1. Types of Editing
Editing: The work of selecting and joining together shots to
create a finished film.
Rachel Williams

2. The Editor
A film editor must know how to tell a story,
the responsibility of guiding the picture
through post-production and into the cinema
rest in the their hands. Scenes may have
been done poorly and performances might
be flat, but a skilled, creative editor can
assemble the film so that the audience never
see those imperfections.
Everyone involved creates a scene, from the
screenwriter and director, to the actors and
film editor. After hours of reviewing unedited
film, the editor creates a much shorter scene.
Each part of a scene is quite often filmed in
different locations and months apart, with
the sound recorded in a studio, but when you
see the finished scene, all of the sounds and
images work together. They appear to have
taken place at one time and in one place.
This is the magic of editing.

3. Continuity Editing
Continuity editing creates action that flows smoothly across
shots and scenes without jarring visual inconsistencies. It
establishes a sense of story for the viewer. Errors of
continuity disrupt the flow of a scene, for example, failure to
match action or the placement of props across shots.
180 Degree Rule
The continuity approach to editing dictates that the camera
should stay on one side of the action to ensure consistent spatial relations between objects to
the right and left of the frame.
Match on Action
A continuity cut which places two different framings of the same action together at the same
moment in the gesture, making it seem to continue uninterrupted.
Shot-Reverse-Shot
Two or more shots edited together that alternate characters, typically in a conversation
situation.
Here is a link to a short documentary on Continuity Editing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xauSCz1mEk

4. Other Types of Editing
Elliptical Editing – Parts of an event of cut out, causing an ‘ellipsis’ in the plot and story duration.
The following link is a good example of how elliptical editing can be used. The clip is from the film
‘Batman Begins’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpJGC13TG6k
Graphic Editing – Two shots of a similar composition are joined together. The audience eye is
focused on the same point of the screen, when one object leaves the next takes the same place on
the screen. This short clip is a simple yet effective example of a graphic match :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HG5kPlxzeU
Parallel Editing – This is a technique where a scene is cut between two or more related events
occurring at the same time, in two separate locations, or different points in time. The following clip
is from ‘The Godfather’ and shows how parallel editing works:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_I82117oAw
Montage Editing – A segment of a film that summarizes a topic or compresses a passage of time
into brief symbolic or typical images. Frequently, transitions like dissolves, fades, and wipes are used
to link the images in a montage sequence. The opening sequence to ‘Hot Fuzz’ demonstrates this
type of editing well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBNnHlqO4cs

5. Transitions used in Film Editing
Cut – A visual transition created in editing in which one shot is instantaneously replaced
on screen by another. It is the most basic and common type of transition. Cuts became
industry standard because in the early years of cinema, the editor could very easily cut
the celluloid strip with a blade or scissors and splice it together, any other type of
transition would require specialized processing, increasing the cost. Also, other types of
transition are more distracting, cuts help the film flow better.
Fade In/Fade out – A visual transition between shots or scenes that appears on the
screen as a brief interval with no picture. The editor fades one shot to black and then
fades in the next. It is often used to indicate a change in time and/or place. These are the
second most common type of transition. Traditionally, fade outs are used to end a movie
and a fade in is used to begin a movie. In ‘Pulp Fiction’, one fade out happens right after
Butch rams his car into Marcellus Wallace, an unexpected accident that drastically alters
the lives of those two characters.
Dissolve – A gradual scene transition. The editor overlaps the end of one shot with the
beginning of the next one, it can also be known as ‘overlapping’. For a few seconds, they
overlap, and both shots are visible. This type of transition is commonly used to signify the
passage of time.
Wipe – A bar travels across the frame, pushing one shot off and pulling the next shot into
place. They are rarely used in contemporary film, but are common in films from the
1930s and 1940s. Wipes are a dynamic transition and George Lucas deliberately used
them throughout the ‘Star Wars’ series.
Iris – A circle closing down over or opening up on a shot. They are seldom used in
contemporary film, but were commonly used during the silent era of Hollywood films.
Irises are also found in some cartoons.