DIRECTIONS: Editing (Lecture)

This afternoon we had an editing lecture with Simon. We have looked at editing with Louis in contextual studies so I had an idea as to what this was going to be about. The art of editing isn't just about joining shots together, its about creating emotion, drama, rhythm and action through the combination of shots - its about the story-telling.

The language of film editing has developed over the years, refining with every generation, but essentially it still holds true to 'The Great Train Robbery'. 

Up to the early 2000's, all films were edited together using a machine called a steenbeck, splicing the film together with sellotape. Every cut had to make a difference. I am very happy that technology has moved on and we do not use these anymore as they took ages to create a simple cut. However, it taught the economics of story-telling which we will not understand as well by using an online editing software. Films before 1990's have a lot less cutting in them. 

Video linear editing - where you place one shot after another in order. You cannot move the shots about.

Video and the MTV Cut
- Video linear editing developed further, whereby you could have a bank of machines with your source material, allowing faster access to shots and allowing for mixes and dissolves. This development sat along side that of MTV and the ever increasing demand for fast-cut videos. 

Digital Non-Linear 
- This combined the freedom of film editing and the speed of video editing.
- Move the shots where you want, keeping sync and making a cut in a fraction of the time before. 
- There was resistance at first to move from steebecks to non-linear. 

Continuity Editing
- Idea being to take discontinuous shots to create a continuous shot.

Alternatives to Continuity
- The French New Wave rallied against the classical Hollywood system and would often cut their films in a discontinuous style; deliberately crossing the line and jump cutting.

Continuity Editing - Story
- The first layer is creating the continuous story
- Means you don't have to include every bit of action but the bits that actually tell the story.

No Country For Old Men - great editing example

- Crucial for good story-telling to only leave in the elements that propel your story, that add to it. No fat. 
- Less = more
- Biggest mistake to leave too much stuff in.

Continuity Editing - Drama
- The most creative layer of editing is creating the drama of a scene through pacing, rhythm and emotion.
- The main thrust of pace is created through how quickly or slowly you cut from one shot to the next and from one scene to the next.

Pacing, Rhythm, Emotion
- Two people talking
- What if you hold on the listener? Suddenly, you change the pacing and emotion.

Pacing
- Usually, starts wide and slow and gets closer and quicker
- A slow stilted conversation becomes more free flowing and ends abruptly.
- What if you start with a BANG and end slowly? This can still work, if the pace is right.
- Always cut for a reason, never just to cut. It must add to the scene.

Emotion
- You can create love, sadness, danger, tension, comedy all through when you cut.
- When you cut, answer: What are you showing? How long are you showing it? Why are you showing it?

A general rule
- Emotional scene - long, slow
- Action scene - cut quicker
- Tension scene - holding shots and quickly cutting. Timing is key.

POV
- Where you position the characters in a scene is crucial in editing - whose story is this? Where is the focus of the story? Whose eyes is the audience seeing the story through?
- Someone could be talking, but if you focus on someone else in the scene who is talking - who does the power shift. 
- A close up of a person, followed by their POV - puts the audience right into their position. Very different to showing them looking. (Shane)

Match-on-action
- Allows dramatic and artful shifts in time and spatial narrative.
- The idea is to match one action with a similar action in the next shot.
- Most famous edit is a match-cut in A Space Odyssey.

Cross-cutting
- The cutting between two or more scenes that are occurring at the same time in the story.
- This allows the editor to open the story out onto many levels - unique to cinema.
- You can also create moments of sadness, irony and symbolism; cutting between a scene of a death and a scene of survival.

Montage
- Different to the Russian theory, a montage is a collection of shots, often cut to music, which present a similar events over a period of time. E.g. someone trying on lots of different wedding dresses.
- It's a very useful tool to show time passing and characters developing without going into so much detail. (Rocky)

Fade/dissolve
- Fade to black, then fade up again

Editing stages
- Log: Log and arrange your rushes, so you know where they are and what shot they are.
- Assembly cut: All the scenes assembled in the right order. Usually 4 times longer than the finished film.
- Rough cut: You cut into the assembly, adding in shots to the scenes, cutting and removing. 2 times longer.
- Fine cut: Cutting into the scenes and creating the drama, close to the finished length.
- Final cut: It's all done! Though you keep tweaking.