ffc100 - Film Editing 1

Coordinating the Shots:
Film Editing
Editing: whats the idea?

The general idea behind editing in
narrative film is the coordination 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.
Relations in Editing
There are five areas of choice and
control in editing, based on five types
of relationships between shots:
Graphic Relations
Rhythmic Relations
Temporal Relations
Spatial Relations
Thematic Relations
Graphic Relations
Although the primary focus of the film
editor is to ensure continuity of the
narrative, film editors remain acutely
aware that film is a visual art. Therefore,
they work to achieve visual interest by
creating transitions between shots that are
graphically similar and graphically
dissimilar, depending on the desired
effect.
Graphic Continuity
A graphic match is achieved by joining
two shots that have a 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 in terms of one or
more of the above visual principles.
Graphic Match
Graphic Discontinuity
Rhythmic Relations
Film is not only a visual art, but also an
auditory and even tactile art. Therefore,
editors also remain aware of the effects
achieved by manipulating the rhythms
experienced by perceivers through
thoughtful juxtapositions of longer and
shorter shots as well as through
transitional devices that affect the
perceivers sense of beat or tempo.
Rhythmic Transitional Devices
Straight cut
Jump cut
Freeze-frame
Fade-out
Fade-in
Dissolve
Wipe
Flip frame
Temporal Relations
Editing is the process by which the
difference between temporal duration and
screen duration is reconciled. It sounds
simple, but consider this: most feature
films present in roughly two hours
sufficient intersection of story and plot to
provide perceivers 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 (Memento, anyone?)
The two most common disruptions to
chronological order are flashbacks (a leap
to an earlier moment) and flashforwards
(a leap into the future) - the former is much
more typical than the latter).
Temporal Relations:
The Passage of Time
To speed up time, editors make use of elliptical

editing techniques such as
Transitional devices
Empty frames - figure walks out of the frame
in Shot A and then into the frame in Shot B
Cutaway shots cut from a scene to another
scene that takes less time, and then back
To slow down time, editors make use of
expansion editing techniques such as
Overlapping end of Shot A is identical to
beginning of Shot B
Repetition multiple views of a single shot
Elliptical Editing
From Batman Begins: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpJGC13TG6k
Expansion Editing
Spatial Relations
Perhaps the most important, as well as the
most overlooked, principle of editing is its
function in providing perceivers a reliable
sense of the physical space that
constitutes the world of the film. Editors
are responsible (with assistance from
cinematographers) for relating points in
space in order to achieve narrative
continuity.
Spatial Continuity
The standard pattern for editing a scene in a
narrative film includes the following:
Establishing shot shows the characters in relation
to each other
Shot/Reverse-shot shows each character, one
after the other, from over the other characters
shoulder
Eyeline match (POV shot) shows what a
character is looking at
Re-establishing shot exactly what it sounds like
Continuity Editing
Spatial Continuity
More Spatial Concepts

Multiple camera technique used for
difficult/expensive shots
Axis of Action (180-degree line) cant
be violated without disorienting the
perceiver
Match on Action lines up the end of
action A and the beginning of action B
The Kuleshov Effect implies a spatial
relationship in the absence of an
establishing shot
Axis of Action
Thematic Relations
Editors have at their disposal two very powerful
techniques for manipulating the perceivers place in
the hierarchy of knowledge, and therefore affecting
our thematic understanding of the film:
Montage sequences visual motifs,

communicate passage of time
Crosscut editing cutting back and forth
between two lines of action happening
simultaneously; greatly heightens
perceivers position in the hierarchy of
knowledge
Montage
From Rocky
Crosscutting
From Inception
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmptU7vEkNU
More on Editing
The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing
(98-minute documentary film)
The Cutting Edge Abridged Version
Part 1
Part 2
Martin Scorseses Editing Techniques
(10-minute compilation)
Editing your life Analysis paper #4

Think of a particularly memorable time in your life. You might
want to think about an event that happened in a short period of time, or
something that happened over a summer, or a year or more.
1.Take some brief notes about this event. Where were you? What time of
day was it? Who else was there? What was going on around you?
2.What for you was the most striking aspect of this moment? Why?
3.Now think about how you might convey that to an audience visually.
How can you make them feel like you did?
4.How would you set up the scene or scenes (mise-en-scne)? How
would you light it? Why? How would your mise-en-scne help you tell the
story?
5.What kind of shots would you use to film it? A long shot? Medium shot?
Extreme close up? In what order? Why? Again think about what these
choices communicate to an audience. What reactions/emotions are you
trying to convey?
6.What about editing? How might you create tension? Sadness? Joy?
Excitement?
7.Throughout, think about the event and how you can use film techniques
to recount it effectively.
Typed, double-spaced, 1.5-2 pages. Include your notes (can be in point
form).

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Coordinating the Shots:

Editing: whats the idea?

Rhythmic Transitional Devices

Temporal Relations: Chronology

To speed up time, editors make use of elliptical

More Spatial Concepts

Montage sequences visual motifs,

Editing your life Analysis paper #4

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