Film Editing

montage

(French word for editing) has come to signify a style emphasizing the breaks and contrasts between images joined by a cut

crosscutting

(aka parallel editing): an editing technique that cuts back and forth between actions in separate spaces, often implying simultaneity----alternating between two or more strands of simultaneous action

jump cuts

(disjunctive editing) an edit that interrupts a particular action and intentionally or unintentionally creates discontinuities in the spatial or temporal development of shots --intentionally created gaps in the action

insert

a brief shot, often a close-up, filmed separately from a scene and inserted during editing, that points out details significant to the action

point-of-view shots

a character is shown looking, and the next shot shows the character's optical point of view, as if the camera (and hence the viewer) were seeing with the eyes of the character --often followed by a third shot in which the character is again shown looking, which reclaims the previous shot as his or her literal perspective --over the shoulder shots are not point-of-view shots because they do not show exactly what the characters see --if the convo intensifies and the scene proceeds in tighter framings of the character's faces as if from the direct perspectives of the participants, then the film has introduced POV shots

alienation effects

a critical distance on both the work of art and the social world on which it commented was achieved when the viewer had to think about the play's structure. this was accomplished through distantiation techniques, aka alienation effects

chronophotography

a sequence of still photographs such as those depicting human or animal motion --one of the early mechanical and perceptual breakthroughs in the development of the cinema --[[broke down the movement of a galloping horse by taking a series of photographic images-presented together they resembled an edited sequence of shots of a horse in motion]]

reestablishing shot

a shot during an edited sequence that returns to an establishing shot to restore a seemingly "objective" view to the spectator, making the action perfectly clear to the viewers

structural film movement

an experimental film movement that emerged in North America in the 1960s with filmmakers like Hollis Frampton and Michael Snow in which films followed a predetermined structure; developed into structural/materialist film in the UK in the 1970s

axis of action

an imaginary line bisecting a scene corresponding to the 180-degree rule in continuity editing --any shot taken from the same side of the axis of action will ensure that the relative positions of people and other elements of mise-en-scene, as well as the directions of gazes and movements, will remain consistent --during the unfolding of a scene, a new axis of action may be established by figure or camera movement

iris-out

an optical effect used as editing transition btwn shots or scenes that begins by masking the corners of the frame in black and gradually obscuring the image as if a camera shutter were closing

sequence

any number of shots that are unified as a coherent action (such as a walk to school) or as an identifiable motif (such as the expression of anger), regardless of changes in space and time --can be constructed of one or more scenes (such as parallel actions during a chase or characters conversing in a restaurant, hailing a cab, and continuing their conversation, with continuity editing condensing the time of the actions) --one sequence can cover several years' time, ex: man searching for his abducted relative, in a series of shots of him traversing different landscapes at different seasons

often call invisible editing

because it minimizes the perception of breaks between shots

duration

denotes the temporal relation of shots and scene to the amount of time that passes in the story

jump cut

distantiation technique specific to film

flashback

follows one or more images of the present with one or more of the past; may be introduced with a dissolve conveying the character's memory or with a voice over in which the character narrates the past

cut

foundation for film editing. --describes the break and the common border that separate two shots from two different pieces of film/the join or splice between two pieces of film --in the finished film: an editing transition between 2 separate shots or scene achieved without optical effects

editing using cuts or other transitions

governs the immediate juxtaposition of shots as well as the relationship between such larger units as scenes and sequences

eyeline match

if a character looks offscreen toward the left, the next shot will likely show the character or object that the character is looking at in a screen position that matches the gaze

art cinema

includes narrative feature films from outside Hollywood that are exhibited in specialty cinemas --art films construct a fictional world, center on human perspective, and direct our view of unfolding events, but they construct space and time differently through editing -although they provide a form of continuity between cuts, they're not goverened by Hollywood continuity style

intercutting

interposing shots of two or more actions, locations, or contents

shock cut

juxtaposes two images whose dramatic difference creates a jarring visual effect

flashforward

less common. --connects an image of the present with one or more future images. --present serious challenges to realistic motivation: how can the characters we are asked to identify with "see" the future? --the technique is usually reserved for works that intentionally challenge our perceptions

