Essay Introduction Film editing is part of the creative process of filmmaking, which is where the final film is brought together in the best way it could be. There are three stages to the editing process. The first stage is called the editors cut which is usually longer than the final film. It involves the editor and director discussing the dailies after each day of shooting. The next stage is called the director’s cut where the director and editor will come together to go over the entire film to see if they need to make sure the film reaches their standard. The last stage in the editing process is called the final cut. This is when a producer who represents the studio’s vision looks over the next cut. The word film editing originated from the original process of working with film, but now has no evolved by the use of digital technology. The Lumière brothers invented the first camera and projector in 1895, which was called the Cinematographer. However, it could only capture and play moving images.
Development & History of editing The development of editing come in two categories, one that is linear and the other, nonlinear. Linear editing is about keeping the film in order whereas non-linear editing had more to it. It can be used in Final Cut pro where it can access any part of the film and manipulate it wherever it is in the sequence. In the 1890s, editing in film development was done by camera. During this, the camera operator would simply stop cranking which then allowed some early special effects. In 1889, an American company run by Thomas Edison created pictures that were mostly long static shots. For them to do this, the company invented the Kinetograph and the Kinetoscope. The Kinetograph was simply used for capturing images. On the other hand, the purpose of the Kinetoscope was for viewing motion pictures. One of the main workers at the company were named Edwin S Peter who was in charge of the motion picture production area. This allowed him to be considered as an inventor of early editing techniques. However, Edwin was not the only creator of early film editing. DW Griffith used close ups, lighting and camera movement to make the action shots in films stand out more. To add more excitement to the films, he would intercut shots of a different size and frame to give a sense of rhythm. In addition, DW Griffith established the use of invisible editing which meant that the cut between shots would be an accurate match. This style of editing is still used today in mainstream cinema, as it is the main method of cutting between shots.
Purpose of editing The first films weren’t edited as they only consisted of one camera angle throughout the whole film. This would mean it wouldn’t be very entertaining for the audiences. After this, the filmmakers realized that by using different camera angles and different scenes would improve the audience’s interpretation and experience of the film. Editing is used for a lot of things such as storytelling as it is edited into a specific order to engaging the viewer,
creating a sense of time and space. Editing is really just combining shots into a sequence to create a story. Different genres of film have different conventions when it comes to editing such as different techniques and styles that are used to illustrate the genre. Without editing it would be difficult to create suspense and tension in movies to make it more motivating for people to go and watch the film. The purpose of editing has proved to be important as it has increased the development of drama in films and TV shows. Editing has completely improved films and continues to do so. It is one of the most essential aspects in film making.
Conventions & Techniques 180-degree rule
There are a majority of techniques and conventions that are usually used in film editing. One of the most important technique is the 180-degree rule. If you don’t follow this, then the audience will become very confused when watching the film as they wont know where the scene is being filmed. The purpose of the 180-degree rule is that you use an or imagine a 180-degree line. This then becomes a sort of guideline for the camera because you can’t move it beyond the line. If you do, you would be able to see the other cameras in the same shot this is how the audience would become confused. In Peter Jackson's ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers’, Gollum has a conversation with himself or with a duplicate of him. As the filmmakers use the 180-degree rule, the Gollum that is presented as “good” is looking left while he speaks to the other Gollum that is seen as "evil", who is looking right. The audience notices that Gollum as two different characters talking to each other.
Match cut Match cut is a cut in a film between two different objects, compositions or spaces but they have to graphically match to make a strong continuity. A famous example of a match cut comes from the film ‘ Psycho’. In the famous "shower scene" right after Marion Crane is murdered, the camera shows blood flowing down the shower drain, then cuts to a shot of her eye. This implies that life is being drained out of her. Match cut isn’t as important as other techniques but it is the most effective as it can have a metaphorical meaning behind it just like the shower scene in Psycho.
Crosscutting Crosscutting is another convention that is commonly used, mainly to determine the action happening at once in two different locations. The camera will cut away one action to the other in a cross-cut which implies the similarity of both action. The most famous practitioner in crosscutting was W.D. Griffiths. One of his pieces of work that involved crosscutting is ‘A Corner in Wheat and The Lonedale Operator’. In A Corner in Wheat, it cross-cuts between the activities of rich businessmen and poor people waiting in line for bread which creates a separation between the two actions to encourage the viewer to compare both of the scenes.
Transitions Transitions are very effective in the film industry as they make a smooth cut in between scenes without it looking improper. Every scene that gets cut needs to be smooth otherwise it would just be a jump-cut to a black screen with every different shot. This is what makes
transitions so important. There are a variety of different transitions such as dissolve, wipe, fade and many more. An example of a transition happens in the film ‘Star Wars: The Empire strikes back’, they use the clock wipe and diagonal wipe transitions when fighting against the enemy. The clock wipe transition appears as the entrance of the enemy ship. The Star War movies use the wipe transition a lot as it can be very attention grabbing.
Conclusion Overall, the purpose of editing determines the meaning in a film. In most films, editing helps to control at least four parts of film narrative such as what order you receive information about the plot, how much information you are supposed to get about the narrative, how you are supposed to feel about events and characters in the film and how you are supposed to experience the pace of the narrative. It gives an audience more reason to see the film as it can be memorable for them, therefore they can recommend it to other people. Editing can highlight key parts in a film, identifying that whatever could be happening is an important scene or role. In my opinion, if it weren’t for editing then we wouldn’t have as many films like we do today. Editing is the reason why we enjoy watching films and find them entertaining, otherwise, it would be one continued shot without any breaks or jump cuts.
References http://ihaveethicsme.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/conventions-and-techniques.html http://crizah-editing.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/whats-purpose-of-film-editing.html https://prezi.com/4zoe6g0x04we/unit-16-film-and-video-editing-techniques/? utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy http://www.infoplease.com/cig/movies-flicks-film/purposes-editing.html