The principles of editing
To put it simply Editing is the post-production
process in which clips are formed into a sequence best suit to move the story
forward, and in the most interesting way to produce the final film product.
But before the final film production comes to be they
are two other stages, the first being the Editor’s cut a rough
draft of the film much longer than the final product. Director’s cut where once
the filming has completed the director can focus all attention to the
post-production process and they work together to produce their vision. The
final cut is the final stage of editing where the editor, director, and producer
work together to produce the final product in the vision of the studio as a
whole.
In this process there are many techniques in utilized to
create an interesting sequence in which engages and makes the
viewers think.
I’ll be explaining a few of what I think to be most
important and that will assist in producing your own film project.
Continuity is one of the most basic requirements of editing but
also one of the most important. Continuity editing ensure that the following
shots, scenes and events all successfully flow without mistakes; these mistakes
could vary from lighting alterations to a prop being in the film space that
wasn’t present before (Unless
intended).
Seamless editing follows closely with continuity as it
focuses on the flow of the film sequence. Seamless editing is commonly known as
editing that is carefully composed using the scene’s tension or emotional impact,
making the audience focus on the on screen action and makes the editing flow
unnoticeably.
Rhythm editing uses a variety of
aspects of editing in order to move the story forward using tension, emotion or
soundtrack. The pace/length of each shot in a scene can determine the rhythm of
the scene, for example a scene in which someone is dying the rhythm would be
very slow to maximise the emotional impact.
Transitions such as cut, wipe, fade, and
dissolve are used in the process of editing to quickly pass onto the next shot
or a completely new scene in the sequence. Cuts are used a lot in film as they
provide a quick change from shot to shot in just a split second.
The Purpose of editing and developments
of editing over time
Storytelling
and following the action
Storytelling as everybody should know is the most
important aspect when producing a film, how the story plays out, the emotional
impacts, the build up to climaxes, and finally the conclusion and resolve.
A pioneer of early film editing was D.W. Griffith and through the use of Reliance-Majestic Studios created the first
proper historical blockbuster name Birth of a nation. He used close-ups, camera
movements and lighting to emphasise the on screen action therefore how the
story is told. He also intercut a variety of shot sizes and frames to create a
sense of rhythm in the piece and therefore became known as the pioneer of the seamless editing technique.
Montage and
manipulation of diegetic time and space
A montage is a
series of various shots, most commonly used in film today to show the passing
of time or for example to quickly show the events happening in a location in a
set time period of equal or unequal shot length.
A number of film theorists came upon the concept of the ‘Montage’ pioneered by Sergei
Eisenstein who presented 5 types of montage:
Metric Montage-
Shots are cut to equal length regardless of what’s on screen. Which can create irony, for
example an emotional breakdown has occurred and the shots cut to a steady pace
rather than slow to justify the emotion.
Rhythmic Montage- Where shots are cut into a sequence base on timings, giving
consideration to what’s on screen.
Tonal Montage-
Shots are composed for their emotional content.
Overtonal Montage- A combination of all three
of the above montages.
Intellectual Montage- Shots are re-arranged to
give a metaphorical meaning to represent or emphasize something within the
sequence.
Lev Kuleshov
was the first person to use the word ‘Montage’ in terms of film and he came to the
conclusion that even with neutral images in a film sequence could still create
meaning in which an audience can identify.
Creating motivation
The
say as an editor you must always identify motivations for your cuts since the
editors first priority is the audience and the story itself. Keep in mind that cutting the film production in one way could have a
completely alternative impact on the audience than cutting it another way.
According to Walter Murch an American film editor there
are six main areas to criteria to decide a cut is needed in a part of the
sequence or not. Murch made the emotional affects of a cut to be the most
important aspect of all the criteria to edit:
1.
Emotion- How will this cut emotionally impact to
the audience in this section of the film? Will it create a sense of
hopelessness? Happiness? Aggression? Has this cut come too quickly so the
emotional affect is lost?
2.
Story- Does this cut move the story forward meaningfully?
Does this cut build tension?
3.
Rhythm- Does this cut at this point create pace?
Does the pace consider the on screen action?
4.
Eye trace- What is the affect of this cut on the
location and the focus of the audience? How does it affect the mise-en-scene,
things within the scene such as sound, props, etc. or the actions of the
characters themselves?
5. Two Dimensional Place of
Screen- Are the two dimensional X and Y axis
followed properly? What is the affect if they aren’t followed
conventionally?
6.
Three Dimensional space- Does the cut
establish physical relationships with the audience, and a sense of depth
between the relationships?
Multiple points of view
At some point or
another we’ve seen a film or TV series that uses the Rashomon
device of showing us the story from various character perspectives, creating sympathy
for creating that we may have misjudged in the past. A 1950’s
film by Akira Kurosawa set in feudal Japan, Rashomon is a film in which tells
the story of a murder from four completely different perspectives each being a
witness of the murder. It analyses human nature through the differences
identified in each witness’s story. The concept of a variety of
point-of-views came to known as Rashomon device and is now referred as a device
used in producing a movie.
Developments
in technology
Up until the 1990’s
film editors were required to edit films through the use of linear editing. Linear
editing equipment requires taking film tape cutting and slicing to re-arrange the
recorded images and sound into a sequence. Now instead of having to use a reel
of film to edit we have non-linear editing. This method of editing allows the
editor to access any needed frame in any video clips recorded.
The main
advantages of Non-linear are that:
1. You can go back to a sequence of frames and
change an edit easily if forgotten
2. You can incorporate digital transitions
such as fade, dissolves, wipes, etc.
3. Much finer adjustments can be made to the
sequences.
