Resubmission/Addition – Examples

Serenity (2005)

In this scene from Serenity, the origins of the creatures know as ‘Reavers’ are explained to the audience. This scene uses a number of different techniques during this sequence:

• The continuity is managed because the characters remain in place throughout the whole scene and there is no jarring differences.
• We don’t see the character in the hologram die, instead we hear it. This technique was common in the television show Firefly (which was the basis for this film) where the Reavers were not shown.
• There are a number of shot counter shots to show the reaction of each of the different characters to the information they are hearing from the hologram
• The addition of the holographic character (and the images in front of her in the beginning) are examples of digital splicing in that some of the performance from Sarah Paulson would have been filmed on set with the primary cast, but also some of it would have been filmed separately with a green screen and then added in after the effects had been added
• With the 180 degree rule, all the characters reaming on ‘sides’ of the screen – River and the hologram are in the center, Mal, Inara and Zoe are on the left, Wash is just off center, with Jayne on the right of shot. This pattern is kept all the way through the wider and closer shots, to make it appear as it would have been had the audience actually been in the room with them all
• Towards the end of the scene, music is added to the piece to emphasize the element of danger and the fact the hologram is running out of time with her recording. She, as a character, and we, as the audience, know that she is probably about to die so there is a sense of ending with the music coming through.

Team America: World Police (2004)

This sequence from the satirical comedy Team America: World Police explains the purpose of a montage within film (while also spoofing it at the same time) but it also uses a few other editing methods during the sequence. Different pieces are shown using various transition methods (mostly sectional wipes) so that we see what is going on with all the different characters while also keeping track of what the main focus of the sequence (Gary) is doing and how he is progressing.

The Dark Knight (2008)

In this sequence from The Dark Knight, editing is used to misdirect the viewer. We have the three story threads (Batman and Gordon going to rescue Rachel and Harvey, The Joker’s plan and Rachel and Harvey’s conversation) cutting across each other as all are happening at the same time. The edit is fast paced, which mirrors the fact this is life and death for these characters. But at the same time, there is the romance of Harvey and Rachel playing out as well so there is a slightly slower pace with the cuts between those two – there are not as many as there is with perhaps Batman when he is racing into the building.

The cuts are done simply but with a little of consideration to the audience – there is a lot going on quickly but people still need to be able to keep track of what is going on, so the jump cats are still done in a way that keeps continuity in mind so there is nothing that takes the audience out of the story.

The endgame of the scene is misdirection – Batman thinks he is about to save Rachel but in actual fact, he has ended up ‘saving’ Harvey Dent and in the following blast there is the shot counter shot with all the characters different reactions to what is going on in front of them – especially with Batman and Jim (saving the ‘wrong’ person and not being able to save the other)

Resubmission/Addition

Conventions & Techniques

In editing, as with most components of film and television production, there are certain techniques that are used very often and have become elements that we would expect to find within a broadcast – even if we don’t always notice they are there.

• Seamless – simple editing that is barely noticeable to the viewer
• Continuity – this is when an edit is done in such a way that there no difference between the shots. The aim is to keep everything as consistent as possible so that the viewer is kept engrossed by the story.
• Motivated – this is when shots are chosen in an edit as a way of both progressing the story and keeping the audience’s belief that they aren’t watching something that has been deliberately constructed.
• Montage – this is a series of shots that are put together (usually accompanied by music) to show the passage of a long period of time in a short space of time within the film’s running time. Perhaps most associated with the training sequences in the film Rocky
• Jump-cutting – a little different from seamless cutting in that the cut is noticeable to the viewer. Sometimes used in film to depict a sense of nervousness in a character on-screen. Considered to be the opposite of more ‘traditional’ editing in that it draws attention to the fact that the piece is constricted, something which seamless editing tries to avoid at all costs.
• Parallel editing – this technique is when someone is doing something alone on-screen, they look at something off-screen and a shot is then put in of what they are looking at (usually another person) doing something that will explain the action of the first character we see – person 1 is running in one direction, they look behind them. Cut in a shot of person 2 running in the same direction (possibly passing something from the start of person 1’s shot) ‘towards’ person 1. Cut back to person 1.
• 180 degree rule – regarding the on-screen spacing relationship between a character and another character or object within a scene. An imaginary ‘axis’ connects the characters and by keeping the camera on one side of this axis for every shot in the scene, the first character will always be frame right of the second character, who is then always frame left of the first. By keeping to this guideline, it makes it easier for the audience to follow what is happening in a scene.
• Splicing – When shooting on film, this is the process by which two rolls of film are joined together. In terms of digital film making, this can be putting two elements together to create a shot (such as an actor and a backdrop)
• Transitions – this is when an effect is used in order to switch between two sequences or shots, eg dissolve (where the image will gradually change), fade (where an image will slowly change to a single colour ‘fade to black’) or wipe (where the image will change by being replaced by another coming in from one side of the screen), while continuing on with the narrative of the piece.
• Cutaways – this is a sequence or shot that is away from the main action for a short moment, usually the reaction of a different character elsewhere in the scene
• Point of view shot – a shot which has been filmed and edited in such a way that we, as the audience, is watching the events from the perspective of a character in the scene. Commonly seen in sequences where there is an element of danger (such as characters looking around a corner to see if their escape path is clear.
• Shot-reverse-shot – also known as shot/counter shot, this is when one character is shown looking at another character (often off-screen), and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character. Since the characters are shown facing in opposite directions, the viewer assumes that they are looking at each other.
• Providing and withholding information – when a cut shows us something (or not) as the case may be. In the television show Firefly, this technique is used in that it doesn’t show the Reavers (people who are feared by everyone) so that we, as the audience, are able to create our own vision of what they are like.
• Editing rhythm – this is when an editor will cut the piece in relation to what is happening on-screen in order to convey a certain feeling about the scene. So a faster pace edit will be for a something like a fight sequence, whereas a slower edit would fit better with the ending of a romantic film. It is done to try to enforce the so-called ‘dominant’ reading for a film or television show.
• Crosscutting – this technique is used when a story needs to establish what is going on across more than one location. This can either be things happening in the ame time frame or not, it’s purpose is to establish information that we need to know quickly. This technique is utilised in the opening title sequence for the film The Devil Wears Prada where many women are getting ready for work at the same time including the film’s central character, Andrea Sachs, as well as some of the people she comes into contact with during the course of the film. In this case it also shows the contrast between Andrea and the world of Runway (the fictional magazine that is the backdrop of the film)
• Cutting to soundtrack – this is when the edit is determined by the audio in a piece. Usually in line with the beat or tempo of a particular instrument or perhaps the vocal itself. Used in music videos for emphasis or to create a better sense of narrative for the video (if not related to the song directly) or just the song itself.

