Unit 16.1 (c) – Film and Video Editing Techniques
Editing is the process of combining shots from a camera into a sequence or to tell a story. before editing film makers would shoot a short film and it would last for as long as film was in the camera and there was no narrative neither was there editing. Editing has improved massively in the last century and with new technology that film makers now have there are able to craft the skill in such a way it is called an art and this is known as the “Invisible art”. This is because when editing is done to such a professional standard the viewer would not notice the work of the editor is taking place, hence being called the invisible art.
Development
Multiple points of view is when an editor is showing what is happening in the shot from different points of view and this so the audience can get a better understanding in their head of what is happening. Though it’s not shot this way by the film director, it’s the editor’s responsibility to take this into account and try to get the best outcome from it which is why I think they show it from multiple points view. An example of this is in the film Gladiator (2000) when an actor is lighting an arrow to shoot at an enemy, we see the arrow being lit and then different shots of travelling mid-air until it hits someone. As an audience we understand that the arrow is going to hit someone while it’s in the air because of the shots used and the way it’s edited. This can also be Following the Action as the camera is following the arrow and it follows it until the arrow is no more. Also this is Shot Variation it is easy to use a single shot of all the action where details would be missed. In turn by using this technique it’s easier on the eyes to see and this is what also makes films captivating as you are kept on your toes where anything happen. Lev Vladimirovich Kuleshov was a film director/Editor/Theoretician in the early 1900s that experimented with film editing to try and take it up a level. In his most renowned study he took a shot of a Russian actor and then intercut it with three different shot of objects of no particular relation. The sequence was as so; Actor then Bowl of soup, Actor then a distraught woman next to her husband’s coffin, Actor then little girl playing with teddy bear.
This caused a great reaction from audiences watched this because of how he hungrily he watched the soup to how mournfully he gazed at the woman next to her dead husband to how affectionately he looked at the little girl. In actuality it was the same shot and expression the whole time demonstrating the power of juxtaposition before your very own eyes. Also this shows you the influence of montage by taking one shot and another shot combining it together to create a third shot of higher meaning and order. This technique enhanced editing and played a big part in developing and changing editing in such a way where it is still used in this day and age. An example of the Kuleshov effect is in the film Crank: High Voltage (2009). In one scene the main protagonist played by Jason Statham is dying from heart failure but as he needs to be powered by electricity he grabs a jump lead attached to a car battery. The shot jumps back and forth from him to the car, to him and then the reaction of the people looking at him. This effect is a great way of showing action in a simplistic way and its also less time consuming making it easier for the audience to understand what is going on and keeps people entranced.
Purposes
Edwin Porter was an employee of Thomas Edison and was the first person that discovered that cutting separate shots could create a story. In his film Life of an American Fireman (1903) he intercut shots were not related as they were happening and being shot in separate places that then created an emotional impact and response from the audience.