Jacob Laidler

Editing is the activity of prepare footage and sound in order to be used for

presentation, adapting it to suit your desired needs creating a desired

product.

Editing is like a jigsaw, without editing the footage they will not fit together

correctly, and the film will be long, drawn out and make very little sense.

Editing can change a large amount of things within the film, such as the

overall speed, the film can be long, allowing the audience to have the ability

to view everything and showing the audiences the atmosphere is a slow

paced, Or the fast paced.

Editing is a major part of creating a film, from giving a film form and joining

the scenes, to creating the correct atmosphere, adding effects, etc. Editing

covers all of this making it vital, and a huge part of filming.

Early editing consisted very much of using a heavy, cumbersome camera.

Editing was usually done, by once the scene was finished filming the camera

would be stopped and moved to the next position. Usually keeping the film in

one position.

Due to the inability to edit through digital means. Each frame had to be

physically cut and placed together. This was done through a splicing

machine. Unlike digital editing this was far more time consuming. Discarded

footage could be lost, if it was removed accidentally. This means the editor

would have to go through the film with the director in order to make sure the

scenes follow chronological order.

The Lumière Brothers, Auguste and Louis Lumière were the first directors to

display their film to a paying audience within theatres. Not only this but they

are credited as being the first filmmakers, with the first motion real film,

Sortie de l'usine Lumière de Lyon, shot in 1894.

The Lumière brothers had also invented the Cinématographe, this was a

more compact and lightweight than the previous “Kinetograph”

He was a central aspect in the creation in creation of the first projected

movie show which aired 23rd of April 1896.

He later became a projectionist, with this he gained the ability to edit, using

reels of footage illegally duplicating them. Not only this, he also attempted to

create his own camera and projector, however this failed.

In 1900 he returned to Edison’s company, Vitascope. However with no

desire to fill his previous engineering role. He taken on the role of being a

director and producer, due to his excellent editing skills . Creating The Great

Train Robbery, which had use of innovative editing techniques.

D.W. Griffiths, was a director for The Birth Of a Nation which made

pioneering use of camera techniques, such as still-shots, panoramic long-

shots, panning camera shots, night-shots, etc. As well as pioneered

narrative techniques.

It was one of the first feature length American films, not only this but struck a

vast amount of popularity, this set a stage for feature length films.

Due to his contribution to editing, and cinema, he is considered a largely

important character in the birth of cinematography.

Continuity editing, is a seamless edit which boasts an excellent narrative

skill, which has the appearance of being invisible due to the lack of

transitions. Due to this viewers are able to easily follow the film and plot.

Continuity editing was developed in Hollywood between 1908-1920 during

the early days of cinematography.

Montage editing is a technique which is usually used in order to show the

passing of time in a scene, with the use of short shots and transitions, such

as Dissolve, slide, wipe, etc. in order to increase the pace and the narrative

forward.

This displays information of the location, time and events occurring through

short clips to effectively show time passing, allowing the audience

understand that time is moving by.

Lev Kuleshov was a film theorist and believed editing was the most

important part of film-making. In an Experiment he displayed that a different

pattern of footage, the way it is edited, changed the audiences view. This

consisted of the audience watching a movie of as shot of actor Ivan

Mosjoukine which then changed to a different scene using, depending on

what it looked like he viewed, even though it was the same shot of

Mosjoukine each time.

Battleship Potemkin is a silent film which was directed by Sergei Eisenstein.

It was created with the intent to be propaganda, trying to gain the emotional

support of the audience towards the rebellious crew of the Battleship

Potemkin, while testing out his theory of editing.

French New Wave – French New Wave was a style which was used by

French film around 1950 to 1960. This style used portable equipment, this

meant it required very little set-up time. The French New Wave style

displayed a documentary style.

Jump Cut – Is a film style which uses two shots of the same thing, however

the position of the camera changes, in order to create an effect of jumping

forward in time this creates a disorientating effect on the audience rather

than Hollywood Montage editing. However due to this it breaks the rule of

continuity editing.

The Jazz singer was a 1927 feature length musical which is famed for being

the first movie to have use of synchronized dialogue, while displaying the

potential of dialogue within films.

Diegetic Sound: A Diegetic sound is a sound which is visible on screen or is

implied to be outside of the frame. This covers things such as dialogue or

audio made objects such as music instruments.

Non-Diegetic Sound: A Non-Diegetic sound however is a sound which is not

on visible on screen nor during the action. This can include commentary by

a narrator, atmospheric music, and added sound-effects.

Non-Linear Editing Systems – Non-Linear Editing allows you to access any

frame within digital video footage. Not only this but due to the ability to

freedom and copy-paste nature it is easily used.

Movie Ola – Movie Ola was invented by Iwan Serrurier in 1924. It allowed a

editor not view film while editing.

Flat Beds – A Flat Bed is a machine which allows editing of a motion picture.

This is done by separate footage and audio files being placed of plates. The

plates move back and forth, or locked together to synchronise it.

Modern/Digital Editing – Modern/Digital Editing is done through the use of

computers. By uploading the footage on to computers and editing, which can

be done through a multitude of different programs.