History of Editing
Once upon a time there were no editors and the film directors simply filmed what interested them.
Certain people were pessimistic about the future of cinema. Although there was a wide world interest in seeing these images move, once have seen something like someone playing a prank on someone, why would you want to pay to see something you can see in real life.
The Lumiere Brothers were a couple of these people who were pessimistic about the future of cinema.
Certain people were pessimistic about the future of cinema. Although there was a wide world interest in seeing these images move, once have seen something like someone playing a prank on someone, why would you want to pay to see something you can see in real life.
The Lumiere Brothers were a couple of these people who were pessimistic about the future of cinema.
Although it was said that cinema was an invention with a future.
Edwin Porter, an employee of Thomas Edison, proved this theory wrong. As he discovered that cutting separate shots together could create a story.
He was able to create an emotional connection between the audience and the actors by cutting different shots together that sort of had no relevance on there own.
Edwin Porter, an employee of Thomas Edison, proved this theory wrong. As he discovered that cutting separate shots together could create a story.
He was able to create an emotional connection between the audience and the actors by cutting different shots together that sort of had no relevance on there own.
‘The Life Of An American Fireman’ in 1903 showed this very well.
He took a scene of firemen reacting to a phone call and going to save somebody from a fire, and in the other shot, you can see the fire and a woman stuck in the building. By seeing these shots together, you become aware that the firemen are going to save this woman and all of a sudden you become worried for this woman you want the firemen to help the woman.
This is a good example of how Edwin Porter could create an emotional connection with the audience and how he could create a story by cutting scene together like this.
He took a scene of firemen reacting to a phone call and going to save somebody from a fire, and in the other shot, you can see the fire and a woman stuck in the building. By seeing these shots together, you become aware that the firemen are going to save this woman and all of a sudden you become worried for this woman you want the firemen to help the woman.
This is a good example of how Edwin Porter could create an emotional connection with the audience and how he could create a story by cutting scene together like this.
The Great Train Robbery was Edwin Porter’s next movie. This filmed demonstrated what editing could really accomplish regarding an emotional connection to the film.
Editing is able to change shots around. This means that we can be in the middle of a vast desert, and then transported to a close up of someone’s face.
It is able to take us to a pre-historic era and then is can take us to a futuristic universe.
It is able to take us to a pre-historic era and then is can take us to a futuristic universe.
Editing can slow down time, or speed it up.
The timing of a cut is important as it can often influence the audience’s reaction to a scene.
The timing of a cut is important as it can often influence the audience’s reaction to a scene.
In ‘Scream’ the timing is very important as the scene is meant to startle us.
We aren’t supposed to know what is going to happen next so things will happen when we don’t suspect them to happen so that it will make the audience more scared. This may mean that something may happen before we expect it to, this allows the audience to be shocked by what has happened. Something may happen after we expect it to, this allows the audience to become more scared in the time that they are expecting something to happen and it creates suspense and fear within the audience.
We aren’t supposed to know what is going to happen next so things will happen when we don’t suspect them to happen so that it will make the audience more scared. This may mean that something may happen before we expect it to, this allows the audience to be shocked by what has happened. Something may happen after we expect it to, this allows the audience to become more scared in the time that they are expecting something to happen and it creates suspense and fear within the audience.
The timing in Titanic is very important as well. In the scene “ill never let go”. The length that a shot it held influences our emotions while watching the film and the timing in Titanic is important and vital in order to get the correct response from the audience.
The length of time that we see Jack sinking under the water is important because it allows the audience time to become emotional about a loved character dying.
The length of time that we see Jack sinking under the water is important because it allows the audience time to become emotional about a loved character dying.
Hitchcock was the master of creating suspense and Jonathan Demme was a great fan of Hitchcock’s work and you can see this is evident in ‘silence of the lambs’ as the suspense in this film is great and is obviously greatly influenced by Hitchcock’s work.
Every Frame Counts
Every frame counts. When editing Jaws, this was important that certain frames were cut out and the difference between a couple of shots being in the scene or them being out of the scene was so vital. This was because this determined whether or not the shark would look really realistic or whether it would it would be evident that it was a fake shark. The shark looking realistic was obviously important for the overall impact of the film and whether people would find it to be a scary film that it was intended to be, or whether people would find it funny because of the fake shark.
