Introduction
During this essay I will be explaining the principles and techniques of editing and how it has evolved over time. a story or event recorded by a camera as a set of moving images and shown in a cinema or on television. Right back at the very start of filming when it was about putting a collection of images together, it was thought that film was to have 'no future' as people didn't understand why anyone would want to pay to watch something that they could go outside and watch for free in the street. This was until people started to grasp the concept of parallel editing, in that you could take a clip of something happening in one location and then film somewhere completely different in another location, then put the clips together into a sequence which created a story; which people began to love and it flourished from there. An example of a film that demonstrates a break through in editing techniques was The Great Train Robbery (1903). The film was 10 minutes ling and made up of 14 scenes. This was one of the first edited films by editor Edwin Porter, who used a number of innovative techqnuies which where then un-conventional techniques, including parallel editing, minor camera movement, location shooting and less stage- bound camera placement. Jump-cuts or cross-cuts were a new, sophisticated editing technique, showing two separate lines of action or events happening continuously at identical times but in different places. The film is intercut from the bandits beating up the telegraph operator (scene one) to the operator's daughter discovering her father, to the operator's recruitment of a dance hall posse (scene eleven), to the bandits being pursued, and splitting up the booty and having a final shoot-out (scene thirteen). The film also employed the first pan shots and the use of an ellipsis.
Film editing is the art, technique, and practice of assembling shots into a logical sequence just from raw footage. Editing is equally important if not more so than the filming itself, as that's exactly what the audience are going to see. As Quentin Tarantino said: "For a writer, it's a word. For a composer or a musician. it's a note. For an editor and a filmmaker, it's the frames. the one frame off, or two frames added, or two frames less... it's the difference between a sour note and a sweet note. It's the difference between a clunky clumsy crap and orgasmic rhythm." Editing could be about taking days worth of clips and filming and cutting it down into a 2 hour film. For example a director has an idea of how they want the film to look but its the editors job to portray that through the editing clipping into a sequential manner that makes sense to an audience. An editor really started to get noticed and their importance shown when it was noticed how much power they had to influence an audience. Editors are the key to making a story and holding an audience. This was made more apparent after WWII when propaganda films were more popular and the editing of a movie had such a large impact on how the audience perceived situations. The role of an editor hasn't always been as advanced and technical as it now. When editing started it was mainly seen as a women role as editing clips together was compared to "knitting" as it was so fiddly and precise that the men during that time left them to it. However when sound was introduced in the 1930s, men started to enter the role in numbers as the job was seen as "technical" therefore a mans job as women of this time were deemed as lacking knowledge in this field of work. This was unfair as they took over the womens' roles even though they were actually really good at their job and under- credit; perhaps men should have taught them during the process rather than discarding them. Although a lady called Margret Booth, who was a supervising editor at the time and worked at D.W Griffith's studio in California until he moved his studio to New York and she found work at Louis B. Mayer's studio where she was eventually hatred to cut and assemble negatives, working her way up to MGM cutting films such as Mysterious Lady and The Enemy. Margret still had a lot of power over the editing even when the men started taking control.
This leads onto the powers that editing has. Cutting separate shots together is very powerful. Editing has the power to slow down time in a scene and equally speed it up. This can have a huge image on the audience by making them feel emotion. For example in the film 'Titanic' in the scene where Jack is holding onto a lump of ice and then slowly falls into the sea.
I have decided to you this clip as it has been edited so that it is a slow pace which creates more dramatic tension and allows the audience time to feel the pain which he feels and connection between him and Rose as he falls to his death. Editing also has the power to create a lot of dramatic tension through editing between close up of both their faces so you can see all the detail and emotion they are feeling; you can't miss anything where your heart is literally in your mouth you feel so much pain for them. Where as fast paced and flashing frames can create a sense of panic or excitement amongst an audience. e.g in a car chase moving where there are lots of clip cuts which make the sense more engergic and lively to watch.
Editing is important help us make sense of what we are seeing, this is achieved by clever editing technquies such as the manipulation of diegetic tie, jump-cutting and montages.
Continuity is a big part of filmmaking. If you're shooting a short film or interview, it's important to set the scene and establish your characters in space and time in order for the viewer to follow the action. One of the most basic continuity rules is the 180 Degree Rule. The 180 Degree Rule states that two characters in a scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other. If you don't follow the 180 Degree Rule, or break it intentionally, it disrupts the scene disorients the audience. When you break the 180 degree line, a person who was originally facing left in a scene is all of the sudden facing right. An example of here the 180 degree rule is used is during interviews where there is a shot reverse interview framing where the camera is simple cutting between their faces but in a line so it looks like they are face to face looking at each each other in the same direction. An example of where the 180 degree rule has been broken was in the film the Shinning during the bathroom scene where the rule was broken intentionally to add to the confusion of the scene.
