Learning aim A
Understand the techniques and application of editing for film and television
A1: Types and purposes of editing for film and television
A2: Applications of editing techniques
Understand the techniques and application of editing for film and television
A1: Types and purposes of editing for film and television
A2: Applications of editing techniques
Task one : types
What is a shot?
In filmmaking and video production, a shot is a series of frames that runs for an uninterrupted period of time. Film shots are an essential aspect for a movie where angles, transitions and cuts are used to further express emotion ideas and movement.
What is a sequence
In film, a sequence is a series of scenes that form a distinct narrative unit, which is usually connected either by a unity of location or a unity of time.
What is editing
editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete work.
What is the role of an editor?
Editors are responsible for checking facts, spelling, grammar, and punctuation. They are also responsible for ensuring that an article corresponds with in-house style guides and feels oplished and refined when done.
What is continuity editing?
continuity editing is the process in film and video creation, of combining more or less related shots or different components cut from a single shot into a sequence to direct the viewers attention to pre-existing consistency of story across both time and physical location.
What is non continuity editing?
Non continuity editing is when shots are mismatched to disrupt the impression of time and space. this draws the audiences attention to the process of cutting and disturbs the illusion of reality. An example is the use of flash backs.
What is montage editing?
Montage is a film editing technique in which a series of short shots are sequenced to condense space time and information. The term has been used in various contexts. In french, the word montage applied to cinema simply denotes editing.
Task two : history
Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchock was born on the 13 August 1899 and he passed away on the 29 April 1980. Alfred Hitchock was an english filmmaker he was one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. Alfred Hitchock directed over 50 feature films many of which are still widely watched and studied till this day. He was know as the master of suspense he became as well know as any of his actors thanks to his many interviews his cameo roles in most of his films and his hosting and producing the television anthology.
In a flat above his parents leased grocers shop at 517 high road Leytonstone on the outskirts of east London the youngest of three children William Daniel, Ellen Kathleen and Alfred Joseph. His parents, Emma Jane Hitchcock, and William Edgar Hitchcock, were both roman catholics with partial roots in Ireland. His father was a greengrocer as his grandfather had been.
His directorial debut was the 1925 release the pleasure garden. Hitchcock followed this with the lodger a story of the London fog, his first commercial and critical success. It featured many of the thematic elements his films would be known for such as an innocent man on the run. It also featured the first of his famous cameo appearances. Two years later he directed blackmail in 1929 which was his first sound film.
His first sound film in 1929
His first ever film in 1922
Lumiere brothers
Auguste (left) and Louis (right)
The Lumiere brothers were born in Besancon France, to Charles Antoine Lumiere and Jeanne Josephine Costille Lumiere, who were married in 1861 and moved to Besancon, setting up a small photographic portrait studio where son Edouard and three daughters were born. Auguste and louis both attended La Martiniere, the laregest technical school in Lyon. Their father Charles Antoine set up a small factory producing photographic plates but even with Louis and a young sister working from 5 a.m. to 11p.m. it teetered on the verge of bankruptcy and by 1882 it looked as if they would fail. When Auguste returned from millitary service the boys designed the machines neccessary to automate their fathers plate production and devised a very successful new photo plate etiquettes bleue and by 1884 the factory employed a dozen workers.
On 22 March 1895 in paris at the society for the development of the national industry in front of a small audience one of whom was said to be la photographie the lumieres privately screened a single film. The main focus of the photographic industry mainly the research on polychromy it was much to lumieres surprise that the moving black and white images retained more attention than the coloured skills. The American Woodville Latham screened films to a playing public two months later on 20 may 1895 at 156 Broadway New York City.
The Lumieres gave their first paid public screening on 28 December 1895 at Salon Indien du Grand cafe in Paris. This presentation consisted of the following 10 short films lasting 50 seconds each in order of presentation.
This is how their projector looked
Louis le Prince
Louis Aime Augustin Le Prince was a french artist and the inventor of an early motion-picture camera possibly the first person to shoot a moving picture sequence using a single lens camera and strip of film. He has been credited as father of cinematography but his work did not influence the commercial development of cinema owing at least in part to the great secrecy surrounding it.
