Conventions & Techniques

Conventions & Techniques

Seamless/continuity- A way of editing that is also known as an invisible cut, the viewer doesn't realize the cute because it flows so smoothly.

Example of Seamless/ContinuityBritney Spears- Hold It Against Me Within the music video, the scenes alter with one shot of Britney being in a bar and it moving straight to a road. The change is smooth and you can detect the cut because it is so quick and seamless.

Motivated- is when the scene cuts to another scene that was not in the previous scene

Montage- Piecing different scenes together to run continuously . E.G. Karate Kid

All the different fights are compressed into a montage sequence, compressing time and keeping the audiences attention on the action. Within this scene, the 3 day competition is compressed into a 2-3 minute sequence. This allows the director to show all the necessary scenes in a shorter sequence keeping the audiences focus without them loosing interest.

Jump-cut- Moving from one scene to another

An example of a jump cut is: 

The scene swaps from various location. The clip is only 17 seconds long but it it shows a number of different shots from different locations. The quality of the edits aren't that good because of the time is was shot at but you can tell the jumps cuts really well.

Parallel Editing- Scenes that are happening together but at different locations

The scene alternates between events happening on the inside and the outside of the house. Giving the audience the view of both events happening at the same time.Through using parallel editing the viewer is able to see two sides of the story from different characters perspectives. In the example given, the scenes alternate between the police outside the house and Hannibal Lecter inside his house. Through alternating the scenes, it's a quick and easy way of moving the story along.

180 Degree Rule- it’s an imaginary line called an ‘axis’ that splits a circle in half and stops the camera going over 180 degrees.

 The camera cannot cross the 180 degree line of it will disrupt the view as the actors would have gone from left to right and right to left.

P.O.V. Shot- is a camera angle that shows the viewer what the character is seeing

The shot allows the viewer to be part of the scene as they are seeing exactly what the character is seeing. In the example given, the camera is acting as the main protagonist as he walks into the bar. Other characters interact with the camera as if it was the main protagonist, giving a point of view shot.

Cutaways- Is a shot of something that is different to the current part of the scene

 A scene from the Godfather, the scene starts with Michael talking the cuts to Kay, back to Michael then to the singer. Through using cutaways, it shows that there is still other action taken place within the scene and it's not just the two characters interacting.

Shot-reverse-shot- 2 shots edited together then alternate between characters. Most commonly used in conversation scenes.

The conversation between Will and Elizabeth uses shot-reverse-shot to show the emotions on the actors faces as they are talking. The scene alternates between the two throughout mixed with the body language of the characters and the non-diegetic music, it amplifies the seriousness of the scene. 

Cutting to Soundtrack- Cutting to a soundtrack is when the pace of the scene is motivated by the pace of the music.

The body language of the artist increases with the drums in the song. When the drums pick up, so does the movement of the artist. Through keeping pace with the tempo of the song, it makes the video look more interesting and fast paced because the scenes are cut fast and edited with fast pace added to them.

Transitions 

Cut- one shot is replaced by another

One photo is replacing another, so the old photo has been cut.

Dissolve- Bringing together the end and beginning of a scene

The dissolve is used to capture the emtions from the previous scene to the current scene.  You can see within the example used how the dissolve gives off more ideas of how the character is feeling. Dissolves can be used to show all sorts of emotion, with disappointment being the main emotion on the characters face.

Fade- tends to be used at the end of a scene

In the example given, there are two different types of fades: fade in & fade out. The fade in, is shown at the start of the scene and the character walking into the garden. the fade out is used at the end of the scene. Fades tend to be used throughout films to either signal a new scene or the end of a scene- mostly at the end of films. 

Wipe- A bar moving across the screen, pushing one frame out and bringing a new frame in.

At the very start there is a wipe transition used as the scene is changing from Yoda to Qui Jon's funeral.  This is a easy way to bring up a new scene without it having to cut the previous scene. Through using the wipe transition its a smooth and simple way without disrupting the scenes. 

Own Example of a montage edit, we filmed the different clips in college then went and edited the scenes to create a montage.   We created the montage within 20 minutes and compressed the scenes into a 22 second clip. The cuts are easily visible but  as its a montage piece, it highlights the different scenes that are compressed.

Purpose

Purpose

Editing is part of the narrative of a story, without editing film’s would have to be shot in order of the events appear within the film. The use of editing allows for the film to show only the necessary parts of the film, keeping the audience engaged and wanting to watch the rest of the movie. The development of the film depends on the editing that has been used within the film, editing controls the pace in which the rate the film plays out. 

