Download - Principles of editing
Principles of Editing
Ryan Gault
Creating meaning through collage,
tempo and timing
Joining ImagesEditing forms a collage, an assortment of images
joined together to create meaning
The master of collage is Hitchcock http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bieIiX5KLQ
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 while short takes quicken the pace and intensity (For example, long shots for romantic scenes, quick shots for action)
Cont…..
• Studies have suggested that shots are gaining pace compared to The Golden age of Hollywood
• The average shot length was 5.15 seconds it is now 4.75 seconds
• The change of length can be seen when you compare Casablanca to the remake of Sherlock Holmes
• This is due to the fact that films are now electronically cut
Problems
• It 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
Shot transitions• The second way editors adjust the tempo is shot
transitions• Common shot transitions:
Cut from A to B – Pulp Fiction http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qauBQkgJsc4
Fade in/fade out – Hugohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hR-kP-olcpM
Dissolve (overlapping) – Red Riverhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00bbRbEN0sg&feature=related
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
Fades
• Fades 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
Timing of a shot
• The third editing technique is timing of shots• Cut away to emphasis a persons reaction or
response for example• 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
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 timing
• Narrative 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)
Condensing / expanding time
• Collages condense time• 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
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 Space
Editing draws the viewers attention to the detail
• Close up (example of the very first ‘close up’ used in filmhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2X_BZpnWFc
• EstablishingExample: Return of the kingEditing traces the lightening of Pyres across a mountain range in a
majestic call of arms.
This drawers the viewers attention to a number of things; be it 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 shot
• Conversation 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
Eye line match
The match cut uses the characters line of sight• Powerful storytelling devise as it This draws the
viewers into a characters thought process and emotional state
Cutaways• 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
Creating meaning outside the story• Continuity• 180 degree rule• Soviet Montage (political meaning)