different views and attempts to make the audience think his expression changes depending on the view when it is the exact same expression. The 3 views are a bowl of soup which will show hunger, then a young girl in a coffin and you would expect to see grief on his face then the final view is of a women. Even though all 3 views were different, the actors expression was the same throughout but because the way Kulesov edited it made the audience think differently meaning it was a successful montage.
Sergei Eisenstein was one of the first film theorists. He believed that "montage was the essence of the cinema". He thought that editing was not simply about putting together a scene, but creating an emotion for the audience. In Eisenstein's life he wrote many books about editing. He explains how there are five methods of montage: Metric, rhythmic, tonal, over tonal and intellectual. Eisenstein is known for his films such as Strike and The Battleship Potemkin.
Types of cut
When creating a film it is important for the director and editor to have a good relationship, so that they can work together and agree on the same points, allowing them to create the best film possible. An example is the director Steven Spielburg and editor Micheal Kahn, they have worked together to create War horse, Saving Private Ryan and more.
Early editing
When producers first started to create films in the 1900's it was all done on camera without any editing meaning they had to shot the shots in linear. An example is The Great Train Robbery as they shot all the scenes in one go and used different techniques at the same time such as cross cutting.
Editing has been used for many years and has changed drastically from when it first started. To edit a film years ago they had to cut film tape and stick it together, this mean't that there could be no mistakes and had to get the cut correct, it wasn't until the 1990's that non linear was created allowing editors to use computers and it was easier to edit clips together, this also mean't clips were more effective and smooth.
To edit a film together now you would use digital technology on computers such as Final Cut Pro, by using this technology it means you can make as many mistake as you want because the original copy will always be there and editors can experiment as much as they like. The film will be shot using a camera then the footage will be transferred over to a computer to edit on. Sometimes the best technology, such as a mac computer, could crash that is why the editors always need to back up their work.
David Griffith created many techniques such as parallel editing and was known for his role in The Birth of a Nation, in which he used techniques such as shot reverse shot and the 180 degree rule. His film The Birth of a Nation is classed as 'classical Hollywood' from the style of editing and also his film Intolerance, the classic style he uses shows advancing narrative and continuity throughout the films.
One of the purpose of editing is to create emotions and Griffith did this from using different camera angles in his films, this means you can see all sides to a character this way and get more emotions especially when all the clips are editing together.
The clip above is a trailer for The Birth of a Nation. There are many cuts used as they change from scene to scene, as this is a trailer they cut to different scenes so the audience can get an idea of what the film is going to be like. At the beginning of the clip they use a dissolve transition so that one scene dissolves into another scene however both of these scenes include fighting they are just in different locations.
The Birth of a Nation includes continuity editing, the purpose of continuity editing is to smooth over the discontinuity of the editing stage however the reason Griffith used it in his film was because the narrative was basic so he was showing what you could do with more than one camera such as the 180 degree rule and shot reverse shot.
Lev Kulesov was a Russian director who is best known for the 'Kulesov effect'. When editing films he used techniques such as crosscutting.
This clip shows an image of a man looking at different views and attempts to make the audience think his expression changes depending on the view when it is the exact same expression. The 3 views are a bowl of soup which will show hunger, then a young girl in a coffin and you would expect to see grief on his face then the final view is of a women. Even though all 3 views were different, the actors expression was the same throughout but because the way Kulesov edited it made the audience think differently meaning it was a successful montage.
Sergei Eisenstein was one of the first film theorists. He believed that "montage was the essence of the cinema". He thought that editing was not simply about putting together a scene, but creating an emotion for the audience. In Eisenstein's life he wrote many books about editing. He explains how there are five methods of montage: Metric, rhythmic, tonal, over tonal and intellectual. Eisenstein is known for his films such as Strike and The Battleship Potemkin.
Types of cut
When creating a film it is important for the director and editor to have a good relationship, so that they can work together and agree on the same points, allowing them to create the best film possible. An example is the director Steven Spielburg and editor Micheal Kahn, they have worked together to create War horse, Saving Private Ryan and more.
Editors cut
Editors cut is also known as the rough cut, each day while the director is shooting the editor will be editing those scenes. Most of the time the editor's cut will be longer than the final film because they include every scene that is being shot.
Directors cut
After the shooting is finished the director can then help with the post production. The director's cut is when the director will look at the editor's cut and they will re order, remove and shorten scenes to make it feel like the vision they wanted.
Final cut
After the director has completed his version, the producers of the production company or movie studio will then look over it and examine it; once they agree that everything is good and complete it will then be released on DVD or in the theatres.
The 180 degree rule is used in filming when the camera has to stay on the same side of an imaginary line.The camera must not go over the line or it will confuse the audience from seeing the characters in different directions and the film will then become disorientated. The only reason this rule should be broken is if it is for effect.
When doing an over the shoulder shot it is important that the camera stays the same level because if not the eye line for the characters will not match.
The link above is an example from the 1972 film The Getaway, showing what happens when you cross the line, at the beginning it follows the rule and doesn't cross the line however the director crosses the line and this can confuse the audience as it shows the characters the opposite way around.
