Editing Chapter 8: Looking At Movies

Editing Overview

• Editing is the art and technique of assembling individual shots into a cohesive cinematic whole.
• Cutting and splicing was a manual editing process used before digital technology, involving physically cutting and gluing film.

Key Terminology

• A shot is the basic unit of film editing, representing one continuous camera run.
• A take refers to how many times a specific shot has been filmed.
• The cut is the fundamental editing tool that marks the transition from one shot to another.
• The Kuleshov Effect demonstrates how audience interpretation changes based on the sequence of shots.

Editing Techniques

• Montage editing juxtaposes shots to create new meanings and manipulate viewer perception.
• Editors are responsible for spatial and temporal relationships, as well as the overall rhythm of the film.

Relationships in Editing

• Spatial relationships expand understanding of a scene's space through the arrangement of shots.
• Temporal relationships include techniques like flashbacks, flash-forwards, ellipsis, and montage, influencing the narrative timeline.

Specific Techniques

• Flashback interrupts the present with scenes from the past, common across genres.
• Flash-forward showcases future events, providing glimpses beyond the current timeline.
• Ellipsis refers to the omission of time or events between scenes for pacing or narrative focus.

Master Techniques

• The master scene technique uses various shots, from wide to close-ups, to capture a scene comprehensively.
• A master shot is a long continuous take that covers characters and actions within a scene.

Continuity Editing

• The 180-degree rule helps maintain screen direction by keeping the camera on one side of an imaginary line between main subjects.
• Techniques to uphold continuity include:
  • Shot/reverse shot: alternates between shots of characters (A-B-A).
  • Match cuts: connects two shots through similar action or subject.
  • Eye-line match: shows a character looking at something followed by what they see.
  • Point-of-view editing: presents the perspective of a specific character or group.

Rhythm and Approaches

• Editing influences a film's rhythm through shot duration control.
• Two main editing approaches are:
  • Continuity seeks a smooth, logical flow (invisibility).
  • Discontinuity deliberately disrupts narrative coherence through mismatches in various elements like location or lighting.

Parallel Editing

• Also known as cross-cutting, this technique intersperses two or more lines of action occurring simultaneously in different locations, creating a dynamic narrative structure.

Explore key concepts from Chapter 8 of 'Looking At Movies' focused on editing. This quiz covers important terms such as cutting, splicing, and the technical craft of editing in filmmaking. Test your knowledge of these essential terms and techniques used in creating cinematic narratives.