The earliest films consisted of single, unedited shots. Filmmakers began experimenting with linking multiple shots together to tell stories and using techniques like close-ups, fades and reverse cranking for effects. Editing evolved from physically cutting and gluing film, to digital editing using computers. Different approaches to editing emerged like D.W. Griffith's dramatic cutting style and Soviet filmmakers' theories of montage to convey abstract ideas and meaning through juxtaposition. The advent of sound changed editing by requiring synchronous audio and video, restricting actor movement and dialogue-driven continuity. However, experimentation with dubbing and asynchronous image/sound continued.

1. The History and Development

2. The earliest films had no editing. The camera
was placed in a single position and the footage
was not altered. It was not long however before
filmmakers started to experiment. They began
to link multiple shots together in order to tell a
story. They experimented with special effects
and used close-ups to direct the audience’s
attention.

3. Robert W. Paul’s Come
Along, Do (1898) was one of
the first films to contain
more than one shot.
Edwin S. Porter’s Life of an
American Fireman (1903) was
the first American film with a
storyline. It showed two events
happening simultaneously.
Narrative

4. A Trip to the Moon (1902)
directed by George Méliès
features different scenes in
different times and locations
connected by a fade-out. Here
we see a rocket crashing into the
face of the moon.
Scrooge, or Marley’s Ghost (1901)
was the first film to use a technique
called reverse cranking. The
footage could be exposed several
times to create a multiple exposure.
It was use to create the effect of a
ghost.
Special Effects

5. Film editing is the only art unique to cinema.
The editor’s job is to compile the various shots
created for a film and piece it together,
removing superfluous footage, to create the
finished film. Nowadays it is also common for
editors to be responsible for areas of sound,
music and special effects. In some respects it is
one of the most powerful roles in the making of
a film, deciding what gets used and what ends
up on the cutting room floor.

6. In the early years film was physically cut and
glued together to create a movie. Nowadays
technology has advanced and most films are
shot and edited digitally using computers. This
gives filmmakers greater flexibility allowing
them to cut a film multiple times without
having to create a new print each time.

7. Then and now
On the left is a picture of a moviola the first
editing machine. On the right we see a film
being edited digitally by computer.

8. Classical cutting is a style heavily associated
with director D.W. Griffith. Cutting is not
used simply for moving the story along but for
dramatic reasons as well. Close-ups are used
for emotional impact and Actors are able to
give far subtler performances. In The Birth of a
Nation (1915), Griffith used multiple cameras
simultaneously during the battle scene to give
him multiple angles to choose from in the edit.

9. The Soviet filmmakers wanted to convey abstract
ideas not just simply tell stories. Their new theory
was called montage from the French word monter
(to assemble).
Example of montage from Battleship Potemkin (1925).

10. Pudovkin was a Russian
filmmaker who wrote an
important treaty on the
theory of editing. He
greatly admired D.W.
Griffith but felt that the
medium could be pushed
further. He believed that
each shot should make a
new point and that
meaning was created by
juxtaposing different
shots together.

11. Filmmaker Lev Kuleshov
made a film in which an
expressionless shot of film star
Ivan Mosjoukine was
juxtoposed with three different
images. The shot of the actor
was exactly the same each time
but audiences read different
meaning in his expression
depending on the image it was
placed next to. When placed
next to an image of a dead girl
they thought he looked sad,
when placed next to a bowl of
soup, he appeared hungry and
when placed next to an
attractive woman they thought
he looked lustful.

12. Soviet filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein believed that
constant change was the essence of existence.
Unlike Pudovkin he felt that the transition
between shots should be sharp not smooth. New
meaning was created by the conflict of two
different images. His theory of montage was
divided into five different types -
1. Metric: shots are put together based on their
length.
2. Rhythmic: like metric but the length of the shot is
determined by it’s content.
3. Tonal: the emotional meaning of the shot is key.
4. Overtonal: a combination of metric, rhythmic and
tonal.
5. Intellectual: the conflict of intellectual ideas is
key.

13. The advent of sound had a huge impact on the
aesthetics of film. Early sound recording equipment
meant that audio and visuals had to be synchronous
(recorded at the same time).
Actors had to stay near microphones and editing
became restricted. Meaning was now conveyed
primarily through dialogue and cutting to continuity
became much more important. Eisenstein bemoaned
that sound would bring with it a raft of “highly
cultured dramas” and to some extent he was right.

14. However people began
to experiment. René
Clair used dialogue to
create continuity whilst
using images that were
not synchronous. This
dubbing technique is
still in use. As much as
30% of dialogue in
modern movies is
dubbed.

15. Singin’ in the
Rain (1952) is
set during the
advent of
sound. In this
scene various
methods of
hiding the
microphone
are attempted.
The actors are
no longer able
to move as
freely as they
once were in
silent pictures.