Co-ordinating the shots: Film Editing

whats the idea of editing?
The general idea behind editing in narrative films is the coordintation of one shot with another in order to create a coherent whole.
The system of editing employed in narrative film is called continuity editing- its purpose is to create and provide efficient and artful transitions.

Editing film
1. in film making, the task of selecting and joining camera takes.
2. in the finished film, the set of techniques that governs the relation among shots.

Editing is the process of preparing language, images or sound through correction, condensation, organization, and toher modifications in various media...Editing is, therefore, also a practice that includes creative skills, human, relations, and a precise set of methods

Juxtaposition and meaning
Edwin S. Porter, The Great Train Robbery, 1903. Shots in sequence create meaning for the audiences.
From exterior shots to set, the audience is encouraged to believe the events they see are immediately sequential.

The Kuleshov effect
Lev Kuleshov,circa 1920; intercut an actors face with unrelated footage taken later.
Audiences interpreted emotional responses on the actors face based on the juxtaposition of images.
Whilst much of the moving image we see used this effect, it does not usuall;y draw attention to it.


Contrast 'four main functions' of film editing

• make sure that the production is the required length of time
• to remove unwanted material or mistakes
• to alter, if necessary, the way or the sequence in which the events will be portrayed
• to establish the particular style and character of a production (O'Sullivan, Dutton and Rayner)

Releations in editing (5)
Graphic relations
a graphic match is achieved by joining two shots that have similarity in terms of light/dark, line or shape, volume or depth, movement or stasis.
A graphically discontinuous edit creates a clash of visual content by joining two shots that are dissimilar int erms of one more of the above visual principles.

Rhythmic Relations
film is not only a visual art, but also an auditory and even tactile art. Editors also remain aware of the effects achieved by manipulating rhythms ecpercienced by percievers through thoughtful juxtapositions of longer and shorter shots as wekk as through transitional devices that affect the percievers sense of beat or tempo.
rhythmic transitions:
straight cut
fade-out
fade-in
dissolve
wipe
flip-frame
jump cut

Temporal Relations
editing is the process by which the difference between temporal duration and screen duration is reconciled. Sounds simple, but most feature films present in roughly 2 hours sufficient interection of story and plot to provide percievers with everything they need in order to understand days, weeks, months or even years in characters lives.
temporal relations: chronology
most narrative films are presented in roughly chronological order, with notable exceptions.
the two most common disruptions to chronological rpder are fhalshbacks and flashforwards (the former being much more typical than the latter)

Spatial Relations
Perhaps the most important, as well as the most overlooked, principle of editing is its function in providing percievers a reliable sense of physical space that constitutes the world of film. Editors are responsible for relating points in space in order to achieve narrative continuity.
Spatial Continuity
The standard pattern for editing a scene in a narratvie film includes the following:
Establishing shot
Shot/Reverse shot
Eye-line match (POV shot)
Re-establishing shot
(cheat-cuts)

Thematic Relations
Editiors have at their disposal two very powerful techniques for manipulating the percievers place in the hierachy of knowlegde, and therefore affecting our thematic understanding film:
Montage sequences
Crosscut editing