Chapter 5: Editing: Relating Images

verisimilitude

- "the appearance of being true" - the quality of fictional representation that allows readers or viewers to accept a constructed world (its events, its characters, and their actions) as plausible - in cinematic storytelling, this is enhanced by clear, consistent spatial and temporal patterns that, along with other conventions, form part of Hollywood's overall continuity style

insert

- a brief shot, often a close-up, that points out details significant to the action or interpretation - helps overcome viewers' spatial separation from the action, pointing out details significant to the plot, or making a comparison that transcends the characters' perspectives

30-degree rule

- a cinematic and editing rule that specifies that a shot should be followed by another shot taken from a position greater than 30 degrees from that of the first - illustrates the extent to which continuity editing attempts to preserve spatial unity - aims to emphasize the motivation for the cut by giving a substantially different view of the action - if a shot of the same subject is taken within 30 degrees of the previous shot, it will appear to jump in position on screen

match on action

- a cut between two shots continuing a visual action - in this technique, the direction of an action is picked up by editing a shot depicting the continuation of that action - often obscures the cut itself

two-shot

- a relatively close shot of both characters in conversation - a shot depicting two characters

flashback

- a sequence that follows an image set in the present with an image set in the past - may be introduced with a dissolve conveying the character's memory or with voiceover narration between linear and nonlinear structure

montage sequence

- a series of thematically linked shots or shots meant to show the passage of time, joined by quick cuts or other device, such as dissolves, wipes, and superimpositions - emphasizes the creative power of editing, especially the potential to build up a sequence and augment meaning, rather than simply the removal of the extraneous

reaction shot

- a shot which depicts a character's response to something shown in a previous shot - emphasizes human perspective in a way that can be seen as standing in for the audience's own response

re-establishing shots

- a shot, used during an editing sequence that proceeds back and forth, that returns to the initial establishing shot to restore a seemingly objective view to spectators - a shot that reestablishes the space in which an edited sequence unfolds, orienting the spectator to changes in figure location and restoring an objective view of the action

continuity editing

- a storytelling style which gives the viewer the impression that action unfolds with spatiotemporal consistency - Hollywood editing that uses cuts and transitions to establish verisimilitude, to construct coherent time and space, and to tell stories clearly and efficiently - follows the basic principle that each shot has a continuous relationship to the next shot - sometimes called invisibility editing - goals are to construct an imaginary space in which the action develops and to approximate the experience of real time by following human actions

continuity style

- an approach to filmmaking associated with classical Hollywood cinema that uses a broad array of technical choices (rom continuity editing to scoring) that efface technique in order to emphasize human agency and narrative clarity

overlapping editing

- an edited sequence that presents two or more shots of the same action across several cuts - extends time

fade-in

- an optical effect in which a black screen gradually brightens to a full picture - often use 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 film

dissolve

- an optical effect that briefly superimposes one shot over the next, which takes its place - one image fades out as another image fades in - in studio-era Hollywood, these were used to indicate a spatial or temporal break that is more definite than that done by straight cuts - often mark pauses between narrative sequences or larger segments of a film

sequence

- any number of shot that are unified as a coherent action or an identifiable motif, regardless of changes in time and space - the editing bridges any changes of setting and covers ellipses of time, but the character continues one primary action, and no significant time passes

jump cuts

- edits that intentionally create gaps in the action - innovated by Jean-Luc Godard - an edit that interrupts a particular action and intentionally or unintentionally creates discontinuities in the spatial or temporal development of shots

over-the-shoulder shots

- frame compositions where the camera is positioned slightly behind and over the shoulder of one character, focusing on another character or object; often used when alternating between speaking characters

axis of action

- imaginary line drawn between the characters or figures of a scene, bisecting a scene corresponding to the 180-degree rule in continuity editing - 180-degree rule restricts possible camera setups to one side of this line

intellectual montage

- juxtaposition of disparate shots (i.e. Eisenstein films) - a process of meaning generation through editing that occurs when a viewer forms an independent idea after seeing two or more images that are rich in cultural, political, or symbolic meaning

shot/reverse-shot

- one of the most common spatial practices within continuity editing, and a regular application of the 180-degree rule - an editing pattern that begins with a shot of one character looking offscreen in one direction, followed by a shot of a second character who appears to be looking back - the effect is that the characters seem to be looking at each other - the use of over-the-shoulder shots in shot/reverse shot sequences increases the perception of viewer participation in a conversation - the first shot is taken from an angle at one end of the axis of action, the second from the "reverse" angle at the other end of the line - aka shot/countershot

average shot length (ASL)

