FARBEN NIKON AHAMEDUnit 1, 16, 29

Task 4

EDITING

Editing is an important part in a media

text making as before the actual

product gets released changes to the

raw material have to be made before the audience can consume it.

Editing is when you alterate raw

footage based on the purpose of it and

editing is powerful as you can change

things such as space and time.

Editing can and has to be used in

different contests as it can create a specific pace in TV programmes, Films,

music videos and even in news.

KEY THINGS

There are 4 key things to consider when editing:

- Storytelling

- Combination of shots

- Creating pace

- 180 degrease role

By starting from storytelling we have these 2 key terms: Narrative and Storyline, what is the difference between them?

1. Narrative in what order events have been shown

2. Storyline The plan, what the story is about.

STORYLINE & NARRATIVE

The storyline, which is what the media text is about, can have two different types of

ending, one is a open ended ending and the other one is a closed ending.

Having a open ended ending means that the story hasn’t finished yet which means that

there is going to be a sequel, or something else that will tell you the ending and often

times this is a good commercial move because as people like your media content you

can make more money with a sequel which people are almost forced to watch or get as they liked the previous part of it. In open ended situations, producers tend to not to leave

too many unanswered questions as then the fans might not be happy of waiting till the

next release of the product.

Instead, a closed ending means that the story finishes there and that there is no continue of narration, this is used when the producers know that there is no need to add more

things about characters, story or events as everything has been already answered.

OPEN ENDED ENDING

A clear example of a open ended ending is Transformers as at the

end of each film we can always see a scene where “Optimus

Prime”, one of the main characters says something that relates to

the message of the film and then does or says something that

makes the audience think about what’ s going to happen

afterwards.

In addition to that, on transformers 4 we

also have “Megatron” as he was able to

escape from humans again and survive

which obviously means that he is going to

come back emphasising a sequel to this

film.

OPEN ENDED ENDING

Another clear example of a open ended ending is the film

“Skyline” which is a alien invasion science fiction thriller film

that ends in a weird way as the main character gets captured by the aliens and then his brain gets moved on to

a alien’s brain almost as human brains are their food, but it

seems that he is not dead yet as he

takes control of the alien body and

starts killing the others in the alien ship

as he was trying to save his wife/

girlfriend. And that’s when the open

ended ending comes as he remains an alien after saving his wife, still in the

alien ship, leaving the audience with

a big question. “What’s going to

happen afterwards?”

CLOSED ENDED ENDING

A example of a closed ended ending is “I am legend” with Will Smith as the main character, towards the end he finds finally a cure to the vampire infection and at the same time the Darkseekers assault the laboratory sealing themselves in with the female Darkseeker on which the protagonist was experimenting on; but because he found a cure he gave it to his wife Anna and then he takes a grenade and kills the Darkseekers and himself, saving the cure as before suiciding with the grenade he let his wife and child escape from the city. The next day, before the crack of dusk, Anna and Ethan discover that her theory is right as they arrive at the survivors’ camp in Vermont. They are greeted by some military officers and Anna hands the cure to one of them and the film ends.

I am legend

ending

STORYLINE & NARRATIVE

The story can be narrated in two different ways, in a linear way and in a non linear way.

When the story is being told in a linear way it means that the events follow a

chronological order and usually this technique is used to not to confuse the viewer so

that the message can be easier to understand, whereas when the story is being told in a

non linear way it means that the events do not follow a chronological order and with this

technique some people may get confused, but sometimes it is really useful to explain

some scenes in a better way.

LINEAR STORYLINE

A linear storyline is a story that is being told in a chronological order and it’s the most common way to tell a story as it makes it easier for

the audience to understand the plot and what happens to the

characters. Even if flashbacks are added in a media text, the story

is still linear as long as it is being told in a chronological way.

LINEAR STORYLINE

Here’s an example of a linear storyline: The conjuring

The plot of this film is linear and there is no going back in time, it’s a

common horror movie, paranormal events are happening in a house,

some demonologists come to solve the situation, they do an exorcism and

then then family that got saved lives happily.

NON LINEAR STORYLINE

A non linear storyline has the events not put in a chronological order and producers

use this technique to be different than the usual chronological storyline that everyone

does and to make people think more about the story and the characters as they need

to be able to solve “puzzles” which should make the media product more interactive

to the consumers as it’s not just something you just watch.

As explained before, a non linear storyline can be also used to explain something in a better way.

NON LINEAR STORYLINEA example of a storyline that is not being shown

in a chronological order is the music video Katy

Perry – Last Friday Night where straight at the

beginning we see the protagonist being lost as

she had no idea on what happened to her

room to when the video shows something that

happened in the past that explains why the house was a mess at the beginning.

Here is when

we see the

house all

messed up

like it just had

a party.

This is a shot taken after the beginning

scene of the protagonist and we can

notice that people are having a party

which explains why the house was like

that in the first scene.