James Cameron the director if Terminator 2 was so desperate to cut the film down to a manageable size that he figured that if he cut out one frame every, second, that would definitely cut the film down by a couple of minutes.
However, when they did this, the film was jumping, vital movements of the actors were missed out and it so noticeable. This shows that every frame is vital and if a frame is missed out or is added, it could mean the difference between a movie looking really good and having an impact on the audience, or it can make the film look really bad an confuse the audience.
James Cameron explains this and shows the scene where they cut out a frame every second. it starts at 0:26- 1:09
However, when they did this, the film was jumping, vital movements of the actors were missed out and it so noticeable. This shows that every frame is vital and if a frame is missed out or is added, it could mean the difference between a movie looking really good and having an impact on the audience, or it can make the film look really bad an confuse the audience.
James Cameron explains this and shows the scene where they cut out a frame every second. it starts at 0:26- 1:09
D.W Griffith was known as the first modern editor. Nearly a decade after Edwin Porter started his work in 1903. However D.W Griffith was known for using techniques back then that were really revolutionary to the way that we view films now. He did more with his films than Edwin Porter ever did in terms of letting the audience have an emotional connection towards films.
He was first man to use a close up shot. No one thought that this would work because they didn’t think that the audience would appreciate seeing an actor’s big ugly face in front of the camera. Also it was felt that if they were paying for an actor, the audience should get to see the whole actor they were paying to see. However, Griffiths went on to use close up and he showed everyone that in fact it did work and it worked very effectively and he showed how the use of close up shots could one again influence the audience emotions. Griffiths used close ups in 'Orphans of the Storm.' |
The birth of a Nation was a great example of Griffiths knowledge over 10 years of editing. And all of a sudden you had many recognised techniques that are used now, but you had them for the first time in one film.
Not only did you have close ups, but you also had flashbacks, action and he used of these things to get the audiences attention focused on a certain frame.
Not only did you have close ups, but you also had flashbacks, action and he used of these things to get the audiences attention focused on a certain frame.
Griffiths relied on a thing in classical editing called an invisible cut; this meant that from one cut to another, the action of someone would have to be the same.
This style of editing is still practice today and dominated the style of editing for centuries. The more that the editing techniques are unnoticeable is better because it means that the editors are doing there jobs right and it allows the audience to become more emotionally invested in a film and almost forget they are watching a film.
However, this meant that that editors would become invisible and unappreciated and they were the best kept secret of hollywood movies for years.
This style of editing is still practice today and dominated the style of editing for centuries. The more that the editing techniques are unnoticeable is better because it means that the editors are doing there jobs right and it allows the audience to become more emotionally invested in a film and almost forget they are watching a film.
However, this meant that that editors would become invisible and unappreciated and they were the best kept secret of hollywood movies for years.
No one else in the production crew spends as much time with the director than the editor.
Ridley Scott describes finding the relationship between and editor and a director quite similar to deciding whether you should get married, because if the marriage isn’t good then the divorce will be ‘sticky’. This is the same with a film if the relationship between a director and editor is bad then the film will be even worse.
Ridley Scott describes finding the relationship between and editor and a director quite similar to deciding whether you should get married, because if the marriage isn’t good then the divorce will be ‘sticky’. This is the same with a film if the relationship between a director and editor is bad then the film will be even worse.
Quentin Tarantino wanted a female director for his first film because he felt that a female would be more neutering towards his needs.
The female editor he used, Sally Menke, obviously felt the same way because she says she feels that an editor needs to be considerate of the director and allow them to be able to look at a bit of footage that may have problems and make them feel comfortable to cut certain parts out so that the overall film can be better.
The female editor he used, Sally Menke, obviously felt the same way because she says she feels that an editor needs to be considerate of the director and allow them to be able to look at a bit of footage that may have problems and make them feel comfortable to cut certain parts out so that the overall film can be better.
The editor is also important for shortening a film down; in Pulp Fiction there is a scene where two people are on a date. In Quentin Tarantino’s mind, he wanted it to feel like a date in real time and it was very long, for a while the editor had to live with this so that Tarantino could have it for long enough and then eventually let Sally shorten it down so it wasn’t so long but still allow Tarantino’s ideas to come through.