Le Prince moved to Leeds England in 1866 after being invited to join John Whitley a friend from college in whitley partners of hunslet a film of brass founders making valves and components. In 1869 he married Elizabeth whitley john's sister and a talented artist. The couple started a school of applied art the Leeds technical school of art and became well renowned for their work in fixing coloured photographs on to metal and pottery leading to them being commissioned for portraits of queen Victoria and the long serving prime minister William Gladstone produced in his was these were included alongside other mementos of the time in a time capsule manufactured by Whitley partners of Hunslet which was Placed in the foundations of cleopatras needle on the embankment of the river thames.
Louis Le Prince first camera
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventions, which include the phonograph, the motion picture camera and early versions of the electric light bulb have had a widespread impact on the modern industrialized world. He was one of the first inventors to apply the principles of organized science and teamwork to the process of invention working with many researchers and employees. He established the first industrial research laboratory.
This is his invention of the light bulb
Task three : Narrative
Enigma Codes
The enigma code is simply a theory that suggests a text (whether that can be television film or a poster) portrays a mystery to draw an audience in this allows the audience to pose questions and as such become intrigues in the piece.
non-linear
If you describe something as non-linear you mean that it does not progress or develop smoothly from one stage to the next in a logical way. Instead it makes sudden changes or seems to develop in different directions at the same time.
Linear
A linear process or development is one in which something changes or progresses straight from one stage to another and has a starting point and an ending point.
multi strand narrative
The narrative structure in television programmes and movies does not always follow one storyline this allows the shows producers to link narratives over a series of episodes encouraging the viewers to keep up to date as the narrative progresses.
Serial narrative
Serial narrative is the story if you will of a writers ideas and the reactions of his or her audience if it's good it has a kind of voice a set of familiar characters some action moving.
Series narrative
A narrative story or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences whether nonfictional (memoir, biography, news, report, documentary, travelogue) or fictional (fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller, novel).
Flexi narrative
This is the most complex of all narrative structures with many narratives interwoven as the media text progresses this type of narrative tends to have complex characters that are ambiguous which creates tension and mystery. A good example of this type of flexi narrative would be the crime drama river.
Episodic drama
Dramatic theatre has a plot or story dramatic theatre in his view should engage the audience in an emotional experience only for their time in the theatre scenes are episodic which means they stand alone and are constructed in small chunks rather than creating a lengthy and slow build of tension.
Unrestricted narrative
Unrestricted narration is when the viewer knows more than the character which helps build suspense. Restricted narration limits the viewer to what characters know which helps create greater curiosity in the viewer and can lead to surprise.
Restricted narrative
Providing a view from the perspective of a single character. For example restricted narration reveals information to the audience only as a specific character learns of it.
Task four : Techniques
Straight cut
The straight cut is the most simple way of getting from shot a to shot b. It is the continuation of one shot to another in the same place at the same time. A cut is where one shot is instantly replaced with another usually from a different camera angle.
Transitions : fade + dissolves + washes + wipes
Fade: A fade transition is perhaps the simplest type of transition its simply when a shot dissolves to or from black. In shooting scripts you'll often see the story begin with a fade in and conclude with a fade out. A fade in video editing becomes a fade when the entire frame of a shot is completely black.
Dissolve: A dissolve also called a lap dissolve is a gradual transition from one image to another with the first image beginning to disappear as the second image gradually appears. During a dissolve both images overlap for a period of time blending in superimposition (also know as double exposure or multiple exposures in photography)
Wash: A wash is essentially the same thing as fade except is uses any solid colour rather than black. We sometimes see washes used when characters ascend to heaven or when they faint
Wipe: A wipe is when one shot replaces another shot from a specific direction or with a specific shape. You can wipe up down left right you can wipe in the shape of a circle triangle or trapezoid a wipe is pretty much anytime a transition uses a swipe or shape to switch to another shot.
dissolves
wash
Fade
wipe
Cross-cutting/parallel editing quick cuts
Cross cutting (also called split screen) is a drama technique borrowed from the world of film editing two scenes are intercut to establish continuity. In drama and theatre the term is used to describe two or more scenes which are performed on stage at the same time.
Parallel editing is a video editing technique used in post production in which separate scenarios are intercut together to present a storyline from multiple perspectives.
Quick cuts
Quick cutting is a film editing technique which refers to several consecutive shots of a brief duration (3 seconds or less). It can be used to quickly convey much information or to imply either energy or chaos.
Long takes
In filmmaking a long take (also called a continuous take or continuous shot) is a shot with a duration much longer than the conventional editing place either of the film itself or of films in general. Significant camera movement and elaborate blocking are often elements in long takes but not necessarily so.