Repo! The Genetic Opera – Editing Analysis

This scene “Zydrate Anatomy” begins with a transition from a graphic novel style animation to the live action. The animation was used as a simple and quick way of giving the backstory to the sequence and the character of Amber Sweet without taking up too much time and potentially slowing down the pace of the film or perhaps stopping it altogether. Also the animation is seen as if the viewer is meant to be reading it from a comic book and the style of the animation links in with the reality of the live action so it appears seamless.

The whole purpose of the scene is to explain the concept of the drug Zydrate to the character of Shilo while also explaining a bit more of the story away from Shilo, namely the jealousy of Amber towards Mag and also that Mag’s plan to leave has consequences for her.

The position of the audience is meant to be just away from Graverobber, similar to Shilo as we are in the same situation as she is. The rest of the characters are talking to her and the cuts between the people talking to her reflect that. The scene jumps between the story threads – how disgusted and confused Shilo is being in this place she doesn’t seem to belong in against Graverobber’s comfort and familiarity with this situation.

The perspective we as a viewer have is to be right in front of the characters. During Amber’s entrance to the scene, we quickly jump from seeing her from a distance to being in front of her, walking backwards as she comes to the the group of people gathered in the middle of the street. The camera stays roughly the same distance away from the characters at all times. This allows us to follow the conversation between Graverobber and Shilo as he is explaining what is going on as the two are facing each other, but on opposite sides at the same time (Graverobber is usually to the left of the screen while Shilo is on the right allowing for the eye lines of each of them to match up)

When Amber arrives, we (and the camera) pulls back from her, the first shots of her are wider than the rest we have seen up until that point and this serves to show that this is someone who is important rather than the fleeting glances we have seen of the ‘chorus’ who repeat Graverobber and Shilo’s words. But they serve as a way to cutaway from the central characters and allowing them to move so they can keep going with their parts.

The cutaways of Amber in the alleyway and the surgery room gives us an idea of Amber’s state of mind after she has been injected. She is in another world but in that world she can escape to another fantasy and nothing is real, not even the surgery she is undergoing at the time.

The reminder of Mag is what brings her back to the real world and as she gets more angry, the close shots disappear in favour of walking backwards, as if we are meant to be scared of her. At the same time this distance allows her to circle around Shilo, give her the paper and pass the story back to Graverobber for the  next piece of the story and the ending of this part, Amber’s collapse and Graverobber and Shilo’s escape.

History and Development of Editing

History

In 1888, Thomas Edison and his assistant, W.K.L Dickson, began working on a new invention. Their plan was to develop a device that could capture and show moving images. By 1891, Edison and Dickson have their Kinetograph camera and Kinetoscope viewing box ready for patenting and demonstration. They would use film developed by George Eastman to shoot and display their films made in their studio, The Black Maria.

One of the people who worked at the Black Maria was Edwin S. Porter, who is considered to be the first person to put film editing to use. He made the film Life of an American Fireman in 1903. This film was among the first to have a narrative structure (beginning/middle/end), action and different shot types, which set it part from other films at the time which were mainly just simple events, like people getting on and off a train,  shot from one angle with no changes.

Development

When cinema first began to use editing, the film strips were literally cut apart with scissors and stuck back together in the order that was required. An editor would project a film reel in a room with the director and simply cut out what wasn’t needed. The development of the manually operated Moviola machine in 1924 allowed editors to move the film backwards and forwards at whatever speed they liked. This machine would be invaluable in later years, with miniature versions being developed so they could be taken into war with journalists and filmmakers.

The machines were one of two ways – upright or flatbed. Both worked on the same principles of going through the film manually and allowed for sound to be worked on at the same time as the film. In addition, the flatbeds’ larger viewing screens made it possible for more than one person to review cut sequences. Film makers could now review and discuss scenes without going into a projection room, making the editing process faster.

With both the Moviola upright and flatbed systems (manufactured primarily by Moviola and its German competitor, Steenbeck), the editor arranged shots by cutting and taping (a process known as splicing) segments of a “workprint” copy of the original negative.

This did mean the film had to be edited in a linear way, which meant the film had to be edited in the order it was going to be shown in at the end. This would change when computer developments and the likes of Avid and Final Cut Pro came along and began to be used on a large scale. This allowed film to be edited in pieces and in any order the editor chose to do it in.

This advancement would mean films could be edited as they were being shot rather than having to wait until the end of shooting for the editing process to start. Editing became faster as a result of this and it also meant it could be done in more depth as the same amount of post-production time could be spent on editing and the editor would almost have a head start with the advantage of non-linear editing software.

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