Katy Perry – Last Friday Night

COMBINATION OF SHOTS

The use of a variety of combination of shots in different angles is necessary in the

making of a media text as it is really useful to attract and draw the viewer’s eyes onto

something you want to show which can be the setting, the feelings of some characters or relationships. Being able to use a wide range of shots at the right time is

a skill that needs to develop a lot in editing as you need to be careful on the order in

which you put shots, you should move from one shot to another slowly without

jumping too much and by this I mean that for example, if you want to go from a Long shot to a extreme close up you have to do a mid shot, then a close up and then a

extreme close up and this process has to be done even when you go in the opposite

way.

COMBINATION OF SHOTS

Why do we have to follow this pattern? Simply because we, as producers don’ t want to

let the viewers move too much their eyes as that can be confusing and unpleasant, if a scene is focused on a particular character and you move from a shot to another the

eyes of the viewer might be confused as the main focus of the scene shifts from one part

of the screen to another (for example from a low angle to a bird eye view)

Example of good use of combination of shots.

Eastenders clip

Close up Mid shot Mid Long shot

CREATING PACE

Creating pace is a editing technique used to create a sense of pace and it is used

a lot especially in music videos as you need to cut to the beat to match the

footing to the music/song. Although creating pace is one of the most important

things to consider when making a music video, it is vital in TV programmes too as

sometimes there are scenes where many cuts are needed due to specific

situations. Also the music has to fit the theme of the scene so that all flows natural.

CREATING PACE

Example of creating pace: FEDEZ - TUTTO IL CONTRARIO Prod. Jt

(OFFICIAL VIDEO)

In this music video

there were a lot of

cuts and they all

have been done

based on the beat of

the sound so that the

video can be more

enjoyable to watch

as you listen to the

song

180 DEGREE RULE

This role states that once two (or more) characters are being

established then they must remain on that side from the camera’s

point of view.

This role cannot be ignored and in some situations such as in interviews or general conversations breaking this role can cause

confusion and may disturb the viewer’s look.

180 DEGREE ROLE

A perfect example is a

football match, they always

film from the same side for

the whole match and sometimes they do change

angles to show what’s

happening from a different

scene but they never change side completely.

Changing side can confuse a lot the viewers as they got used

to see from which side a team is playing and this is one of the

many reasons for which you should respect the 180 degree

role.

Football match

CONTINUITY ERRORS

Continuity errors are errors being made during films and they are

hard to find as they consists on having mistakes in props, locations and costumes. These errors have to be constantly checked as

scenes are being filmed in different times and places, so even the

simplest and obvious thing which can be a difference in haircut

from one shot to another can make the viewer feel weird as everything should be the same from one scene to another.

CONTINUITY ERRORS

Here is an example of a mistake in a famous film, which is Titanic.

When Rose is trying to rescue Jack she spies a fire

axe. Smashing all the glass out from the holder she

grabs the axe and turns round. The next camera

shot shows Rose standing in front of the case with

almost all of its glass intact.

CONTINUITY ERRORS

In the scene where Forrest goes and visits

Jenny (and is introduced to his son), there is

an iron on the ironing board in the

background. It stands up, then down, then

up. The child's artwork in the background

also disappears.

MATCH ON ACTION

Match on action is when one action is being filmed from a specific angle and then cut to

another angle to continue or end it, it is a really difficult technique to apply as actors need

to try doing it several times before they get it right; at the beginning of the second shot

that continues or ends the previous one actors need to be at the same exact position as they were at the end of the previous shot.

Eastenders clip

(0.3s – 0.6s)

In this bit of clip she goes down to

grab the beer

And this is when the match on

action happens as the previous

shot has been completed in this

shot where she actually picks up

the bottle

PARALLEL EDITING

Parallel editing happens when 2 scenes are being shown at the

same “in film” time and it is used to o show the viewers that more

things are happening at the same time. It is also useful to leave

more suspense to the viewers as there can be a scene that is fast

phased that then gets cut to another scene where all looks calm. As an overall is a really good technique that is useful when you

have more than one story that has to be told at the same time.

PARALLEL EDITING

This is a clip from the film “The Silence

of the Lambs” and at some point the

producers used parallel editing to

show what the FBI is doing and In the

other side what the criminal Bill is

doing.

The Silence of the Lambs

parallel editing clip

CUTAWAY

Cutaway is another technique of editing which doesn’t involve the

main focus of the scene, what it does is cutting a scene where the

camera was focused on a specific character to show other things

and characters around it. This technique is used a lot and

specifically when sport matches are being shown on TV as

sometimes the camera moves away from the actual match to

show the reaction of the people watching or even the instructors

watching at the edge of the field.

CUTAWAY

This is a clip from “The GodFather”

https://videos.files.wordpress.com/Y7EaoGfX/the-godfather-clip_dvd.mp4

The camera moves from the main focus to show what’s happening around the main

characters as it was crowded and people might be interested on what was going on

around them.

JUMP CUT

Jump cut is a technique used to reduce a long take by editing out

one or more sections. Often times watching a scene where a

character is doing something and nothing else happens can be

boring and because of that editors cut to the end (like walking your way back home and then cut into being in front of their house).

JUMP CUT

This example is taken from the film “Snatch” and

in this scene they go on a robbery to take some

diamonds and at the end after actually getting

the diamonds the scene suddenly cuts to the

characters being already on the car.