- the average duration of time (usually measured in seconds) of individual shots in a particular movie - has decreased over recent decades

cut

- the join or splice between two pieces of film - the foundation for film editing - in the editing process, the join or splice between two pieces of film; in the finished film, an editing transition between two separate shots or scenes achieved without optical effects - usually follows a particular logic

narrative duration

- the length of time used to present an event or action in a plot - may not conform to the length of time that passes in the story

chronology

- the order according to which shots or scenes convey the temporal sequence of the story's events - editing's power to manipulate this helps to organize narrative time

rhythmic editing

- the organization of editing according to different paces or tempos determined by how quickly cuts are made - may link a rapid succession of quick shots, a series of slowly cut long takes, or shots of varying length to mud late the time between cuts - often combined with continuity aims or graphic patterns

180-degree rule

- the primary rule of continuity editing - a central convention 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, onscreen figure positions would be reversed - in general, any shot taken from the same side of the axis of action will ensure that the relative positions or people and other elements of mies-en-scene, as well as the directions of gazes and movements, will remain consistent

segmentation

- the process of dividing a film into large narrative units for the purpose of analysis - tracing the logic of a particular film's editing on this level gives insight into how film narratives are organized

pace

- the tempo at which a film seems to move, influenced by the duration of individual shots and the style of editing - may vary historically, culturally, and stylistically

disjunctive editing

- visible editing that calls attention to the cut through spatial tension, temporal jumps, or rhythmic or graphic patterns and therefore makes a definitive break from cutting in the service of verisimilitude

screen time

The actual length of time that a movie takes to unfold

eyeline match

a cut that follows a shot of a character looking offscreen with a shot of a subject whose screen position matches the gaze of the character in the first shot

jump cut

a cut that interrupts a particular action and intentionally or unintentionally creates discontinuities in the spatial or temporal development of shots

flashforward

a sequence that connects an image set in the present with one or more future images

sequence shot

a shot in which an entire scene is played out in space and time in a single shot, one continuous take

iris

a shot in which the corners of the frame are masked in a black, usually circular, form

cutaway

a shot that interrupts an action to "cut away" to another image or action, often to abridge time, before returning to the first shot or scene at a point further along in time

storyboard

a shot-by-shot representation of how a film or a film sequence will unfold

wipe

a transition used to join two shots by movig

ellipsis

an abridgment of time in the narrative implied by editing

distanciation

an artistic practice, introduced by German playwright Bertolt Brecht, intended to create an intellectual distance between the viewer and the work of art in order to reflect on the work's production or the various ideas and issues that it raises

graphic match

an edit in which a dominant shape or line in one shot provides a visual transition to a similar shape or line in the next shot

cross-cutting (a.k.a. parallel editing)

an editing technique that cuts back and forth between actions in separate locations, often implying simultaneity

establishing shot

an initial long shot that establishes the location and setting and that orients the viewer in space to a clear view of the action

intercutting

interposing shots of two or more actions or locations

shock cut

juxtaposes tow images whose dramatic difference creates a jarring visual effect, often accompanied by a jolt on the soundtrack (esp. in horror films)

slow cinema

movies, often in contemporary international art films, where shots are sustained for what can seem an inordinate amount of time

scene

one or more shots that depict a continuous space and time

long takes

shots of relatively long duration

dialectical montage

the cutting together of conflicting or unrelated images to generate an idea or emotion in the viewer

plot time

the length of time a movie depicts when telling its story

narrative frequency

the number of times a plot element is repeated throughout a narrative

editing

the process of selecting and joining film footage and shots

story time

the sequence of events inferred during the telling of a film story