Elliptical editing
Elliptical editing is a method of film editing in which a long set of clips that are not entirely necessary for the overall narrative of the film are condensed and shortened to provide a more interesting finished video for the audience.
Cutaway
The cutaway shot is a quintessential filmmaking and editing technique that you'll see in nearly every film and tv show. A cutaway shot is a supplementary shot that cuts away from the main action to indicate something else in the space such as an object or location.
Cut-ins
In the post production process of film editing and video editing a cut is an abrupt but usually trivial film transition from one sequence to another. It is synonymous with the term edit though edit can imply any number of transitions or effects
L-cut
An L cut is a variant of a split edit film editing technique in which the audio from preceding scene overlaps the picture from the following scene so that the audio cuts after the picture and continues playing over the beginning of the next scene.
J-cut
A j cut is a type of split edit where the audio of an upcoming scene plays over the end of the preceding scene. If you're editing two clips a primary clip and b roll for instance you can create a j cut by starting the b roll audio before the first clip has ended.
Eyeline match
Eyeline match is a film editing technique to indicate to the audience what a character is seeing. Eyeline match allows the audience to believe that they're looking at something through the eyes of the character in a scene with multiple shots of different characters interacting it must be clear who is looking at whom.
Match on action
Matching on action cutting on action or matching on action refers to film editing and video editing techniques where the editor cuts from one shot to another view that matches the first shots action. A common example is a man walking up to a door and reaching for the knob.
Shot reverse shot
Shot reverse shot is a film technique where one character is shown looking at another character and then the other characters are shown facing in opposite directions the viewer assumes that they are looking at each other.
Reaction shot
In motion picture film production cinematography and video production a reaction shot is a shot which cuts away from the main scene in order to show the reaction of a character to it a basic unit of film grammar.
Establishing shot
A shot taken from an extreme distance always occurring at the start of a scene
30 degree rule
The 30 degree rule is a basic film editing guideline that states the camera should move at least 30 degrees relative to the subject between successive shots of the same subject. If the camera moves less than 30 degrees the transition between shots can look like a jump cut which could jar the audience and take them out of the story. The audience might focus on the film technique rather than the narrative itself.
180 Degree rule
The 180 degree rule is a cinematography guideline that states that two characters in a scene should maintain the same left right relationship to one another. When the camera passes over the invisible axis connecting the two subjects it is called crossing the line and the shot becomes what is called a reverse angle.
Jump shot
Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. A jump cut is a cut in film editing in which a single continuous sequential shot of a subjects is broken into two parts with a piece of footage being removed in order to render the effect of jumping forward in time
Graphic match
A graphic match (as opposed to a graphic contrast or collision) occurs when the shapes, colours and overall movement of two shots match in composition either within a scene or especially across a transition between two scenes.
Freeze frame
A freeze frame is a still image in a cinematic work made by showing a series of identical frames or by stopping a film or video at one desired frame usually representing the suspension of action or time.
slow motion
Slow motion is an effect in film making whereby time appears to be slowed down. It was invented by the Austrian priest August Musger in the early 20th century.
Split screen
In film and video production split screen is the visible division of the screen traditonally in half but also in several simultaneous images rupturing the illusion that the screens frame is a seamless view of reality similar to that of the human eye.
Flash back/ forward play
Flashbacks and flash forwards by David Farmer. Drama strategies performers in a scene are asked to improvise scenes which take place seconds minutes days or years before or after a dramatic moment. This enables the exploration of characters backgrounds motivations and the consequences of their actions.
Task five : purpose
Manipulating the sense of time (linear / non-linear narratives)
The editing technique i pick was slow motion i picked this editing technique because when the editor uses slow motion the normal speed of time changes and is slowed down.
Engaging the viewer through suspense and causing an audience reaction
I think that a split screen can catch the attention of the audience because it will be different scenes playing at the same time and will be important to watch
creating a sense of drama through the withholding of information
i think the technique best used for this is split screen because it is showing you two scenes going on all at once and it might show you the reaction of both characters reacting to something at the same time but not tell you what it is.
controlling the rhythm and pace of to control the flow of the production
The best technique for this would be freeze frame this can stop the pace of something and add suspense to the scene if he does it or not.
creating a narrative through motivation
The editing technique i picked is flashback I picked this because a flashback can give a character different types of feelings and change the narrative in a story an example would be they could remember something bad that happened in the past and feel hatred towards another character which could cause a fight or a shift in the narrative.
