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The Art of Editing: Defining Cinema's Unique Narrative Voice

Editing is the soul of cinema, setting it apart from other dramatic and visual arts. This intricate process involves selecting, arranging, and assembling various components—visuals, sound, and special effects—to craft a compelling story uniquely suited to film. Each edit shapes the audience's experience, influencing pacing, emotion, and engagement. Through careful manipulation of time and space, editing allows filmmakers to create a narrative rhythm that captivates and propels the story forward, highlighting the distinctive magic that defines the medium of film.

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The Art of Editing: Defining Cinema's Unique Narrative Voice

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  1. what distinguishes movies from other dramatic and visual arts

    Editing

  2. What is editing… Process of selecting, arranging, assembling the essential components of a movie to tell a story (in a unique way) essential components: visuals, sound, special effects with digital editing, process is simpler, cleaner and easier to manage editors tend to be responsible for editing all components of the film A craft with the ability to join shots and produce meaning that did not exist individually in each shot Called…
  3. The Editor The editor’s job is to create meaning Example - in an opening shot sequence these shots can introduce character, mood, conflict, space, etc. in a short unambiguous way (The Social Network, Children of Men,opening scenes) Example - historical dramas/Sci Fi films rely heavily on the power of editing to fool us into believing the world created even if shown only a fraction of it (The Hobbit, Gatsby)
  4. Editing is used to manipulate the presentation of plot time on-screen flashback Atonement, Babel, The Bourne Supremacy, Kill Bills, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Memento, Casablanca flash-forward ellipsis montage ..list
  5. Editors can control the rhythm of a film varying the duration of the shots in relation to one another = controls the speed/tempo/focus of the film also non-formulaic editing: Run Lola Run (ex) Editors can use this rhythm to build excitement and or tension ie: all Hitchcock movies
  6. Approaches to Editing: Continuity and Discontinuity Most mainstream movies use continuity editing the point is to tell the story as clearly, efficiently, and coherently as possible to achieve logical, smooth flow – establishes and resolves the character’s problem
  7. Discontinuity editing Breaks rules of continuity editing by aiming to create transitions between shots that are not smooth, continuous or coherent Instead of invisibly moving story forward – calls attention to itself Memento Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
  8. Continuity Editing Two fundamental objectives of continuity editing: establish coverage of the scene through the master scene technique and maintain screen direction through the 180-degree system
  9. Continuity Editing: The Master Scene Director begins shooting a single scene with a long/master shot that covers the characters and action in one continuous take Then covers the scene with whatever additional shots the editor might need to create the finished scene establishes location, situation, spatial relationships, etc. may cut to various subjects then back to master to reacquaint viewers
  10. Continuity Editing: Screen Direction The direction of a person’s or object’s movement on screen that relies on the 180-degree system 180-degree system (aka axis of action): an imaginary horizontal line between the main characters being photographed determines where the camera should be placed to preserve screen direction and therefore continuity (Harakiri, dvd) once this axis of action is determined, the camera must remain on the same side of the line orients the viewer within the scene ensures consistent screen direction across and between cuts
  11. Maintaining Continuity Techniques Shot/reverse shot (ex) Match cuts Lawrence of Arabia Parallel editing Silence of the Lambs Point-of-view Rear Window
  12. Other Transitions Between Shots Jump cut: Taxi Driver (1:32:16 – 1:33:30 ) Fade Dissolve frequently shows the passing of time or a connection between what’s in the shots Wipe esp. change of time or place (Sith) Iris shot Freeze-Frame functions like an exclamation point 400 Blows Split screen To Die For /Timecode
  13. Movies run 2 – 3 hours today with 2,000 – 3,000 shots Approx. ratio between used and unused footage to be 20:1 Apocalypse Now: 235 hrs of footage to 2hr 33 min movie Good editing: choosing the right length of each shot, right rhythm for each scene, right movement for cutting to create the right spatial, temporal, visual, and rhythmic relationship between shots Editing is unnoticed Bad editing: noticeable
  14. Martin Scorsese
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