Finished

1. +
Film and Video Editing
Techniques
Sydney Pooleman

2. + Provide a simple definition of what film editing is
 Editing is the connection between two shots in relation to a
whole scene put together, and there for a video product as a
whole, with shots A and B being joined in sequence.
Transition
Between
Shots

3. +
 Lumiere Bros.
 Producing long, single shots of footage with no story or editing the
Lumiere Bros. only created ‘films’ that were sufficient in movement
enough to entertain and audience.
 George Melies
 Melies used traditionally theatrical elements of plot and action and
combined them with the new motion picture technology; this made
productions that are closer to what we, in the 21st century, would call
a film than what was being made at the time. He also came up with
the idea of manipulation time and space in films using stop frame
editing, and stopping the film changing the scene slightly to then
continue filming from the same spot, this made instant changes
without the appearance of aid to change them.
 Sergei Eisenstein
 Eisenstein made his contributions to film with his editing technique he
called montage, where shots are placed together to make a theme
go forward as well and continue the action. This was used in Charlie
Chaplin's films in the 1930’s
Can you list some examples of early film editing? Think
about the different ways that film makers could combine
shots using the technology of the time. Include
weblinks/images where necessary.
Lumiere Bros.- First films (1895)
George Melies- The astronomers
dream(1895)
Charlie Chaplin- Modern times
(1936)

4. + Describe the concept of ‘montage’ and juxtaposition
[remember Eisenstein and Kuleshov] and give an
example
 Montage
 Montages are an editing technique which
has shots together showing a compression
of events to removing any lapses in time
and speed along the story or give the
information, without narration, and just get
straight to the main plot. An example of this
is the montage in the movie Rocky in which
we see the Rocky training for his fight.
 Juxtaposition
 Juxtaposition is a technique that has two,
or more, locations, characters or ideas with
contrasting actions that are placed side by
side in sequence; The Godfather uses
Juxtaposition in a sequence that flashed
between a Baptism and a murder spree.
John Avildsen - Rocky (1976)
Francis Ford Coppola – The Godfather
(1972)

5. + List the types of cut/edit you can use and provide an
example of each on in use
 Cuts
 The instantaneous transition between shots A and B is known as Cuts; and
example of this is 2001 a space odyssey when the monkey throws a bone in
the air it cuts to a falling satellite.
 Fade-outs and Fade-ins
 Fade in and outs are used to show the start and/or end of a scene; they can
be fade to/from black, and more recently white. The opening scene of HBO’s
Six feet under is an example of fade in’s and out’s.
 Dissolves
 Dissolving is when a section of footage ‘fades’ onto the next scene. Each
dissolve transition is meant to be subtle as the first gets lighter and lighter
the second one becomes more and more solid; Citizen Kane uses dissolves
to transition between scenes.
 Wipes
 The wipe transition is the opposite to the dissolve because it draws attention
to the change in scene. the most well known is the silent films common wipe
called the iris wipe where the circle gets smaller and smaller; with other
shapes such as stars, diamonds and old clock turning, the clock being used,
multiple times in star wars.

6. + Below, list the four relationships between shots
 The Picture relation
 Editing and Graphic Relationships
 Example from Dead Zone
 The Rhythmic relation
 Editing and Rhythmic Relationships
 Example from Kill Bill Vol. 1
 The Time relation
 Editing and Temporal Relationships
 Example from Shaun of the Dead
 The Space relation
 Editing and Spatial Relationships
 Example from The Good the Bad and the Ugly Pre-given
examples

7. + For GRAPHIC relationships provide a description and examples of it’s
usage [with a weblink to a sequence on YouTube and still frames where
necessary – you may add more slides if you need to]
 Graphic relationships are used to relate two unconnected scenes;
by ending shots with the same compositional elements and
having the next shot, generally by smooth transition. One example
is the famous scene in Hitchcock's, Psycho where a woman is
killed and the camera zooms in on the drain to then pull out on her
face from the eye of the girl.

8. + For RYTHMIC relationships provide a description and examples of it’s
usage [with a weblink to a sequence on YouTube and still frames where
necessary – you may add more slides if you need to]
 Adjusting the shot duration to control the rhythmic succession; by
using a mix of either long or short shots, or even a balance of
both, to set a pace or tempo of the scene. The movie Marie
Antoinette uses short shots to pace the song “I want candy” to set
up the movies start.

9. + For TEMPORAL relationships provide a description and examples of it’s
usage [with a weblink to a sequence on YouTube and still frames where
necessary – you may add more slides if you need to]
 In films scenes can be made out to occur further down a time line.
The time can be compressed into minutes or extended over the
cores of the movie or episode; such as the marred life of Ellie and
Carl from Disney's UP. The use of time manipulation also involves
flash forwards and flash backs.