Cross cutting is when the editor will cut back and forth between two different scenes/events that are happening at the same time. This effect is used to create suspense for the audience as sometimes it can show two characters in different locations and it looks like they are going to meet in the same scene at the end. The director/editor will use this technique in more complex plots of a film.
In this scene we see two fighting scenes going on however they are at different locations meaning the editor has cross cut between them both, so that the audience can see that both these scenes are happening at the same time. The director/editor uses this technique to build up dramatic tension for the audience as they suspect that the two characters are going to meet and come together and this can leave the audience on the edge of their seat as the two characters shouldn't meet.
A jump cut is when two shots of the same subject are used in a scene and the position of the camera has moved slightly. Jump cuts can make the scene seems quicker.
The example I am using is from Eisenstein's film. In this clip you can see there are a few jump cuts as it changes from statues to places blowing up to going back to statues. The reason he uses jump cuts is so that the audience can see everything that is going on in that scene.
Shot reverse shot is a technique used in many films, it is used when two or more people are having a conversation and the camera switches between the two of them so that the audience can see both views.
The example I am using is from The Age of Adaline. This shows how a shot revers shot works, but also shows the camera shot is over the shoulder, the reason for this is so you can see who is talking because the camera is behind them, but then also see the expression on the other character's face. When filming a scene like this you could use two cameras meaning the actors won't need to take as many takes then the editor would put the two pieces together in the corrected order.
Transitions
The narrative needs to go from scene to scene, and to do this the editor will use transitions. This represents that the scene is changing without trying to confuse the audience, today there are many different types of transitions that the editor can used. The purpose of transitions is to help the narrative flow easily and make the audience know something is changing either if it's the location, point of view or mood. Similarly the purpose of transitions is the same as the purpose of editing as it is about making the narrative flow smoothly by putting clips together.
You can see that a scene has changed from the location or characters without the editor having to use a transition.
Star Wars is a film that uses many different transition as they change scenes, this can sometimes be good as it shows the skills that the editor has, however sometimes it can make the audience confused when they use a lot of different styles.
In this clip alone it shows over 10 different wipe transition for when the scenes are changing. Star Wars last around 2 hours meaning the transition will be spread out throughout the whole film unlike in the clip above which shows them one after another.
The dissolve transition is when one clip will dissolve/fade into another. This works by the first clip fading out and the second clip fading in and becoming brighter than the other clip. Sometimes the transition happen so quickly that the audience are not even aware it has happened.
Citizen Kane is a film that includes many different transitions and in the clip above it shows a dissolve transition as it goes from one scene to another. The film was released in 1941 meaning it was in black and white and this may have made a difference on the transition, half way through the clip it looks like it has froze as it changes scenes however that is because of the way they had to edit the clips together back then.
A fade happens when the image goes to a single colour. Fade in's mostly happen at the beginning of a film and it will go from a black screen and fade in to the action. Fade out's are the opposite and they occur at the end of the film, most of the time fading to black to show the scene and film has ended.
In Pulp Fiction they use fade in's and out's however the difference is that they are in the same scene. In the clip above it shows Marcellus Wallace being hit by a car then the fade out happens to black then they fade in to the action from him waking up after being hit, this editing is good because it uses a transition but a point of view shot at the same time as the black to action is from his eyes.
A wipe transition is when the shots are replaced from another shot from traveling from one side to another, unlike other transition it is obvious to spot a wipe transition. There are many different type of wipe transitions such as iris, clock and star. Wipe transitions can move across the screen in any direction to reveal the next shot however in films nowadays this transition is not used as it is too noticeable and can put the audience off from the film.
An iris wipe is popular in mostly cartoon films, this transition is when a the circle either grows to start the film or shrinks to end it.
This clip shows different cartoons such as Tom and Jerry and Mickey Mouse which include iris wipe. To end the scene the circle will shrink into the characters face even if the character is not in the middle of the camera as it has a certain focal point.
Montage
Montage is another film editing technique which is when short shots are edited together to create a sequence to show what has happened in a short amount of time in either seconds or minutes. Eisenstein was one of the first to create a montage, and after that the montage became very popular in films and there are different types of montage.
A tonal montage is when the editor cuts between shots to create an emotional meaning and it could possibly get a reaction out of the audience. Throughout the whole film emotions will be changing as the narrative does meaning the tone of the scenes will be changing as well.
An example is Rocky from when he is training, the montage shows him from when he started to train to when he was getting fitter with more training. This is a tonal montage because the audience watching the film is happy for rocky has he is improving in his boxing, the reason this montage is used in the film is to show the emotion and determination.
Rhythmic montage is used when the beat of the music gets faster the shots will start to change faster and they may use more close ups
The ending scene of Whiplash shows a montage including playing the drums, he starts off playing slowly so they won't use that many cuts but as he starts to play faster the cuts also become faster. This means that the editor of the film used hundreds of edits just in one scene, for this film they pre recorded the music meaning the actor had to get the movement of the drums in sync then the editor had to put both together.
In conclusion this has proven how important the editing part of film making is and how it makes a difference to a film but also shown how everything has improved over many years such as technology.