All the scenes below are from one date and it may seem ridiculous that it takes 3 YouTube video to make one date in a film but as i said Quentin wanted it to be like real time and he will only let it be shortened down to a certain point. It doesn't matter that its long anyway because its done well and it doesn't feel long when you're watching it.
All the scenes below are from one date and it may seem ridiculous that it takes 3 YouTube video to make one date in a film but as i said Quentin wanted it to be like real time and he will only let it be shortened down to a certain point. It doesn't matter that its long anyway because its done well and it doesn't feel long when you're watching it.
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When Hollywood introduced movies with sound, movie were being made faster and the movie world had to change the way they worked and based it on an industrial assembly line in order to get films made quickly.
In the first 25-30 years of film, editors were usually women. It was considered to be a woman’s job because it was similar to knitting or sowing in the way that they would take pieces of fabric, which is what film, is, and then piece them together.
However, when sound was introduced to films, it was seen as electrical and technical and it was no longer seen as knitting. So this made editing suddenly became a mans job.
In the first 25-30 years of film, editors were usually women. It was considered to be a woman’s job because it was similar to knitting or sowing in the way that they would take pieces of fabric, which is what film, is, and then piece them together.
However, when sound was introduced to films, it was seen as electrical and technical and it was no longer seen as knitting. So this made editing suddenly became a mans job.
Sound is very important in a film. It allows for every little detail to be included in the scene.
It can also make things intense. In horse whisperer, when hey have an argument, they had microphones on, in the edit, they were able to take all the air out of the sound and it made the scene a lot more intense because it allowed it to sound as though neither one could take a breath when talking, therefor making the argument more intense.
It can also make things intense. In horse whisperer, when hey have an argument, they had microphones on, in the edit, they were able to take all the air out of the sound and it made the scene a lot more intense because it allowed it to sound as though neither one could take a breath when talking, therefor making the argument more intense.
The sound in black hawk down is important. In the opening scene there is so much sound going on and makes it more evident that chaos is happening and everything is very loud. In the opening scene, we can hear helicopters and we can hear music in the background and then we begin to hear voices and the voices get louder and we establish that we are in a crowd of busy people but we continue to hear the helicopters and understand that they are still there and then we begin to hear gun shots very loud. The attention to all these sounds in important because we hear what we can as though we are there and the loudness of everything is the same as if we were stood where the camera is placed.
There is a scene in Dante’s Peak where Pierce Brosnan has to climb through a tunnel to get to the truck and we can hear every little bit of sand falling down the walls and we can hear all the little things that make us aware that the tunnel is about to collapse.
At one point during editing, the music editor put music over this scene, this didn’t work for this scene because we couldn’t hear the little grains of sand falling and we could hear all the little details that went into making this scene scary and suspenseful.
However in certain scenes of films, music can be good because the music can actually make the scene more scary and suspenseful because the music in the background allows the audience to know something bad or good is going to happen depending on the type of music that is in the background of the scene.
The theme tune for Jaws is probably the most iconic bit of music used for a scene in film and to this day is recognised as a piece of music that it supposed to be suspenseful and you are aware something bad is going to happen soon.
At one point during editing, the music editor put music over this scene, this didn’t work for this scene because we couldn’t hear the little grains of sand falling and we could hear all the little details that went into making this scene scary and suspenseful.
However in certain scenes of films, music can be good because the music can actually make the scene more scary and suspenseful because the music in the background allows the audience to know something bad or good is going to happen depending on the type of music that is in the background of the scene.
The theme tune for Jaws is probably the most iconic bit of music used for a scene in film and to this day is recognised as a piece of music that it supposed to be suspenseful and you are aware something bad is going to happen soon.
The actor’s performance is greatly dependent on the editor’s final decisions. This leads the actor to understand that very early on they must make friends with the editors because the editor can make a performance look really good or really bad.
The actor may watch a shot and think that the editor used take 5 for a certain scene but they don’t realise that the editors is borrowing little bits from every take to make the overall scene and performance of the actor look good.
The actor may watch a shot and think that the editor used take 5 for a certain scene but they don’t realise that the editors is borrowing little bits from every take to make the overall scene and performance of the actor look good.