Why segment a narrative?

The problem of citation: defining large narrative units. Segmentation helps us understand the basic principles of

plot structure and organisation.- In narrative films, the primary level of action and sense is the scene or sequence and their internal organisation, not the shot

Our global understanding of the film system rests not at the level of the image, but through the association and juxtaposition of images.

- The organisation of shots into segments, segments into large parts, and parts into acts

The five s’s

shot: scene: sequence: sequence-shot: segment: a significant portion of a film’s plot,

usually with spatial and/or temporal continuity, and including the beginning and ending of a story action

How to define a segment

Beginnings and endings of segments are often signalled by “marks of punctuation”: fades, dissolves, wipes, irises, or “hard” cuts.

A segment is often defined by unities of time, place, and action.

- a single narrative idea will be followed through from statement to conclusion

Apprehension of formal unity in the ordering of the shots. Apprehension of formal unity in the context of the film

considered as a whole.

What is editing?

“The foundation of film art is editing.” -V.I. Pudovkin, 1928

Editing is:the joining of one shot to another, involving the selection of shots from footage already shot and then the assembling these shots.

For commercial films, editing is a post-production phase of the film-making process.

The cut

- a complete and instantaneous change from one shot to another

- typically used to join shots where there is no change of narrative time or place (i.e., within scenes)

The dissolve

- a brief super-

imposition of one

shot onto another

(for longer

superimpositions:

lap dissolve)

The fade

- fade-out, fade-in

- an optical effect, executed in the film lab

Principles of film editing

1. Graphic relations

2. Rhythmic relations

3. Spatial relations

4. Temporal relations

Graphic continuity

The graphic match: the linking of two shots with similarities of shapes, colours, tones, and/or compositional elements

Graphic discontinuity (mild)

Shot / reverse shots:

over-the-shoulder shots

shot / reaction shots

Rhythmic relations

The number and pattern of cuts, dissolves, or fades determines a film’s rhythm or pace, and the viewer’s experience of time in psychological/emotional terms

variations of shot lengthreduction = increase in tempolengthening = slowing of tempo

Spatial relations

Analytical breakdown - the breaking down of a

pro-filmic space into a number of shots of differing views/scales

Master shot cutting variation

Characters’ physical relations to each other in space are implied by the directions of their looks--the master shot then “places” them all in an anticipated setting

The Kuleshov effect

Any series of shots that in the absence of an establishing shot prompts the spectator to infer a spatial whole on the basis of seeing only portions of the space.

Experiment 1: 1) a young man walks from left to right;

2) a woman walks from right to left;

3) they meet and shake hands. The young man points;

4) a large white building is shown, with a broad flight of steps;

5) the two ascend the steps.

The shooting of all five of these shots were done in varied locations, but the spectator perceived as them as a spatial whole.

Real time v. reel time

In very few films does real time = reel time; most films contract real time through:

- elliptical editing

- the cutaway

- the montage sequence

Expanding real time: overlapping editing