SMST101 Lecture 7

1
SMST101 Lecture 7

• Editing

2
This lecture will look at

• Continuity editing
• Editing in terms of space and time
• Editing techniques and language
• Alternatives to continuity editing

3
The Illusion of the Moving Image

• In the Classical Hollywood System, the single
  audience requirement is to see what has happened,
  but not to notice technically how it has
  happened.

4
Editing
Telling a story using many different shots
5
Continuity Editing

• Continuity - from the root continue
• The editing style typically used in Hollywood
  film
• Designed to tell a story
• Designed to tell that story smoothly
• Aims to be invisible

6

• The basic purpose of the continuity system is to
  control the potentially disunifying force of
  editing by establishing a smooth flow from sot to
  shot.
• - Bordwell and Thompson, Film Art

7
Continuity editing relies on the audience

• Continuity editing assumes the audience has prior
  knowledge of the filmic world
• The aim is for the audience to create a cognitive
  map based on what they see and hear when viewing

8
Editing is a language

• Continuity editing guides the audience through a
  sequence of events
• It relies on the audience understanding the
  language of editing, having prior knowledge of
  editing conventions

9
Editing and Time

• Editing can take temporally discontinuous action
  and present it as though it is continuous
• Editing can control the time of the action shown
  in the film
• In film, time is often condensed and expanded
  the audience accepts this

10
Editing Time

• Moving back in time flashback
• Ellipsis when the narrative jumps to an exciting
  bit
• Complete continuity what happens onscreen takes
  as long as it would in the world

11
Editing and Time

• During editing, sequences can be rearranged so
  that the classic cause and effect structure is
  disrupted

12
Montage

• A series of short shots edited into a coherent
  sequence to condense narrative
• Used to advance the story
• Often found in music videos, advertising, film
  trailers

13

• Show a lot of things happening at once
• Remind everyone of whats going on
• And with every shot you show a little improvement
• To show it all would take too long
• Thats called a montage
• Oh, we want a montage!
• - from Team America World Police

14
Editing and Space

• Editing may also construct space
• Editing allows for omnipresence
• A space may be constructed onscreen using only
  component parts
• parts that in production are spatially coexistent

15
Editing and Space

• spatial continuity when shots are cut together
  from within the same scene, even though they may
  be separated in time (eg a door shown closing on
  young lovers may open again to show them as
  mature parents)
• spatial proximity e.g. a cut from one side of a
  door to the other, or from one room to a
  neighbouring room
• spatial discontinuity cutting between any two
  spaces that are not contiguous (meanwhile)

16
Achieving complete continuityEditing techniques

• graphical match
• match on action
• shot reverse shot
• eyeline match
• the 180 rule
• match on sound

17
Match on action

• a cut where action taking place in the first shot
  continues in the same direction in the next shot,
  so that action seems uninterrupted
• gives the impression of a continuous time span by
  creating a visual bridge which distracts from
  noticing the cut.

18

• If an action carries across the cut, the space
  and time are assumed to be continuous from shot
  to shot.
• - Bordwell and Thompson, Film Art

19
Eyeline Match

• the matching of eyelines between two or more
  characters
• a cut where the first shot of someone looking at
  something is followed by a second shot of what
  they are presumed to see

20
Shot reverse shot

• Also known as shot countershot
• where two or more shots are edited together that
  alternate characters
• often used in conversation
• where one character is shown looking (often
  off-screen) at another character, and then the
  other character is shown looking "back" at the
  first character.

21
180 degree rule

• the guideline that states that two characters (or
  other elements) in the same scene should always
  have the same left/right relationship to each
  other
• the line is also called the axis of action

22
180 rule
23
180 rule

• The rule is not always obeyed sometimes a
  filmmaker will purposely break the line of action
  in order to create disorientation
• Breaking the rule creates a dramatic effect, for
  example, to convey confusion

24
Cross cutting

• consecutive shots alternate between two or more
  actions
• may be used to suggest that actions are occurring
  at the same time
• can also be used to gain a deeper significance
  between two or more events that do not
  necessarily occur simultaneously

25
The Godfather baptism sequence

• http//www.jgeoff.com/godfather/baptism/bapti00.ht
  ml

26
Cross cutting

• gives the viewer omnipotence
• implies actions are temporally simultaneous
• can help overcome special effects limitations

27
Insert shot

• a shot of part of a scene filmed from a different
  angle and/or focal length from the master shot
• inserts cover action already covered in the
  master shot, but emphasize a different aspect of
  that action due to the different framing.

28
Cutaway

• The interruption of a continuously-filmed action
  by inserting a view of something else. It is
  usually followed by a cutback to the first shot,
  but not always.
• Cutaways cut away from the main scene or action
  to add related material

29
Point of View Shot

• shows what a character is looking at
• usually established by being positioned between a
  shot of a character looking at something, and a
  shot showing the character's reaction (using the
  conventions of shot-reverse-shot)

30
Creative editing

• editing can be used to create impressions of
  chaos, disorientation, drunkenness.

31
Continuity editing isnt the only way!!

• Discontinuity using editing to draw attention to
  the constructed nature of film

32
Remember

• Editing is a language (learn it)
• Editing is a way of arranging filmic time and
  space
• There will be a test