EDITING

UJMB 1003 INTRO TO BROADCASTING 1

 WHAT IS EDITING?

Film editing is the practice of assembling shots into a

coherent whole.

Editing can bring out the emotional truth in an

actor's performance; guide the telling and pace of
a story; create an illusion of danger where there is
none; give emphasis to things that would not have
otherwise been noted; and even create avital
subconscious emotionalconnection to the viewer,
among many other possibilities.

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 Film editing is a 2-phase process:
1. Selecting and arranging the available film into the
final visual form

2. Mixing of the soundtracks into the master

soundtrack and then matching the soundtrack
with the visual images.

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 FUNCTIONS OF EDITING

The basic editing functions are:

1. to combine clips so that they form a more uniform
whole;
2. to shorten them to fit a particular time slot in a
program, such as news;
3. to fix mistakes;
4. to create an unified story from bits and pieces of
previously recorded shots.
(Zettl, 2012)

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 THE SHOT VS. THE CUT

The basic building block of film editing is the shot

and its most fundamental tool is the cut.
Each shot has two values:
1. What is within the shot.
2. How the shot relates to other shots.
Major Concerns of Editing:
Transition
Line of sight/Matching
Duration of shot

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 TRANSITIONS

Fade In/Fade Out--Transitions where

picture eases in from , or out to black
Dissolves--Transitions where two pictures
blend into each other for the length of
the transition
Wipe--Transitions where one image in
some way pushes the other out of the
frame.
Irising, Blocking, Masking, CGI--
Variations on fades, wipes, and
dissolves

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 THE EDITORS RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Spatial relationships between shots

2. Temporal relationships between shots
3. The overall rhythm of the film

Philosophy of the Editor:

The editor working with a great director can do no better
than discover and disclose the directors design.
Editor, Helen Van Dongen

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 1. SPATIAL RELATIONSHIPS

The juxtaposition of shots within a scene can cause us to have

a fairly complex sense of that overall space. Thus, painting a
mental picture of the space of a scene.

e.g. opening sequence in Boys Dont Cry (1999)

Editing manipulates our sense of the spatial relationships

among characters, objects and their surroundings.

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 2. TEMPORAL RELATIONSHIPS

Editing is used to manipulate the presentation of plot time

onscreen.
Editing may be traditional and chronological or it may be
manipulated in a creative and confusing way.
e.g. Films such as Memento(2000), Adaptation (2002),
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) are interesting
because their plots are fragmented and presented in an out-of-
order fashion

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 3. RHYTHM

Editing determines the duration of a shot.

An editor can control the rhythm (or beat) of a film by varying
the duration of the shots in relation to one another.
Editing requires the editor to make decisions about:
1. Shot length
2. Rhythm
3. Emphasis
4. Content curve
an arc that measures information in a shot determining when viewer is ready
to move on.

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 HISTORY OF EDITING

One scene, one shot--Lumiere Bros. 60 sec.

camera
Multiple scenes, multiples shots--George Melies
Trip to the Moon continuous in time (like theater)
Simultaneous events--Porters The Great Train
Robbery
Parallel editing--D.W. Griffiths The Birth of a
Nation; first feature

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 APPROACHES TO EDITING

The two major approaches to editing:

A. Continuity editing
the assembling of shots so that the shifts from shot to shot
appear seamless. It should facilitate the viewers formation
of a mental map and keep it intact throughout a scene or
segment.
B. Complexity editing
the juxtaposition of shots primarily for the intensification of a
screen event. It can violate the continuity principles for the
sake of event intensification.

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 A. CONTINUITY EDITING

A style of editing (now dominant around the world) that seeks

to tell a story as clearly as possible and achieve:
1.Logic
2.Smoothness and sequential flow
3.Temporal and spatial orientation of viewers to what they see
onscreen.
4.Flow from shot to shot.
5.Filmic unity

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 The fundamental building blocks of continuity
editing are to establish the scene through a master
shot and maintain screen direction through the 180-
degree system (Barsam & Monahan, 2010, p.337)
and 30-degree rule.

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 MASTER SHOT

Sometimes called an establishing shot

Important to continuity editing for two reasons:
1. It provides film editors with the sorts of tools they need to
do the job effectively.
2. It orients the viewer in preparation for the shots that
follow.
(Barsam & Monahan, 2010, p.337)

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Standard
progression of shot
sizes in continuity
editing

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 180 RULE

The camera must stay

on one side of the
actors so that they
appear in opposite
sides of the frame
(because 2D space)
Crossing the line
causes disorientation
Reason to break rule?
Creates confusion/
action

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 30 RULE

CHANGE SHOT SIZE/

CHANGE ANGLE

Substantial change in
angle of camera or
view allows for
matching action edit;
avoids jump cut

Also known as 30 rule

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EDITING TECHNIQUES THAT MAINTAIN
CONTINUITY
Various editing techniques are used to ensure that graphic,
spatial, and temporal relations are maintained from shot to
shot:
1. Shot/reverse shot = Over-the-shoulder (OTS) shot
2. Match cuts
3. Cross-cutting/parallel editing/intercutting
4. Point of view editing

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1.Shot/reverse shot
A technique in which the camera (and editor) switches
between shots of different characters, usually in a
conversation or other interaction (Barsam & Monahan,
2010, p.340).
The editor switches between shots of different
characters usually framed over each characters
shoulder to preserve screen direction.

