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.
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.