I also picked forward play because it could show the future o the character and the character might try something to change his future which changes the narrative.
Embracing continuity between different shots/angles
I think that the best technique to use is quick cuts because that can take you from one point of view in a scene to a different one quickly keeping continuity going.
creating a narrative through motivation
The technique best for this is a flashback this is because sometimes when people look bad at something bad in their life they use it as motivation to do better.
controlling the perception of space to create a logical and believable space between characters/objects not sharing the same shot/angle
split screen would be the best for this because you are showing two different things on your screen all at once they are just sharing the screen together.
Learning aim B
B1: Ideas generation for edited sequences
B2 Digital editing
B3 Using continuity and non-continuity editing techniques and convention
Task 6 : continuity - experiment
Continuity editing
The process in film and video creation of combining a range of different related angles movements and shots into a continuous sequence to direct the viewers attention to a pre-existing consistency of story
Match on action
The cutting of various different shots within the same location in order to display a seamless continuation of action.
This is my shooting script for the continuity editing video i am going to make on this you can find all the shots i used why i used them and how long they where you can also find out the type of costume we went for and the cast and crew.
This is my script writing on this i have the characters dialogue and was also give a brief description of the area and what is happening and we talk about camera shot, angle, movement and transition
storyboard
development portfolio
The purpose of this editing sequence is to keep a straight narrative going through out the video so that it is clear for the audience of what is going on in the story.
The context of my video is my character is doing work on the computer but he wants to go outside and play with his friends while he finally finishes his work and gets of the computer to play with his friends.
What influences me to do this is i have seen many shows where it shows characters on a computer and but they can make it look interesting by the different types of shots you can make it look intense by the different type of shots.
The genre i would say my type of video likes into is non-fiction because it is something in real life the character is just using a computer.
My narrative was pretty simple all my character had to do was go sit down and use a computer most of my editing techniques involved cutting a lot of clips so that it would fit in and match to make it look like continuity editing.
What i intendent to do was to make sure that my video looked liked continuity editing was used when and that the audience could see that i clearly used it.
my non-continuity edit example
task 9 : non-continuity sequence
This is my script writing for my non-continuity work why this was important was because it helps me to know what the characters are supposed in a scene it also helps me to know the type of tone the character is supposed to speak in and to know the position he is speaking in and location.
The script writing also lets you know what is going on in a scene for example if a character gets hurts or if the camera moves to a different location.
This is my shooting script for my non-continuity work this was really important because it was non-continuity so because my shots wont match with each other it was important i planed what type of shots i would use how long they would be.
development portfolio
The purpose of this editing sequence is to interrupt the narrative so not to keep a straight forward narrative.
What happened in the video is the character fell asleep outside near a sea side and he had a dream the dream is the thing that interrupts the narrative.
In the video i use different editing techniques the first one is cutting this helped me because most of my shots would have been to long if i didn't cut it another editing technique i used was slow motion i used this to make it seem more dramatic when the character fell over i also upped the brightness on some clips i used this when the character woke up in a pov shot so the audience could see what he was seeing and how it looked to him i also blurred some scenes this is when the character fell asleep and woke up.
My idea was to make the character fall asleep and have a dream but something had to happen in the dream for him to wake up so i made the character fall over so that he could wake up from the dream
learning Aim C
create a digitally edited
sequence for a specific purpose
C1 : producing an edited sequence
This is my shooting script for my horror trailer movie this is where i put all my shots in order and place my captions and production company and more this helps me understand which shot will come next how long the shot has to be and what type of shot i will use. The shooting script helps you getting prepared before you film so you don't have to rush about the shots you have to take and so you don't forget.
The narrative breakdown was really important and the first thing i had to do without the narrative breakdown i wouldn't know what shots to use.
The narrative breakdown is me planning my whole horror trailer so what will happen in the trailer what it is about using the Todorov narrative theory.
This is my script writing for my horror trailer this is where i put in the dialogue what the characters are going to say to each other the tone in their voice i also talk about the location and what is happening there the camera angle/ movement is also involved.
