Bella Aceti & Addie Harris Chapter 4: Editing Bella Aceti & Addie Harris

Vocabulary Birds Eye: a shot in which the camera photographs a scene from directly overhead Blimp: a soundproof camera housing that muffles the noise of the camera’s motor so sound can be clearly recorded on the set Classical Cutting: style of editing developed by DW Griffith in which a sequence of shots is determined by a scenes dramatic and emotional emphasis rather than by physical action alone Close Up: a detailed view of a person or object Cover Shot: extra shots from a scene that can be used to bridge transitions in case the planned footage fails to edit as planned Craning: a shot taken from a special device called a crane, carries the camera and the cinematographer and can move in basically any direction Cross Cutting: the alternative of shots from two sequences, often in different locales suggesting that they are taking place at the same time Cutting to Continuity: type of editing in which the shots are arranged to preserve the fluidity of an action without showing all of it

Vocabulary Deep Focus: a technique of photography that permits all distance planes to remain clearly in focus, from close up ranges to infinity Dialectical: analytical methodology that juxtaposes pairs of opposites-a thesis and antithesis-to arrive at a synthesis of ideas Dubbing: the addition of sound after the visuals have been have been photographed Editing: the joining of one shot with another the shots can picture events and objects in different places at different times Establishing Shot: usually an extreme long or long shot offered at the beginning of a scene providing the viewer with the context of the subsequent closer shot Extreme Long: panoramic view of an exterior location photographed from a great distance often as far as a quarter mile away Final Cut: the sequence of shots in a movie as it will be released to the public First Cut: the initial sequence of shots in a movie often constructed by the director Flashback: editing technique that suggests the interruption of the present by a shot or series of shots representing the future Flash forward: editing technique that suggests the interpretation of the present by a shot or series of shots representing the future Jump Cut: an abrupt transition between shots sometimes deliberate which is disorienting in terms of the continuity of space and time

Vocabulary Lengthy Takes: a shot of lengthy duration Long Shots: a shot that includes an area within the image that roughly corresponds to the audience’s view of the area within the proscenium arch in the live theatre Lyrical: a stylistic exuberance and subjectivity emphasizing the sensuous beauty of the medium and producing an intense outpouring of emotion Master Shot: uninterrupted shot usually taken from a long or full shot range that contains an entire scene. Medium: relatively close shot revealing the human figure from the knees or waist up Mise en Scene: arrangement of visual weights and movements within a given space is usually defined by the proscenium arch in movies it is defined by the frame that encloses the images Montage: transitional sequences of rapidly edited images used to suggest the lapse of time or the passing of events. Often uses dissolves and multiple exposures Motifs: any unobtrusive technique object or thematic idea thats systematically repeated throughout a film Neorealism: a style of filming prominent in Italy after World War II, characterized by a concern for social issues and often shot on location with untrained actors. New Wave: group of young french directors who came to prominence during the late 1950s

Vocabulary Panning: a revolving horizontal movement of the camera from left to right or vise versa Parallel Editing: see cross cutting Reaction shot: a cut to a shot of a character’s reaction to the contents of the preceding shot Reestablishing shot: a return to an initial establishing shot within a scene, acting as a reminder of the physical context of the closer shots Reverse Angle Shot: a shot taken from an angle 180 degrees opposed to the previous shot Sequence Shot: a single lengthy shot usually involving complex staging and camera Set Ups: the positioning of the camera and lights for a specific spot Synchronized Sound: agreement or correspondence between image and sound which are recorded simultaneously Take: a variation of a specific shot. The final shot is often selected from a number of possible takes Tilting: a shot photographed by a tilted camera Thematic Montage: a type of editing propounded by the soviet filmmaker Eisenstein, in which separate shots are linked together not by their literal continuity in reality but by symbolic association Tracking: a shot taken from a moving vehicle Two Shot: a medium shot featuring two actors Widescreen: movie image to photograph a wider area than a normal lense

Movie Clip 1&2 Zodiac: This film is considered a thriller, which means it, is edited at a fast pace. But at the same time this film is edited in longer, slow shots while trying to catch the killer and solve the mystery. A normal film take lasts about five to eight seconds. Whereas a fast shot is around two to four seconds. People loose interest faster if there is not a fast climb to the climax of the film. Here are two films from Zodiac that show the fast and slow pace of the editing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSuUJ-Scbeg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbI7_iOYJvg