Engaging the Audience 
Editing engages the audience with different techniques; whether it be through the shots it uses, the cuts, the transitions  or the soundtracks.  When engaging  the audience, the director tries to use the most stylish shots but shots that fit into the genre of the film. If a director uses a stylish shot, it can make the whats happening in the scene look 10x better. For example,  in Fast and Furious, the 'Night Race' scene, there is a mixture of shots including, wide shots, close ups, low angled and high angled shots.  Through using different shots, the director is giving the audience a God like complex view as it shows everything that is happening in the scene. 

The different shots also create pace and build up the scene as the quick cuts of the shots pick up as the cars begin to increase in speed. This will engage the audience more because the action will have them on the edge of their seats. The different cuts in the the scene, once again allow for the pace to quicken and the audience to get different glimpses of whats happening in the scene.

Development of Genre
Editing controls the pace in films as it can manipulate the pace in which a scene is shown to the audience.  Through manipulating the pace, the director is able to build up tension and suspense among the audiences.  A very famous example of editing building up tension and suspense is the film Jaws.

In this scene, the music creates tension because of its beat. As the scene plays out, the pace of the beat picks up, creating tension and suspense for when the shark strikes.

The pace quickens as the camera pans through the water, creating the tension along with the non-diegetic music.  



Relationship to Genre
Editing ties into genre as the pace or different colouring/lighting can help determine what type of genre the film is. Through being able to manipulate the colouring of a scene through editing, directors are able to adapt to the codes and conventions of certain genres. The pace once again can determine not just the scene but also the genre. If a film is in the action genre, it will be full of quick paced scenes to emphasise the action happening. 

This scene is taken from the 2005 film 'Mr and Mrs Smith'. The film takes on a action/romantic genre due to the fighting, violence and love story shown with in the film. The genre is easily determined through the pace of certain scenes, such as the one given as an example. Within the scene, there are a lot of gun shots as well as other weapons used. During the fighting, the scene is intensified due to the fast pace of the scene, as well as the quick cuts. Showing the fight from different angles and points of views.  

Development

DEVELOPMENT

In-camera editing- Instead of editing the footage shot during post production, the director shoots the footage in order of the narrative.

Following the action- When there is movement or an action scene, the camera would follow the event that is taking place, to capture different angles of the scene.

Shot variation- When a single stream of images are uninterrupted by editing where the shot can use a static but it must be a continuous motion.

Manipulation of diegetic time and space- used to portray time unconventionally; this can be shown through flash blacks, flash forwards, and time travel. It can also be used to show a person, the environment or an object changing over a period of time. 

In-Camera Editing

In camera editing, is a technique used by filmmakers when the want all the shots filmed in numerical order. Basically, the shots will be shot in an order that that will appear on screen, or in the cinema.

An example of a film using ‘in camera editing’ is a film by Ron Howard, which was released in 2002. ‘A Beautiful Mind’ is a story that is based on true events, John Nash is a student at Princeton University, who struggles to make it in the world of maths. He finally makes a breakthrough which would earn him a Nobel Prize before his graduation. After graduating, he comes a teacher, soon after, he is asked by the government to help break Soviet codes. This gets John caught up in terrifying situations, which put not only his life on the line but also his girlfriends. As the story moves on, John becomes more and more paranoid, turning his world upside down. With only his girlfriend’s help, it’s up to her to help save John’s mental state and the beautiful mind he has.

Ron Howard made the decision to shoot the whole film in chronological order to makes things easier for the star Russell Crowe to help him develop ‘John Nash’s’ character. However, only 90% of the film was shot chronologically as the filming crew had to make 3 separate trips to Princeton University. The film was also nominated for an Oscar ‘Best Edited Film’, but was beaten.

Following the Action

This is where the camera is following the scene taking place. The camera can be mounted on a car, put onto a dolly or even handheld. Most action and fight scenes use this type of shooting as it gives the audience a full view of the fight, allowing different shots of the action to be taken. The different shots captured, allow the director for more scenes to edit, making sure nothing is lost which would be the case if the camera was static.

An example of where ‘following the action’ is used is in the film ‘Inception’, released in 2010. The film resolves around the idea of planting an idea, within a dream, inside a dream. The film has many different loose ends to it but includes a lot of action scenes. Particularly car and on foot chases.