The script writing explains everything that happens in a scene so if a character moves around the camera angle changes or if the location changes.
evaluation
This is my full horror trailer. When making my horror trailer the target audience i aimed for was teens around the age of 15 plus this is because in the horror trailer it is meant to be about school kids who are bad so the fact that the movie is already about teens that are the age of 16 or 17 some teens might feel like they can relate because they are around the same age and they both still go school i say this because when watching a show about a character your age that does something you do around your age the people watching tend to be able to relate to it if a adult was watching a show about someone that has a job like them it can catch their attention so that is why i picked that target audience because it is the most relatable to them.
When i got all my footage for my horror trailer editing it really helped make it look like a horror trailer what helped the most was cropping the videos some videos where longer than they where supposed to be so if i didn't crop it it wouldn't fit in and some videos had some scenes that where no use to the trailer so if i wasn't able to crop some of my videos it would have made the trailer look like a mess. When editing the sound i had to add in a few features because if i didn't it just wouldn't seem right one example is when i was filming an establishing shot i wanted the wind to blow more to make it seem more realistic so that the audience can feel like they are there look at the building so to fix my problem i had to add the sound of wind and it turned out much better you could hear the wind well so editing the sound really helped. Another example is when i used a bell sound for my horror trailer i put this in there to try and jump scare the audience if this bell wasn't added the jump scare wouldn't have that much of an effect on the audience but when the bell sound was added you not also hear the difference but see it as well.
Editing really helps people to understand what type of video stuff are i say this because the captions film name and production company those are normally stuff you would see in a trailer and these are stuff you would add post production so when you are editing if i wasn't able to edit my trailer and give them captions film name and more some people wouldn't understand that it is a trailer.
In the trailer my use of codes and conventions can be seen one is example is the captions you can't miss the captions on my video because i made them stand out how i do this is i don't make them small captions that are hard to read i make them bold and bigger because when a caption is on the screen it has to stand out really well which i done. Another one of the trailer conventions i used really well was pace in my trailer it starts of slow of people just trying to meet up with each other then it get's fast someone is trying to kill the friend group and at the end of the trailer there is a part where it just plays many different scenes at a face pace.The narrative of my horror film was bad kids get sent o school but are being hunted in and out the school and they have to survive the whole day the narrative is the main thing for this whole trailer it gives me the idea of everything on what i was going to be filming and how stuff was going to play out.
I think that my trailer matched the brief one task for the brief was for my trailer to be one min long and my tailer is one min five seconds so it is really close to being just a one min trailer this is because if the trailer was a long video it wouldn't be a trailer this is because trailers are supposed to be small clips from the movie and also used to keep the view interested so if it was to long he might find out what happens and it won't be interested anymore. i used many different camera techniques in my horror trailer main reason for this is because if i just used the same shot it would make the trailer look bad and boring i used different shots to make my trailer look better and some shots to create meanings. The audio i used when making my trailer is not copyright it was important to make sure it wasn't otherwise you could get sued over that.
In general i feel like i meet all the objectives in the brief before i went of to make my trailer i had a good look at the brief to secure my understanding even more so that my trailer would look better to me and the audience.
For my trailer i used really good creative and technical choices i did this because i want my trailer to stand out from the rest i want to make it look more professional an example would be the fast scenes at the end i really like that part i personally think that it is the best part in the whole trailer there are many different scenes that will just appear on your screen really fast this is a great example of non-continuity work and can be used to keep the audience excited see many different scenes that look interesting and stand out.
What i intended for my trailer was to grab peoples attention and keep them interested in trailer enough that they will think about going to watch the movie and when watching the trailer i want the audience to stay interested in the trailer i want to leave them wondering on what is going to happen next if this character is still alive do they all survive i feel like i had a good success on leaving them wondering i left most stuff on cliff-hangers and that fast pace scene if the many different scenes keeps the audience thinking what is going to happen next.
I used many things to make my trailer look like a horror trailer one example would be the sound this is because when the horror trailer song is playing when the character gets grabbed by the antagonist the beat drops as well and when it was time for the jump scare i added in a bell sound as soon as he turned his head to add more of a scare to the audience i also the fact that i have a jump scare in my trailer also makes it seem more like a horror trailer.
Towards the end of my trailer there where a lot of quick cut and most of the scenes was only five seconds which led to it being at a fast pace but that was the most i used quick cuts throughout the whole trailer most of the cuts throughout my trailer are are just jump cuts. In my music video i used a lot of establishing shots i mainly used them when the scene switched to a different location this can help the audience understand that there was a sift of location.