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 2. MATCH CUTS

Those in which shot A and shot B are

matched in action, subject, graphic
content, or two characters eye contact
help create a sense of continuity between
the two shots.
There are several kinds of match cuts.
a. Match-on-Action Cut
b. Graphic Match Cut
c. Eye-line Match Cut
(Barsam & Monahan, 2010, p.341).

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2.1 MATCH-ON-ACTION CUT
A match-on-action cut shows us the continuation of
a characters or objects motion through space
without actually showing us the entire action.
The match-on-action cut has both expressive and
practical uses (Barsam & Monahan, 2010, p.341).

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 2.2 GRAPHIC MATCH CUT

In a graphic match cut, the similarity between shots

A and B is in the shape and form of what we see.
In this type of cut, the shape, color, or texture of
objects matches across the edit, providing
continuity (Barsam & Monahan, 2010, p.341).

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 2.3 EYE-LINE MATCH CUT

The eye-line match cut joins shot A, a point-of-view

shot of a person looking off-screen in one direction,
and shot B, the person or object that is the object of
that gaze (Barsam & Monahan, 2010, p.344).

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 3. CROSS-CUTTING/PARALLEL
EDITING/INTERCUTTING
Shifting between 2 or more actions presumably
related.
Usually viewed as simultaneous in time, but not
always.
Used to build suspense, tension, etc.
Can show cause-effect actions.
Also shows comparison-contrasts.
Cross-cutting may have non-related material
presumed simultaneous in time (e.g. different
plotlines).

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 Crosscutting refers to editing that cuts between
two or more actions occurring at the same time,
and usually in the same place (Barsam &
Monahan, 2010, p.344-345).

Parallel editing is the cutting together of two or

more lines of action that occur simultaneously at
different locations or that occur at different times
(Barsam & Monahan, 2010, p.344)
Suggests more comparative or causal relationships
between scenes, events, subjects .
Eg. Baptism and Murder scene in Francis Ford
Coppolas The Godfather.
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 Intercutting refers to the editing of two or more
actions taking place at the same time but with the
difference that it creates the effect of a single
scene rather than of two distinct actions (Barsam &
Monahan, 2010, p.344-345).
Eg. Out of Sight

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 4. POINT-OF-VIEW EDITING

Point-of-view editing is editing of subjective shots

that show a scene exactly the way the character
sees it (Barsam & Monahan, 2010, p.347).
Often point of view shots are cut in before or after a
shot of the character looking.

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 4. POINT-OF-VIEW EDITING

Subjective shots - show a scene exactly the way the character

see it.

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 B. COMPLEXITY EDITING
Complexity editing is a deliberate break
with editing conventions to reveal the
stratification of a scene and increase its
intensity (Zettl, 2009, p. 463).

Less widely used than continuity editing,

often but not exclusively used in
experimental films-that joins shots A and B
to produce an effect or meaning not even
hinted at by either shot alone.

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A. Types include:
1. Intentionally crossing 180 degree line.
2. Intentional jump cuts.
3. Non-diegetic inserts (e.g. use of title cards when
unexpectede.g. notes appearing when music is played).
Transitions in complexity editing:
Cut
Dissolve
Fade
Wipe

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SPECIAL COMPLEXITY EFFECTS
Flashback & Flashforward

Instant Replay

Multiple screens

Montage

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 MONTAGE

In France, the word for editing, from the verb

monter, to assemble or put together.
In Soviet filmmaking of the 1920s, "montage" was a
method of juxtaposing shots to derive new meaning
that did not exist in either shot alone.
In Hollywood, a "montage sequence" is a short
segment in a film in which narrative information is
presented in a condensed fashion. This is the most
common meaning among laymen.

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PROBLEMS IN EDITING - 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 are usually caused by framing
which is quite similar, such as these two:

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 SHOOTING ANGLES
Another type of jump cut
results from cutting from one
shot to a shot that is almost
identical.

To cover this situation,

videographers keepin mind
the 30-degree rule.

According to this rule, a new

shot of the same subject
matter can be justified only if
you change the camera
angle by at least 30 degrees.

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 JUMP CUTS SOLUTIONS
Insert Shots
An insert shot is a close-up
of something that exists
within the basic scene.
The latter is typically visible
within the establishing or
wide shot.

Insert shots add needed

information, information
that wouldn't otherwise be
immediately visible or
clear.

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 CUTAWAYS

cutaways cut away from the

main scene or action to add
related material.

Here, we cut away from a

shot of a man glancing down
a mine shaft to man already
at a lower level .

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There are two ways to avoid a jump cut:
Zoom instead of cutting.
Make the framing of the two shots completely
different.
The following sequence of shots is preferable
to the example above:

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PROBLEM IN MOTION CONTINUITY

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 To prevent reverse cuts, set up the scene so
you can shoot it all from one side.

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