The History Of Editing.
The first moving image production was shown to the public in 1895. There were no methods of editing the sequence that was created, any "effects" would have to be done in-camera, as in there at the time of filming, leading to the technique being very limited in what could be done. The first film to utilize what today we consider post-production was directed by Robert W. Paul and was entitled Come Along, Do!, released in 1898. The film was the first of its kind as it features more than one shot and therefore showcasing the technique of editing shots into sequences.
Since then things have changed drastically. When editing techniques were further perfected a widespread method was adopted. As all moving picture productions were recorded on film it was edited using the film. A copy of the footage would be made, called the positive, as film was created as negative. The positive of the film would then be edited.One of the transitions, still used in modern day film making, is called a cut. This is where one scene ends and the next scene immediately starts. The term "cut" comes from the older days of editing in which film would have to physically be cut by a person, or machine, and then taped back together to create the effect.
After the takeover of non-linear editing systems, editing footage on computers, the role of linear editors, cutting clips manually, became more and more redundant as more people were looking to digitize their productions. The linear method of film editing is still going however it is a lot less popular than it used to be due to technological advances. Since the improvement of non-linear editing systems, various different techniques have become more popular. Nowadays the majority, if not all, editing work on movies is done digitally through a video editing software such as Adobe's Premiere Pro, or Sony's Vegas to name a few. A final technique which is still used today is in-camera editing where all the effects are performed live, for example an explosion effect can be loaded and set in-camera so when they start rolling it can be triggered and can be seen. The opposite of this would be editing the explosion in after. Although this is still used today it is not as common as adding effects in post-production is generally cheaper and can be timed perfectly and edited if needed.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_editing)
An establishing shot is a shot that establishes a place or a setting, it's used to bring in the setting around the actors and give the audience more knowledge if the scene. In my video there was two, establishing shots- one at 0:15 and another at 4:12.
Transitions
Transitions can be done for various effects, it is literally impossible not to have transitions in any sort of film. Transitions help to build up suspense and keep the audience on the toes. I unfortunately don't have any in my short video but, here is an extract from Inception; it has many transition shots throughout the film.
180 Rule
The 180° rule is a basic rule in film making and should be generally stuck to unless the director wanted to deliberately break this rule for effect. The rule is that the camera should stay within 180° of the subject between cuts. If this rule is broken it can cause confusion and disorient the viewer.
Shot-reverse-shot
A shot-reverse-shot is a film technique where a shot views the action from the opposite side of the previous shot, often used during a conversation on screen. In my extract from, Cruel Intentions, this technique is used between 1:38-1:40. This technique gives the audience, the feeling that they are watching from two angles of the interaction.
Match on action shot
A match on action shot is where you see a character performing an action at one camera angle and then the camera angle is changed to see them follow through the action. This shot can be done for effect, to keep the audience in suspense but it is mainly used to identify the person carrying the action. Between, 0:30-0:40 this technique is used to show a girl running in to the church and up the alter and back to the protagonist.
Motivated editing
Motivated editing is where something happens in the preceding shot which affects the current shot. An example of this is a character points into the distance and then the clip cuts to show what the character is pointing at. One example of this could be a eyeline match. An eyeline match is a technique based on the premise that the audience will see in the next shot what the character is looking at in the current shot. From what I could see there was only one motivated edit shot, that was at 2:31.
Screen Time
Often in moving image productions it is clear to see who the main protagonist of the piece is simply due to the amount of screen time they are given. Due to the short clip, the main protagonist seems to be Katherine (Sarah Michelle Gellar) although there was two other protagonist equally as important,
Close Ups
Close ups are also used to indicate and give the audience a chance to identify the main protagonist(s). There is two scenes where a close up is shown, that is 0:57 and Close up of students face at 2:35-2:36.
Point of view shot
A point of view shot shows what a character is looking at. In my extract there is more than one point of view shot, that would be from Katherine at 1:54, 2:03 and 2:15. This gives the audience the sense that they are a part of the film and seeing the scene from the protagonists eyes, which makes them feel more like a part of the film.
