Editing

Editing is the activity of selecting scenes to be shown and putting them in a certain order to create a piece of film. 

Editing can be discussed in three parts:

• Order of shots- Continuity/Discontinuity 
• Transitions 
• Space/Time and Rhythm

Order Of Shots:

• The meaning of a sequence can be influenced by the order of how the shots are cut together. 
• Putting two shots together can suggest a connection or emphasise contrast.
• For Example in 1920 Lev Kuleshov put together a piece of film which showed the expression of an actor and edited it together with three separate images. One of a dead women, another with a bowl of soup and a third with a women on a recliner. Each edit presents the man with having different emotions than in the other edits. This was called the Kuleshov Effect
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Transitions:

• Is the process of moving from one shot to another. Most common transition is a cut where one shot is instantaneously replaced with another 
• Another is fade. This is where the preceding shot fades to black from which the following shot emerges.
• Dissolve/Cross Fade The Preceding shot merges into the following shot which results in the two being superimposed 
• Wipe- This is where the image is revealed over another. This can be done Horizontally,Vertically,Diagonally or in a shape like a star. Wipes where famously used in Star Wars: A New Hope 

Space, Time and Rhythm:

Cinematic Space- 

• Cinematic space: Where the action takes place. It is very common to use an establishing shot to show the audience where this film takes place. 
• Spatial Relationships between the actors and objects within that space and scale of cinematic space. Eg: Is the scene taking place in small room or a large city 
• Cinematic Space also asks the audience to think about what people are doing within the scene and what to focus on 

Cinematic Time- The time a sequence takes to play out on screen 

• In a film, time can be compressed or extended so although an action may only take a few seconds it could take a lot longer through editing and building up tension 
• The same can be done for longer sequences that may take a few minutes or possibly longer can be done as quick few second sequences through cut jump cuts done in the post production editing stage 

Rhythm: Sets the tone and pace of a scene 

• Rhythm can be dictated by the music in background or the mood the editor has created and the pace that you edit. 
• To build up the tensions the cuts might be quick however,if the scene is more relaxed the shots will be much longer and the editing will be at a much slower pace.

The Soviet Montage Theory: 

The Soviet Montage theory was coined by Sergei Eisentein was the idea of placing together separate sections of a film could create ideas or have an impact beyond the individual shots.

• Eye + Water= Crying 
• Ear + next door = listening 
• Mouth + Bird = Singing 

Other Editing Cuts can include:

Parallel Editing

Match Cut 

Jump Cut 

Parallel Editing: Also known as Cross Cutting is the technique of alternating two or more scenes that often happen simultaneously but in different locations. If the scenes are simultaneous, they occasionally occur in a single place, Here the characters in these scenes will usually meet or confront each other. Will often be used to create suspense.

Match Cut:

Match Cut is a cut from one shot to another where the two shots are matched by the subject or the subject matter. 

Jump Cut: Is a cut in which two shots of the same subject within a sequence are taken from camera positions that vary only slightly if at all. This type of edit gives the effect of jumping forwards in time.