180-Degree Rule

primary rule of continuity editing that restricts possible camera setups to the 180-degree area on one side of an imaginary line (the axis of action) drawn between the characters or figures of a scene --if the camera were to cross the line to film from within the 180-degree field on the other side, on screen figure positions would be reversed

two-shot

shot depicting two characters

establishing shot

spatial patterns are frequently constructed by the use of an establishing shot. --generally an initial long shot that establishes the setting and orients the viewer in space to a clear view of the action (scene from a western might start with an extreme long shot)

overlapping editing

the extension of time. --occurs with the repetition of an action in several cuts --an edited sequence that presents two (or more) shots of the same actions; because this technique violates continuity, it is rarely used --can be used for emphasis or for foreshadowing, but often appears strange of gimmicky

sequences of shots or scene may describe

the linear movement of time forward as one event follows another in temporal order

narrative segmentation

the process of dividing a film into large narrative units for the purposes of analysis --a film may have 40 scene and sequences, but only 10 large segments --often locating editing transitions such as fades and dissolves will point to these divisions, which occur at significant changes in narrative space, time, characters, or action

verisimilitude

the quality of fictional representation that allows reader or viewers to accept a constructed world, its events, its characters, and their actions as plausible; literally "having the appearance of the truth"

editing through movement

to connect images through mov't means that the direction and pace of actions, gestures, and other movements are linked with corresponding or contrasting movements in one or more other shots

establishing shot provides the initial view of the scene--following shots usually follow the logic of spacial continuity

- if a character appears at the left of the screen looking toward the right in the establishing shot, it is likely that he or she will be shown looking in the same direction in the medium shot that follows - movements that carry across cuts will also adhere to a consistent screen direction - a character exiting the right of a frame wil probably enter a new space from the left - a chase sequence covering great distances is likely to provide spatial cues - the breakdown of a scene will proceed as if the action were traversed by an imaginary line that the camera will not cross—a key characteristic of continuity editing

shot

(in terms of the movie's finished version) can be defined simply as a continuous length of film, regardless of the camera movement or changes in focus it may record

basic principle of continuity editing

each shot has a continuous relationship to the next shot

scene

one or more shots that describe a continuous space, time, and action (ex: brother's family spies his arrival on the horizon and gathers on the porch to await his approach. He arrives, dismounts, and enters the homestead with them, at which point the scene ends)

dissolve

(sometimes called a lap dissolve) briefly superimposes one shot over the next, which takes its place: one image fades out as another image fades in

2 strategies that constitute the heart of continuity editing

1) using an establishing shot to construct an imaginary 180-degree space in which the action will develop 2) approximating the experience of real time by following human actions

cutaway

a specific continuity editing device used to condense time. --a shot that interrupts a continuous action, "cutting away" to another image or action, often to abridge time

narrative

a story told by a narrator or conveyed by a narrational point of view; see plot

disjunctive editing

a variety of alternative editing practices that call attention to the cut through spatial tension temporal jumps, or rhythmic or graphic pattern so as to affect viscerally, disorient, or intellectually engage the viewer--called visible editing

verisimilitude in fictional representations

allows readers or viewers to accept as plausible a constructed world, its events, its characters, and the actions of those characters

ellipsis

an abridgment in time in the narrative implied by editing --editing is one of the most useful techniques for manipulating narrative time --although actions may seem to flow in a continuous fashion, editing allows for significant temporal abridgement (reduce in scope), or ellipsis --cutting strategies both within scene and from scene to scene attempt to cover such ellipses. transitional devices such as dissolves and fades also manipulate the duration of narration

distantiation

an artistic practice intended to create an intellectual distance between the viewer and the performance or artwork in order to reflect on the work's production or various ideas and issues raised by it

sequence shot

an entire scene plays out in one take --this type of filmmaking more closely approximates human perception and is thus more realistic than montage

long takes

an example of controlling pace. --shots of relatively long duration --the image is sustained for what can seem an inordinate amount of time --rely more heavily on mise-en-scene

nondiegetic insert

an insert that breaks continuity--such as the display of printed text in Jean-Luc Godard film. --it introduces an object or view from outside the film's world or makes a comparison that transcends the characters' perspectives

fade-in

an optical effect in which a black screen gradually brightens to a full picture; often used after a fade-out to create a transition between scenes

fade-out

an optical effect in which an image gradually darkens to black, often ending a scene or a film --signifies the passing of time, a more visible break

iris-in

an optical effect used as an editing transition that gradually opens from a small, usually circular, portion of the frame and gradually expands to reveal the entire image

optical effects

before digital editing they were created in the printing process with an optical printer. --special effects produced with the use of an optical printer, including visual transitions between shots such as dissolves, fade-outs, and wipes, or process shots that combine figures and backgrounds through the use of matte shots

graphic match

coherence in shape and scale often serves a specific purpose, as in the continuity editing device called a graphic match, in which a dominant shape or line in one shot provides a visual transition to a similar shape or line in the next shot