Reaction shot
A technique used to portray to the audience who the protagonist of the scene is, it is to show the character's reactions to various events. You will find these techniques at 2:01, 2:11, 2:22 and 3:46, this technique (in my eyes) is placed to either empathize for the character or dislike them.
Shot variation
The clip I have chosen uses a wide variety of different shots to give different perspectives of the sequence such as a medium shot, close up, high shot, long shot, over the shoulder shot and eyeline matches.
A montage is when a series of short shots are filmed and rapidly edited together. Montages are often used to indicate the passing of time.
Providing and withholding information
Providing and Withholding information is a technique used by film makers to decide when it is the right time for the audience to find things out. Providing information to an audience does not necessarily mean that you find out information the same time as the protagonists on the screen. For example, Alfred Hitchcock once said " There's two people having breakfast and there's a bomb under the table. If it explodes, that's a surprise. But if it doesn't..." and that is a great example of providing information.
For example, withholding information is shown in the film The Sixth Sense Dr Malcom Crowe believes he is just living his normal life and dealing with a young boy called Cole who thinks he can see dead people. We discover that Dr Crowe is in fact dead too and he has been in denial about his untimely death. This is a good example of withholding information because we see subtle clues through out the film that Dr Crowe could be dead aswell (e.g. when Cole enters his house Dr Crowe is sitting with his Cole's mum but she does not acknowledge him).
Parallel editing
Parallel editing (cross cutting) is the technique of alternating two or more scenes that often happen simultaneously but in different locations. There is no proof in my clip of parallel editing, although at 3:10 where the scene fades to a girl in a car, to me that appears to be happening at the same time however, it doesn't cut back to the previous scene. So, instead here's an example of cross cutting, in the film 'Silence of the Lambs.' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ts1x6uADFtM
Editing rhythm
Editing Rhythm is the speed that the sequence is edited at. There is a steady rhythm of editing throughout my clip, it's one of the more mellow and calm parts throughout the film. Here is a quicker paced scene, where the editing is faster. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxwuGQ6slhc
Construction of time and space of the story both diegetically and implied
This is when time is constructed using various techniques such as time-lapses. Diagetic & implied types of different ways to show the passing of time. Digetic is when we literally see time passing(time-lapses). Implied is if we see a character get onto a train in the day and get's off when it's dark we would assume that time has passed due to the fact that it's gotten darker in the scene. There is no sign of this technique, although throughout the whole fim I assume there would be chance of this technique coming up.
Cutting to soundtrack
Cutting to soundtrack is where the footage cuts in time with the music. The soundtrack starts to pick up from 1:15 throughout the whole clip, right until the edit when the edits start to show. The song from Cruel intentions was, Bittersweet Symphony.
Multiple points of view
This is when several camera angles are used in quick succession to give us various points of view for the entire sequence. I don't believe this technique is used in this clip, so here is a extract from Iron Man. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWnCg88GmTI
Cutaways
A cutaway shot is the interruption of a continuously filmed action by inserting a view of something else. It is usually, although not always, followed by a cut back to the first shot.
Jump cuts
A jump cut is a cut in film editing in which two sequential shots of the same subject are taken from camera positions that vary only slightly. This type of edit gives the effect of jumping forwards in time.
Other edits that I haven't mentioned are listed below, these are variations of shots, angles and cuts:
Placed just behind her, Over the shoulder shot 0-15 seconds
Long Shot of Katherine, Zoom 0:21-0:23
Medium Shot of Katherine 0:31
Eye-line match of people leaving church 1:04
Tracking shot 1:16-1:26
Medium shot 1:25
Zoom in 1:27-1:29
Medium shot, camera movement with the use of a steady cam 1:31-1:37
Over the shoulder shot 1:37
2 shot medium close up, 1:45
Over shoulder shot 1:47
Reaction shot 2:01
Reaction shot 2:11
Reaction shot 2:22
Eye-line match 2:29
Over the shoulder 3:00
Fade to next shot 3:10
Track and tilt 3:12- 3:16
Cut to flashback 3:27
Cut to flashback 3:38
Cut to flashback 3:49
Over the shoulder 3:50
High shot 3:53
Dissolve from Flashback 3:54
Birds eye view and aerial shot 4:00
Sarah Michelle Gellar's screen-time was approximately 3 minutes
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