Principles of Editing

Creating meaning through collage,

tempo and timing

Joining ImagesEditing forms a collage, an assortment of images

joined together to create meaning.

The link below is a clip from ‘Escape To Victory’ and they have made a montage of loads of individual clips to produce a final copy of one long sequence. This form of editing is very common nowadays as it creates a better story and captures the audiences attention quicker and stronger.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4i5KjchN3I8

TempoShot Length – the most obvious way editors create Tempo is by controlling

the length of shot.• Long shots slow down the pace of a scene.• Short takes quicken the pace and intensity• Long shots for romantic scenes, quick shots for action.

The link below shows a scene from friends. This scene is a love scene and the camera angles add a massively important effect on the scene.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-_85uxmHEg

Cont…..Studies have suggested that shots are gaining pace compared to The Golden age of Hollywood. The average shot used to be 5.15 seconds but nowadays it’s risen to 4.75 seconds. The change of length can be seen when you compare Casablanca to the Woman In Black. This is due to the fact that films are now electronically cut and used to be physically cut using scissors.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJoA6n120Sc

ProblemsIt takes the average person 3 seconds to adjust to a shot change. Brandt has argued “…..if the audience takes 3 seconds to adjust to a new scene, what happens when the average shot length is so short that the audience is never given a chance to catch up”.

The tendency to rely on such rapid editing in recent films may explain why younger audience are not receptive to older films; they seem slow paced. We have grown up around fast tempo films resulting in us often becoming inpatient when watching a slow paced film and old film.

Shot transitionsThe second way editors adjust the tempo is shot transitions. Common shot transitions are ‘Cut from A to B’, ‘Fade in/fade out’ and ‘Dissolve overlapping’. This transitions add several effects to the scene you see and can either have a good effect or bad. Sometimes it can make the editing look amateur and poor whereas if used correctly, then it will look professional and will capture the audience easier.

The link below is the trailer for the film ‘Hugo’. This trailerShows fades and transitions which are vary rarely shown inFilms.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE1bzNrdz8s

Cont….These shot transitions convey a passage of time, but they also affect the pacing of a scene. Cuts quicken the pace of the action and connote instant change. Even a scene with long takes, a cut often suggests sudden change in mood or character dynamic

FadesFades effect the pace of the film as they literally pause the action. They rarely occur in films but when they do it is to introduce memory or fantasy . This is because it shows it in stages and as if the actor is dizzy, confused and thinking.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmh-YVA_4Zs

Timing of a shotThe third editing technique is timing of shots. By editing the clips poorly and being 1 millisecond out, you can cause the film to look poorly edited resulting in a poor film. Timing of shots and shot types are vital. Cut a way's are used to emphasize a persons reaction or response. For example: • A Cut away to a newspaper on the table when presented in narrative. • Cutting from a two shot to a close up for reaction or a close up to a long

shot for landscape effect.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCJBXfKtOiM

Hitchcock's ‘Notorious’ 1946http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPd5uSRDrZk

Attribute to editing• Collage

• Tempo

• Timing

Techniques used in Notorious• Medium shot (romantic

intimacy) vs. Close up (disappointment)

• The cut abruptly changes the pace of the conversation; As Alicia and Delvins words become more heated, the scene relies on shorter takes

• Cut to close up of Alicia coincides with Delvins line “I bet you’ve heard that line enough’

Story- centered Editing and the construction of

meaning

Editing and timingNarrative sequencing. Telling the story as it happens in Linear editing. This is the most common. ‘Medias res’ is the term used when narrative is jumbled up. (Fight Club for example).The link below shows a man running to attempt to get into a building but struggles to find a door that will open and enable him entry into the building. The shots they have used has made it look like one long sequence.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eR6yctA9vEM

Condensing / expanding timeCollages condense time. For example, Spiderman uses ‘condensed editing’ when thinking of a costume – speeds up hours, days or years in the characters lives. Expanding – overlapping shots of a single action example: Someone pressing a door bell shot from 3 angles and shown after

each other to portray time but also nerves in the person pressing it.#

Below is a scene from Spiderman, where he designs his costume.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPa9rq0ZMT0

Arranging the order of events• Media Res• Events taking place in the present are interrupted by images that have taken place

in the past.• Flashbacks• Rare occasions there are flash-forward's• By their nature ‘flash forwards’ can be confusing as they can only be understood

once the event has occurred on scene.Easy Rider – Captain America is interrupted as he talks by a shot of burning debris on the side of the road. Only later will viewers realise that the debris is from CA motorcycle crash at the

end of the film

Time and SpaceEditing draws the viewers attention to the detail

• Close up (example of the very first ‘close up’ used in film)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2X_BZpnWFc

• EstablishingExample: Friends http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdClvwG9uH8The close up shot on chandlers facial expression helps put the emssage

across that joey is an idiot.

This drawers the viewers attention to a number of things; the emotional tenor of a conversation, the object of a characters gaze, important detail in the mise en scene and the group dynamics of a scene.

Shot reverse shotConversation between two people.

One speaks to the other listening.

Rule of thumb is: the actors will never speak .directly to the viewer as this destroys the illusion of a naturally unfolding story.

Cameras are normally slightly angles to the side rather than using point of view shots.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLkUHZ1qips

Eye line matchThe match cut uses the characters line of sight• Powerful storytelling devise as it This draws the viewers into a characters

thought process and emotional stateCutaways• Unlike eye line match a cut away is not character centered, the on screen

appearance of an object does not depend on the character having to ‘see it’ in the previous shot

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VPMEKCITvs

Creating meaning outside the story

• Continuity is consistency of the characteristics of persons, plot, objects, places, events, abilities and the fictional universe seen by the reader or viewer over some period of time.

• 180 degree rule is a basic guideline regarding the on-screen spatial relationship between a character and another character or object within a scene. Examples of when this is used are Ant & Dec and Jedward.

• Soviet Montage (political meaning) was a theory from Eisenstein and he created 5 methods of montage being Metric, Rhythminc, Tonal, Overtonal and Intellectual.

TASK 3• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlrqaAjBwS4

The Hangover is a film where camera angles and shots are vital to help create the feeling of being confused and being hung over. The selected scene I have chosen, shows loads and loads of different angles. Depending on what's’ happening and where the location is, the shots will change and will attempt to try and suck you in to the situation. At the beginning of the clip the shot types are one shots and panning shots. As the clip goes on and more people come in creating more conversations, two shots begin to come into use as well as dolly zooms and over shoulder shots.