EDITING

FOR THURSDAYQuiz #4 will be administered IN CLASS

Come to class ready to talk about the role that non-diegetic sound has had in the films we’ve watched so far.

Think also about the role of sound in Singin’ in the Rain. What examples of counterpoint do you find? What examples of parallelism do you find?

“Continuity” – general set of rules and practices that allow for relatively seamless transition between shots. Designed to create sense of verisimilitude, sense that things unfold in real time, that time and space are linear and coherent.

Unlike “disjunctive” editing, “continuity” is supposed to be invisible to the viewer.

Some filmmakers may intentionally violate the rules of continuity to create particular effects.

What is the most important rule in “continuity” editing?

The 180-DEGREE RULE states that interactions between characters exist on an axis and that the characters should maintain the same spatial relationship to one another.

If person 1 is established as being to the right of person 2 two during a scene, they should stay there until the scene (or the axis) changes.

His Girl Friday (Howard Hawks, 1940)

What do you risk doing by violating this rule?

THE 30 DEGREE RULE: this rule states that the camera should move at least 30 degrees between contiguous shots of the same subject.

Its basic logic is that you should avoid moving from one cut to the next in a straight line toward the same subject. Such cuts are jarring and look like jump cuts.

It is often easier to mask these differences (character has shifted slightly, arms are in different positions, etc.) with a more dramatic shift in angle.

ESTABLISHING SHOT: this shot (often a LS, sometimes an ELS or MLS) establishes the scene and generally includes most, if not all, of the action that will subsequently unfold (often in SHOT/REVERSE SHOTS and/or POV/REACTION SHOTS).

ESTABLISHING SHOT

Breaking Bad (Vince Gilligan, 2008-)

SHOT/REVERSE SHOT: shot of one character on one end of the 180 degree axis followed by shot from the other character at the other end of the axis. Often used

during a conversation.

SHOT

REVERSE SHOT

REVERSE SHOT

SHOT

SHOT

Breaking Bad (Vince Gilligan, 2008-)

RE-ESTABLISHING SHOT

RE-ESTABLISHING SHOT: re-establishes the larger setting for the action that precedes it.

Breaking Bad (Vince Gilligan, 2008-)

EYELINE MATCH: the shot of a character looking off screen is followed by shot of subject/object the character is supposed to be looking at.

The Empire Strikes Back (Irvin Kershner, 1980)

MOVEMENT EDITING-contiguous shots are joined through movement (direction and/or pace) that either corresponds or contrasts from one shot to the next.

“MATCH-ON-ACTION” CUT (sometimes referred to as “CUTTING ON ACTION”): continuity technique wherein movement in one shot cuts to continuation of that movement in the next shot.

2001: A Space Odyssey (Stanley Kubrick, 1968)

GRAPHIC EDITING

“GRAPHIC MATCH” CUTS bridges two contiguous shots through compositional similarities (shape, color, movement), creating a sense of seamless transition even between two otherwise different contexts or subjects/objects.

Breaking Bad (Vince Gilligan, 2008-)

DISJUNCTIVE EDITING-calls attention to the cuts, can disorient viewers and confuse them as the temporal and spatial dynamics of the diegetic world.

“JUMP” CUT: a cut between shots that creates an abrupt and jarring jump in time and/or space. This is disjunctive because it works against the seamless flow between shots and undermines the coherent sense of time, space, and action.

Disjunctive editing may also employ “overlapping editing,” where an action is repeated from either the same of different perspectives.

Breathless (Jean Luc Godard, 1960)

MONTAGE-uses the cut to create contrasts. Often used to startle the viewer and sometimes used to make political points.

RHYTHMIC EDITING-organization of cuts according to desired tempo.

OVERLAPPING EDITING-creates the repetition of an action over several cuts

PARALLEL EDITING (sometimes called “CROSS CUTTING” or “INTERCUTTING”): the intercutting of separate events to suggest that they are occurring simultaneously (a burning house and firefighters hurrying through the streets, etc). This can be used to suggest a sense of urgency, to juxtapose two distinct themes, to surprise the audience.