10. + Define the ‘Hollywood method’ of continuity editing and why it
became so prevalent…
 Also known as continuity editing, the Hollywood method,
is the relationship to space in shots and is used to
ensure the smooth flow from shot to shot; this is done in
three ways:
 The 180 degree line
 The 180 degree line is an imaginary line that is made for
the action to takes place around the line is put in place
and is used as a guide for the camera to not cross over.
 POV and Identification
 Shots made from a characters view point to show the
audience what the character sees. An example of this is
the point of view of the killer in The silence of the lambs
 Cross cutting
 Cross cutting is used to show parallel actions but jumping
from shot the shot and having each show a different
narrative, and usually a different location. Another way is
sound cross cutting, this is used in The Dark Knight when
the convocation travels over from one scene to the other
with the words only matching one scene.

11. + Provide a description of a scene where the 180 degree line has
been used, how does it provide spatial continuity/discontinuity?
 The 180 degree line is an imaginary guide that is used to prevent the
camera from taking a shot that will detract any spatial awareness an
audience has, such as mistakenly having eye lines that don’t match
up and make characters appear to be looing away from one another.
 One example of this rule is in Zombieland where the camera stay on
the right hand side of the human as he runs in the scene and then
the close ups occur there is no mistaking the way the person is
facing and the direction of movement they are going in.

12. + POV and identification – explain how we are invited to identify
with a character through POV and shot reverse shot
 We are shown the characters point of view and this is usually
followed by reactions, this compilation gives the audience incite
into the characters psyche and their views on situations. One
example of this in films is the Blair witch project which is shot in
first person by cameras the actors are holding. This means that
every this is seen through first person even though its from
cameras; we see the actors talking direct to both one another
and to the camera, meaning we get their reaction and we see
what they see.

13. + Provide a definition of cross-cutting/parallel editing, what is so
effective about this technique? Where might a director use it?
 Cross cutting is when 2 scenes of action takes place on screen
together, jumping between each other, however it takes place
in different locations or times. One example is the Parallel
action of the car chase/crash and the fighting sequence in
inception where the camera jumps between action with tension
building after each jump.

14. + What is Ellipsis? Select an example and explain how it
works…
 When a section of the story is left out, generally to condense
time and remove irrelevant events. The time can be skipped
through transitions to show that a time has passed. It can also
be directly told to the audience, such as characters telling the
audience how long ago the even occurred or writing on the
screen. One example is in Twilight; new moon when Bella sits
in a chair and the camera pans around and the scenery
changes outside, them writing tells the audience the month.

15. + What is meant by the term ‘intensified continuity’? Why do you
think continuity editing has developed in this way?
 Intensified continuity is the amplified version of contemporary
editing, which are rules set up in the 1930’s, that were changed
to keep up with modern day audiences needs. Up to the 1960’s
films had around 300-500 shots, over the years cutting pace
has increased meaning modern movies can have 2000 shots;
action movies can have over 3000, an example is The Bourn
Supremacy which had an average length of 2 seconds per
shot.

16. +
Your Case Study

17. +
The Avengers
 In this movie scenes vary from fast pace action
to slow a slower pace with conversations that are
taking place among action. In the scene in new
york when the Avengers assemble together there
are jump cuts as characters join in, starting out
jumping between Black widow and Hawkeye
then adding in the others one by one; ending
with a pan round shot of the whole team standing
together.
 There is an abundance of shots fitted into one
scene, the constant change of angles, characters
and shot types makes the action more exiting
and the conversations have more tension.
 There is parallel cutting in the sequence where
iron man is dealing with a bomb aimed at New
York, it cuts between Iron man, Shield HQ and
the different avengers that are still mid battle but
stop to watch him.

18. +
Harry Potter
 In Harry Potter there the battle scenes that use a
sequence of jumping to get the feeling of chaos. In the
battle of Hogwarts the start is slow and builds tension
by doing pan shots to establish the defenses and the
size of the attacking army, then it all goes to chaos in
an instant and the contrasting shots of calm and crazy
are established through sots of the characters we care
about.
 The running scene in the woods is well choreographed
to use the light to the advantage causing stress, the
sight of the impending travesty. The camera combines
long distance, close up on feet and close up on the
faces to show you the emotion they are feeling in the
scene.
 The scene at Godrics Hollow uses cross cutting to
show the tension that the characters feel, jumping from
Hermione’s investigation to Harry’s convocation and
then jumping back and forth until the snake is reveled.
Once the snake reviles herself and then attacks harry
the editors decided to use quick pace and only have
shots lasting 2 or 3 seconds to cause confusion and at
the same time tension.