MATCH CUT

A match cut is a technique that is used rarely in films and TV programmes, but can be really useful in adverts and it is an action that

is shown in one scene and then repeated in a similar fashion in the next

one.

Match cut is used to make the change of scene smoother and to tell

the viewer that there is a relationship between the two ( or more )

scenes and it a good way of changing scene.

MATCH CUT

The best example of match cut is the advert made by the

company John Lewis for the 150th anniversary and in this advert there is a constant use of match cut as actions end in

a scene and then on the other scene a character does the

same action but in a different context and place.

The company used this technique in this video to show the progress and the history of the business.

John Lewis 150

anniversary

advert

SHOT REVERSE SHOT

A shot reverse shot is used in a discussion between 2 or more

people and the camera angle firstly shows a specific character’s

face and then it shifts to the other character who is talking then

looks back to the other character based on who is speaking

SHOT REVERSE SHOT

This is another clip of EastEnders that shows really well the technique

“Shot reverse shot”.

In this scene there is a conversation between two people and each

time someone speaks, the camera either shows the facial

expression of the other person or shows the face of the one talking.

EastEnders clip

TRANSITIONS

Transitions are when you fade in/out and as in match cut it is used

to make a change of scene smoother, fluent and better looking; it

is also used in specific scenes to emphasise a flashback, a hot climate or a specific scene.

Fade ins and fade outs are the second most common type of

transition. Fade outs happen when the picture is gradually replaced

by black screen or any other solid colour. Traditionally, fade outs

have been used to conclude movies. Fade ins are the opposite: a

solid colour gradually gives way to picture, commonly used in the

beginning of movies.

DISSOLVE

Dissolve happens when one shot fades out while another one fades

in over the top of the previous one.

DISSOLVE

This is an example taken from “Citizen Kane” and we can notice that the previous shot slowly fades away while the next one

appears on top of the previous one

Citizen Kane clip

SUPERIMPOSITION

Superimposition is when one image is being put on top of another to create a special effect of relationship between the two shots

that are taken at the same time.

This is a general example of how superimposition should be used as

the black female with the light brown hair looks like it has a good

combination of colours with the other shot being but on behind her

Superimposition clip

SLOW/FAST MOTION

Slow/fast motion is when you slow down or speed up a scene to

give the viewer a different feeling of the scene as slow phased

scene can be more detailed and give suspense whereas fast phased scene can emphasise time passing or something that

happens so quick that you can’t even see it.

SLOW FAST MOTION

This example is taken from the last fighting scene of “Suicide

Squad” and as the “Squad” is about to kill the antagonist with a

grenade we can notice the slow motion being used to give more

tension to the viewer and to put in evidence the details and the

situation in which the characters are.

After the explosion, after everything went as planned the slow

motion stopped and it was normal.

ELLIPSIS

Ellipsis is the editing out of a period of time as it can be boring to

watch it entirely and It gets cut out because it is a obvious thing that people expect the character to be able to do.

ELLIPSIS

This is a short clip that explains really well how ellipsis works as the

main character reads a book on how to make a cake and then it

cuts on other scenes where everything is being prepared as if he

has already done some steps. It is being used to entertain better the viewer as it is not boring as watching the entire scene on where

he prepares the props and ingredients.

This is the link for the scene:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg3viFdohH4

HISTORY OF EDITING

Analogue: physical media products

Digital: Electronic media products

Hardware: Is the actual device that you can physically touch

Software: It’s a program inside a hardware that cannot be touched

Editing: The editing process can involve correction, condensation,

organization, and many other modifications performed with an

intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate and complete work.

HISTORY OF EDITING

The term is derived from the traditional process of working with film, but increasingly involves the use of digital technology.

Early films were short films that were one long, static, and locked-down shot. Motion in the shot was all that was necessary to amuse an audience, so the first films simply showed activity such as traffic moving on a city street. There was no story and no editing. Each film ran as long as there was film in the camera. The use of film editing to establish continuity, involving action moving from one sequence into another, is attributed to British film pioneer Robert W. Paul's Come Along, Do!, made in 1898 and one of the first films to feature more than one shot.

Films at the beginning were being edited through the actual material footage, such as film reels and they were edited (afterwards when editing started becoming better) by hands with scissors by cutting the actual footage in the reels.

HISTORY OF EDITING

Edwin S. Porter worked on a number of minor

films before making Life of an American

Fireman in 1903. The film was the first American

film with a plot, featuring action, and even a close-up of a hand pulling a fire alarm. The

film comprised a continuous narrative over

seven scenes, rendered in a total of nine

shots. He put a dissolve between every shot,

just as Georges Méliès was already doing, and

he frequently had the same action repeated

across the dissolves. His film, The Great Train

Robbery (1903), had a running time of twelve minutes, with twenty separate shots and ten

different indoor and outdoor locations. He

used cross-cutting editing method to show

simultaneous action in different places.

In 1999 films started being created on

hardrives (the first one created was Star

Wars Episode One). In 1903 instead there

was the first use of parallel editing/match

on action.