For me film is all about fascination and is much more passive than a book. Different films give off different meanings and messages for people to interpret differently. What one film could mean to me could mean something completely different to someone else and that in its self for me is incredible. Just by watching a film it can instantly alter and affect your mood depending on the scenario and end result; it could even leave you talking and thinking out it for weeks! Films convey a variety of emotions in one horror film you may have feeling of fear, and a romantic - comedy can make you laugh and cry all at the time same time! you might even explore all of these emotions all in one film on its on taking you through almost an emotional roller coaster from beginning to end. In many cases during the editing of a film leaving out parts is equally as important as what you leave in for the audience to see. You don't want you give away to much of the story, sometimes leaving things unsaid makes the film more exciting and more for your own imagination to create its own ending. For me, Bridgit Jones is a great example of how a film gives a sense of escapism even in day to day life. After a long, hard day I could just go home relax and watch this film, switching off to my own life and become engrossed in someone else's; even if it is frictional. Bridgit Jones is edited in such a way where she is narrating her own life in a way that is relatable and realistic to my own life which gives me a more personal connection to watch.
Bibliography
http://www.filmsite.org/20sintro4.html
http://nofilmschool.com/2014/12/what-jean-luc-godards-breathless-can-teach-you-about-editing
https://www.slideshare.net/OrcSmasher1993/how-editing-has-changed-over-time
http://www.elementsofcinema.com/editing/parallel-editing/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000439/
Continuity is a big part of filmmaking. If you're shooting a short film or interview, it's important to set the scene and establish your characters in space and time in order for the viewer to follow the action. One of the most basic continuity rules is the 180 Degree Rule. The 180 Degree Rule states that two characters in a scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other. If you don't follow the 180 Degree Rule, or break it intentionally, it disrupts the scene disorients the audience. When you break the 180 degree line, a person who was originally facing left in a scene is all of the sudden facing right. An example of here the 180 degree rule is used is during interviews where there is a shot reverse interview framing where the camera is simple cutting between their faces but in a line so it looks like they are face to face looking at each each other in the same direction. An example of where the 180 degree rule has been broken was in the film the Shinning during the bathroom scene where the rule was broken intentionally to add to the confusion of the scene.
Jump-cuts are a very important editing techniques used within the film 'Breathless'. This film was made extensive use of jump cuts in a new and exciting way that provided the film with a kinetic energy. The reasoning behind these cuts has long been the subject of debate, with many stories circulated. The director himself has said that they were the result of economic necessity, because the film he had made was roughly two and a half hours long and the film he had been contracted to make was 90 minutes. No matter how it happened, the jump cut had a tremendous impact on the audiences who saw it. This particular scene using the jump-cut edit looks very obvious which adds to the arty effect of the scene, making it look different and stand out amplifying the gritty feel of the film.
"I remember very clearly -- how I invented this famous way of cutting, that is now used in commercials: we took all the shots and systematically cut out whatever could be cut, while trying to maintain some rhythm" Jean-Luc Godard
This video essay by Richard Strong explores the evolution of the montage, pioneered primarily by Sergei Eisenstein, and explains how it set the stage for the introduction of the editing techniques found in Breathless.
For me film is all about fascination and is much more passive than a book. Different films give off different meanings and messages for people to interpret differently. What one film could mean to me could mean something completely different to someone else and that in its self for me is incredible. Just by watching a film it can instantly alter and affect your mood depending on the scenario and end result; it could even leave you talking and thinking out it for weeks! Films convey a variety of emotions in one horror film you may have feeling of fear, and a romantic - comedy can make you laugh and cry all at the time same time! you might even explore all of these emotions all in one film on its on taking you through almost an emotional roller coaster from beginning to end. In many cases during the editing of a film leaving out parts is equally as important as what you leave in for the audience to see. You don't want you give away to much of the story, sometimes leaving things unsaid makes the film more exciting and more for your own imagination to create its own ending. For me, Bridgit Jones is a great example of how a film gives a sense of escapism even in day to day life. After a long, hard day I could just go home relax and watch this film, switching off to my own life and become engrossed in someone else's; even if it is frictional. Bridgit Jones is edited in such a way where she is narrating her own life in a way that is relatable and realistic to my own life which gives me a more personal connection to watch.
Bibliography
http://www.filmsite.org/20sintro4.html
http://nofilmschool.com/2014/12/what-jean-luc-godards-breathless-can-teach-you-about-editing
https://www.slideshare.net/OrcSmasher1993/how-editing-has-changed-over-time
http://www.elementsofcinema.com/editing/parallel-editing/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000439/