Movie Clip 3 It’s a Wonderful Life: This film has a light, seamless, and fast cutting style. The editor included “reactive characters” to lead the viewers response to the actions in the film. Uses the reactive character as comical relief and edits the film to cut to this character for responses. This clip shows the scene where there is a reactive character to the guardian angels comments. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fIrXo0raaU

Movie Clip 4 Pulp Fiction: Some directors prefer to take long single shots rather than cut into short takes. They move the camera with the action instead of cutting back and fourth into dialogue. This editing technique can impact the psychological undertone of the film. In Pulp Fiction there is a scene with two characters having a conversation in a booth. The director could have shot the scene profile as one long shot but to emphasize seriousness he edited the takes as short clips. To show that they are keeping distance in the scene the editor chose to show this through a countershot technique. This shows the psychological separation of the characters and shows the distance between them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8X2SM0ioJ4

Movie Clip 5&6 West Side Story: Usually musicals are edited in a radically formalist style however; The West Side Story is edited very abstractly. The music and choreography are edited together for a maximum aesthetic impact. The film is edited almost to give the affect of a music video. The music plays a very big role and contribution towards the film. Here is a clip showing the impact of the choreography and music into the scenes. The dance numbers are very long and drawn out more than normal musicals. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxoC5Oyf_ss https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aenJ5V43Xvk

Movie Clip 7&8 The Phantom of the Opera: The stage version of this musical contains poetic and thrilling scenes that are made possible by the physical limitations of the stage. In the film version there are many edits regarding special awareness. Since there are no stage limitations in the film version it provides a more seamless, fluid showing of the action in the musical. The edits are meant to feel dream-like and mesmerizing. The film version offers us a more realistic performance. This film shows the both scary yet whimsical editing portrayed in the film version of this production. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgz6PnHkmpY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrp84qF9biw

Movie Clip 9&10 Rocky Balboa: Usually movies are not edited at the same pace throughout the entire thing. The cutting patterns help set the scenes tone. In this movie the boxing scenes are edited at a much faster pace to match the speed and violence of the atmosphere. Whereas the other, more serious, scenes in the film are edited at slower take paces. These two clips show the comparison of fast vs. slow cutting in scenes and their affect on the tone. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_qhLRUh66k https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkJLTGweKl0

Important Figures 1800-Lumiere Brothers: First film ever created by the Lumiere Brothers in 1895, it was called L’Arriveed’ un train with no edits 1903-Edwin Porter:First signs of edits shown in early 1900s. In Edwin Porters film “The Great Train Robbery” the edits used were cutting by using a splicing machine. 1915-D.W. Griffith: In 1915 D.W. Griffith was the first person to use range of different shots in a film after he used shots such as close upsin his film “Birth of a Nation.” This changed film in a major way as the techniques that he used set a basis, and idea for other film makers. 1924-Erich von Stroheim: 1924 editing has gone on to add color to parts of films, they had to do this by individually coloring each shot by hand 1956-Henry Ephron: By this time films were in full color and editors began to introduce more advanced editing techniques such as flashbacks and parallel editing  

History of Film Editing Film editing is part of the creative process of filmmaking. Film editing is basically the process of working with film, but now it involves the use of digital technology. The film editor works with the raw footage, selecting shots and combining them into sequences to create a finished motion picture. Film editing is described as an art or skill, the only art that is unique to cinema. If a film is very well edited the viewer can become so engaged that they are not aware of the editor's work. On its most basic level, film editing is the art, technique, and practice of assembling shots into a single sequence. The job of an editor isn’t simply to put pieces of a film together, cut off film slates, or edit dialogue scenes, but a film editor should creatively work with the images, story, dialogue, music, cinematography, and the actors' performances to effectively to craft a cohesive story/film. Editors usually play a dynamic role in the making of a film. With the invention of digital editing, film editors have become responsible for many areas of filmmaking that used to be the responsibility of others. For instance, in past years, picture editors dealt only with just the picture. Sound, music, and visual effects editors dealt with the other aspects of the editing process. However, digital systems have put these responsibilities on the editor. Film editing is an art that can be used in diverse ways.