There is a part towards the end of the film where the dream world is starting to collapse on itself, however, as these events are unfolding, Di Caperio and his men are being chased through the snow. The scene itself involves snowmobiles, snowboards, guns and a lot of action. Through using ‘following the action’ the director is able to get many different shots of the same scene which he is able to cut and put together during post production. Thus allowing an action packed scene which keeps the viewer on the edge of their seats.

Shot Variation

Shot variation is when the director uses different types of shots within the scene without the use of cuts. This allows for the scene to pan out naturally and helps build up suspense from the scene and emotion from the viewer.

Shot Variation is technique used in filming to create a sequence of images using movement; these types of shots include wide shots, long shots, medium shots and close ups. A wide shot is normally used to act as an establishing shot, setting up the scene to draw the viewer’s attention in. Long shots are used to focus of the audience’s attention on a certain object or character. A Medium Shot is mostly used when a scene has dialogue in it or when an action scene is taking place. This tells the audience that this is where the narrative is starting to build and that they should follow the scene. Using a Close Up means that the director is trying to capture the emotions on a characters face or the importance of an object or a place. Close up’s allow for the audiences to get a sense of what the character in the scene is feeling.

There is a very famous movie that uses a lot of shot variation throughout its trilogy. ‘The Matrix’ uses shot variation to bring the audience close to the action as well as creating one of the best fighting scenes in Hollywood history. The scene involves, Leo and Agent Smith having a gun battle while on the roof of a building. As the scene unfolds, you see both men dodging bullets that is not possible for humans to dodge. The director uses a type of shot which has been dubbed ‘bullet time’ this is where the heightened perception of certain character is represented by allowing the action within a shot to progress in slow-motion while the camera's viewpoint appears to move through the scene at normal speed.

A frame by frame sequence of 'Bullet Time' 

 'Bullet Time' Scene from 'The Matrix' (1999)

Manipulation of Diegetic Time and Space

The use of this editing technique is to show time travelling through the use of either flashbacks or flash-forwards. The manipulation of time, gives the audience a view that a person, object or place is changing over time throughout the scene.

There is a scene in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban where Harry and Hermione travel back in time, to help change events and to save lives. During the scene the two are in the hospital wing, when Hermione sets off the time turner. As the time turner is turning, the two main characters don’t move from their positions where as everything around them is. The movement around them shows the two are going back in time, altering time and space to get there.

Editing History

Unit 16- Film and Video Editing Techniques

Editing was first introduced in the early 1900’s, a few years after the Lumiere Brothers created Cinematographe. The history of editing shows the progression of techniques throughout time, and the reactions that different techniques have on the public.

Lumiere Brothers

The first breakthrough for editing came in the shape of a Cinematographe designed and created by the Lumiere brothers. The Cinematographe was the first machine that allowed motion in pictures. This breakthrough came in 1895, where the Cinematographe was able to capture, record and project motion picture all in one device.

 When the device was first unveiled to the public, it was during a theatre trip where the audience fled because they thought the footage of a train was actually going to come through the screen. Prior to the first public appearance of the device, the brothers showed their creation in private and then to photographers on June 10th 1895.

The first major film that the Lumiere brothers created was a short film of workers coming out of the Lumiere plate factory. This was shown in an industrial meeting and quickly spread the word about the brother’s invention. Once word was out at what the brothers had created, they began opening up theatres across the globe. Opening theatres which would become known as cinema's in high profiled cities such as New York, London, Brussels and Belgium.

George Albert Smith

Following on from the Lumiere Brothers, George Albert Smith created 'Narrative' as he dappled in the idea of fictional and fantasy themes. In 1896, Smith was working on a Lumiere program in Leicester Square, where he began to bring his narrative theories to life. He received his first camera shortly after, and began making films and any topic. Smith turned the grounds of St Ann’s House into a processing laboratory and in 1899, built a film studio in the glass house that was situated on the grounds- this was second film studio in Britain. Smith’s films demonstrated the state of illusion, throughout many of his films, he used illusion to bring in the audiences.

 In 1898, Smith, used a ‘double exposure shot’ to create the illusion of ghosts and spirits in his films ‘The Mesmerist and Photographing a Ghost’, he created this illusion through stopping and starting the camera to make the ghosts appear and disappear. Smith also came up with the first ever use of parallel action in his film ‘Santa Claus’, using a similar technique as ‘The Mesmerist and Photographing a Ghost’ he showed two scenes happening simultaneously.   In 1899, Smith was one of the first pioneers to create editing within a moving object. He created this in one of his films about a locomotive stream train. During the film, there is a scene where the train is heading towards a tunnel, Smith edited a scene into the film of himself and his wife kissing. This was a major breakthrough for editing and started the ball rolling for editing in the new Millennium.