analytical editing

continuity editing that establishes spatial and temporal clarity by breaking down a scene, often using progressively tighter framings that maintain consistent spatial relations

reaction shot

depicts a character's response to something that viewers have just been shown --the cut back to the character "claims" the view of the previous shot as subjective

rythmic editing

describes the organization of the editing according to different places or tempos determined by how quickly cuts are made --like the tempos that describe the rhythmic organization of music, editing in this fashion may link a rapid succession of quick shots, a series of slowly paced long takes, or shots of varying length to modulate the time between cuts --using cutting to create rhythmic and graphic patterns by juxtaposing objects in motion -narrative films also depend on editing rhythms to underpin the emotion and actions of a scene

shot/reverse shot

often used during conversations. --this pattern begins with a shot of one character taken from an angle at one end of the axis of action, continues with a shot of the second character from the "reverse" angle at the other end of the axis, and proceeds back and forth. sometimes begins with an establishing shot --usually taken over the shoulder of the participants, which helps remind viewers of their shared physical space

30-degree rule

one shot must be followed by another shot taken from a position greater than 30 degrees from that of the first --rule aims to emphasize the motivation for the cut by giving a substantially different view of the action --a transition between two shots less than 30 degrees apart is perceived as unnecessary largely because the cut itself is likely to be visible

film editing

process through which different images or shots are linked

movement editing can resist matching and instead create other patterns of movement in a series of images:

rapid and slow movements, movements into various spaces of a host, or diff styles of movement can be edited together for visual effects -EX: stationary structures coming alive and achieving a balletic movement through the editing

suture

refers to our sense of being inserted in a specific place in a film, a place from which to look at its fictional world --this reassuring sense is accomplished through devices such as the shot/reverse-shot sequence, which brings us back to a human surrogate within the film whose gaze can stand in for our own--until the next shot

standard practice for filming a convo

relatively close shot of both characters (two-shot) in a recognizable spatial orientation and context, then displays the character who is speaking in the next shot before cutting again to show the other character. Editing may proceed back and forth, with periodic returns to the initial view (reestablishing shots)

graphic editing

style of editing creating formal patterns of shapes, mases, colors, lines, and lighting patterns through links between shots --best envisioned in abstract forms: one pattern of images may develop according to diminishing sizes, beginning with large shapes and proceeding through increasingly smaller shapes; another pattern may alternate the graphics of lighting, switching between brightly lit shots and dark, shadowy shots; another pattern might make use of lines within the frame by assembling diff shots whose horizontal and vertical lines create specific cisual effects --many films highlight this level of abstraction in the editing

nonlinear patterns in which events are juxtaposed out of their temporal order--IN THE CONTINUITY SYSTEM

such nonlinear constructions are introduced with strict cues about narrative motivation --flashbacks and flashforwards are part of continuity editing

match on action

the direction of an action (such as the tossing of a stone in the air) is edited to a shot depicting the continuation of that action (such as the flight of that stone as it hits a window) --often a match on action obscures the cut itself, such as when the cut occurs just as a character opens a door; in the next shot, we see the next room as the character shuts the door from the other side

pace

the duration of individual shots helps determine the pace of a film's editing --the tempo at which the film seems to move --it is determined by the duration of individual shots and the style of editing, as well as by other elements of cinematog and mise-en and the overall rhythm and flow of the film's action

modernism

the fragmentation of time and space is an important aesthetic aim of artistic modernism. an artistic movement in painting, music, design, architecture, and literature of the 1920s that rendered a fragmented vision of human subjectivity through strategies such as the foregrounding of style, experiments with space and time, and open-ended narratives

continuity editing

the institutionalized system of Hollywood editing that uses cuts and other transitions to: 1) establish verisimilitude 2) to construct a coherent time and space 3) and to tell stories clearly and efficiently, requiring minimal mental effort on the part of the viewers --follows the basic principle that each shot or scene has a continuous relationship to the next (sometimes called invisible editing)

editing

the linking of different images that imitate how we see the world or that create patterns unlike our customary visual experiences DEF: the process of selecting and joining film footage and shots

chronology

the order according to which shots or scenes convey the temporal (time) sequence of the story's events --through the power to manipulate chronology, editing organizes narrative time

wipes

transition used to join 2 shots by moving a vertical, horizontal, or sometimes diagonal line across one image to replace it with a second image that follows the line across the frame

montage

usually reserved to denote thematically linked sequences and sequences that show the passage of time by using quick sets of cuts of other devices, such as dissolves, wipes, and superimpositions, to bridge spatial or temporal discontinuities