Intro to Digital Editing

Prof Oakes

Overview

• Definition and Purpose• Key Components (Picture/Sound/Transitions)• Narrative Continuity (Classical Cutting)• Transitions• Other Editing Methods• Samples

Editing Determines…

• What we see• When we see it• How we see it

Definition and Purpose

• Editing is the process of combining shots in sequential order

• A shot is one or more exposed frame• Frames>Shots>Scenes>Sequence>Movie

Making a Movie

• Pre-production (script, rehearsals, storyboard) • Production (Shooting: Principal Photography)• Post-production

– Editing– Titles and Effects– Sound (adr, effects, score)

• Release

Key Components of Editing

• Editing Picture• Editing Sound (Covered Later)• Creating Optical Transitions/Effects

Non-Linear Editing

• Uses Digital Video Technology• Access to any one frame as easily as another• The equivalent to “cut and paste” in word processing• Changes are easy to make and undo• Non-Destructive - Uses original material as source

but creates a new copy with edits• Originally film and video editing was linear and

destructive (source material was modified)

Reasons for a cut

• Narrative• Visual Interest • Dramatic Emphasis• Variety of shot types• Correction of continuity problems created

during shooting

Actualities

• Earliest films had no cuts• One long shot without camera movement• Producers originally thought cuts would

confuse the audience

Fred Ott’s Sneeze (1894 - Edison)

Continuity

• There are several methods of editing but this lecture focuses on Classical (Hollywood) Editing

• Editing is sometimes called cutting because the film used to be physically cut with scissors and glued together

• Editing is generally motivated by narrative continuity

Classical Continuity Editing

• Started in the early 1900’s: The Great Train Robbery (Porter) and Way Down East (Griffith)

• Inserts (Cutaway)• Parallel Editing• Storytelling methods were established that

are still used today in film and television

Narrative Continuity

• Maintains the cause-effect order of the story• Gives the viewer a clear sense of time and

space within the story• Creates a smooth flow between shots • Keeps the audience “in the picture”• Avoids “jump-cuts”

A Classical Hollywood Sequence…

• Camera moves closer and shots grow shorter as emotional intensity builds– Establishing Long Shot– Medium shot of characters– Shot/Reverse-Shot during dialogue– Occasional Insert (Cutaway)

• Dramatic climax is filmed in a close-up on the actor’s face

Match Editing

• Match on Action (Match Cut)• Eyeline Match• Matching (Consistent) Movement

Point of View Edit

Visual Cut (Graphic Match)

Evolution of Editing

• 1920’s Soviet Directors– Films as editing constructions (Montage Editing)

• Eisenstein-Odessa Steps sequence

– Kuleshov Experiment (Man with blank Expression)• Two different shots create a third meaning

Eisenstein “The Battleship Potempkin”Odessa Steps Sequence

French New Wave (1958-1964)

• Francois Truffaut• Jean-Luc Godard• Eric Rohmer• Claude Chabrol• Jacques Rivette

Transitions and Optical Effects

• Cut (Straight Cut)• Fade In or Fade Out• Dissolve (Cross Dissolve)• Wipe• Optical (Video) effect