George Melies

George Melies was born in 1861 in Paris, France. From an early age he showed interest in the arts however, as a young man, he took over his father’s footwear business. After raising enough money of his own, Melies, went about bought the famous Theatre Robert Houdin in Paris, leaving behind his father’s business and taking over as a full time illusionist.  

In 1895, when the Lumiere brothers first showed the Cinematographe to the public, Melies was in attendance, he became hooked on the idea of moving images and tried to buy the device from the brothers who turned him down. Melies, however, was not set back by their decline, he sought out Robert Paul and viewed his device of the camera projector. On April 4^th 1896, Melies unveiled his own film to the public which he had made with his own device.

Throughout his movie making career, Melies realised how movies could affect the audience more emotionally and physically. With his background in illusion, he was able to manipulate the audience into believing in whatever he was trying to get across to them. In between the years of 1898 and 1899, he created the first ever double screen effect, as well as using the first ever dissolve transition.

A Trip to the Moon (1902)  

‘A Trip to the Moon’ was produced and directed by Melies and released to the general public in 1902. The film was a silent movie, which Melies also starred in. The narrative was about a group of astronauts he land of the moon and explore its surface. The film took over 3 months to complete and cost Melies over 10,000 Francs, the film was very popular during its release and to the day, is still one of the best known works of Melies.

Edwin S. Porter

Edwin S. Porter is an American filmmaker who was born in April 21, 1870.  Porter created over 250 films, including ‘Life of an American Fireman’, as well as ‘The Great Train Robbery’. As a young person, Porter took an interest in electricity and soon enough started working in motion picture in the late 1800’s. In 1898, Porter worked in a New York museum which played host to Thomas Edison’s film work. Porter worked as a film assembler, making sure the film would run smoothly and made sense to the viewer.

Porter was a huge fan of George Melies and his work, Porter tried to emulate Melies’ work throughout the late 1800’s and early 1900’, which led to Porter being one of the first ever directors to shoot footage in the dark. In 1902, Porter released ‘Life on an American Fireman’ which he had filmed in a documentary type style, this was a huge success and was highly praised by the public. The footage used for the film was a mixture of stock footage of real fires which Porter mixed with his own shot footage.

With the praise received by the public, Porter then went on to make many more films using the same strategy that he had for ‘Life as an American Fireman’ and ending up creating ‘The Great Train Robbery’. The film was a huge success, due to its strong storyline, state of the art camerawork and also the editing with Porter had used.

The Great Train Robbery (1903)

D.W.Griffith

D.W. Griffith was born on the 22^nd of January, 1875 in Kentucky, America.  Griffith was a film director who directed over 500 films in his lifetime. He began making short films in 1908, with his first full length being ‘Judith of Bethulia’, released in 1913.

Throughout his career, Griffith was renowned for use editing techniques such as crosscut editing to build tension, transitions and other types of editing cuts. In 1915, he made ‘Birth of a Nation’ which would become the stepping stone for cinema’s across the world as it led them all into a new era of film making. The film was a huge success, capturing raw emotion, violence and the devastation that war can create. The use of extreme camera angles, and quick paced editing, the film gave a ‘real life’ feeling to the audience, which had never been created. However, through all its praise, the film was slated among the black community, black audiences were outraged by the racist distortion of the film, causing riots among the black communities.  

Griffith’s flowing film, ‘Intolerance’ took a view of forgiveness and understanding, trying to write the wrong which his previous work had caused. The film intertwined four separate stories from four different historical eras, giving off different perspectives from all types of races. This was praised throughout America, as people of all races accepted his work.

In 1920, Griffith’s solidified his reputation as America’s preeminent director, with many deeming his work as the best ever produced.  He continued to reinvent the language of film, shocking people with unheard of storylines, narratives, state of the art sets, and the amount of films he carried with him, from state to state.

After the release of his films, he then went and worked for United Artists. This gave Griffith the chance to work with the three greatest performers of the day; Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin, and Mary Pickford. He then spent the next ten years making films with United Artists and Paramount, but would never again reach the fame of ‘The Birth of a Nation’ or ‘Intolerance’.