2. Contents
Definition and Key Themes
The Principles of Editing
Editing Techniques
Editing Transitions
Web Pages
3. Editing
What is it…?
- Write your own definition for video editing…
- Video editing can be described as the process of piecing together raw footage, which has been captured on a video camera, in order to create a complete video product.
- Editing itself is a powerful tool. It can manipulate time, space and interpretation within a media product (e.g. films, television programmes, radio programmes, newspaper articles, video games, etc).
4. Editing
Key themes relating to editing…
- Storyline
- Narrative
* What is the difference between these two key terms…?
- Storyline = The plot.
- Narrative = The arrangement of events that reveal and complete the storyline.
5. Editing
Storyline and narrative…
- Open-ended storyline
- Closed storyline
- Linear narrative
- Non-linear narrative
6. Editing
Storyline and narrative…
- Open-ended = A storyline that is left incomplete. This could be to continue the story in a subsequent programme, or to allow audiences to complete the storyline using their own imagination.
- Closed = A storyline that is left complete, with no questions left unanswered (regarding the storyline).
- Linear = Events, of the storyline, that unfold in a chronological order.
- Non-linear = Events, of the storyline, that unfold in a non-chronological order.
7. Editing
The principles of editing
1. Storytelling
- Editing is used to piece together scenes in a (usually) logical sequence to tell a story.
2. Combination of shots
- Editors will combine a mixture of shot types and angles in order to draw in the viewer and establish settings, feelings and relationships.
- A combination of shots should be edited together in a logical order. For example, LONG SHOT MID-SHOT CLOSE-UP EXTREME CLOSE-UP.
A combination of shots (good and bad) in
Fist of Fury (1972) Dir: Lo Wei
9. Editing
The principles of editing
3. Creating pace
- In order to create a sense of pace or speed within a TV programme or film, the editing techniques used must match the sounds or music used within the video.
Taio Cruz – Break Your Heart (2009)
Creating pace in a music video
Framelines TV – Fast and Slow Cutting
10. Editing
The principles of editing
4. The 180o rule
- This rule states that once two (or more) actors have been established on a certain side of the screen, then they must remain on that side throughout the edit.
- This rule applies to camera work and editing when filming two or more characters (during interviews, interrogations, conversations, etc.).
Framelines TV – The 180o Rule
11. Breaking the 180o Rule
The Shining (1980) Dir: Stanley Kubrick
Lèon: The Professional (1994) Dir: Luc Besson
12. Editing
Editing techniques
Continuity editing
Ensuring the mise-en-scène is kept constant throughout the cuts – that is, the settings, the props and the costumes.
BBC’s Great Movie Mistakes
For further continuity errors, try: www.moviemistakes.com
13. Editing
Editing techniques
Match on action
An action that begins in one shot, is continued or completed in the next shot, which is from a different angle.
Horrors of War (2006) Dir: Peter John Ross & John Whitney
14. Editing
Editing techniques
Parallel editing
Cutting between two or more storylines that are occurring at the same time, but in different places.
15. Editing
Editing techniques
Cutaway
Cutting away from the main subject to show other things happening around it.
Main subject(s)
Cutaway
Cutaway
The Longest Yard (2005) Dir: Peter Segal
16. For A Few Dollars More (1965) Dir: Sergio Leone
Main subject(s)
21. Editing
Editing techniques
Jump cut
A way of reducing a long take by editing out one or more sections.
Breathless (1960) Dir: Jean-Luc Goddard
22. Editing
Editing techniques
Match cut
An action that is shown in one scene will then be repeated in a similar fashion in the next scene.
Graphic (match) cut
An object / shape in one shot, ‘transforms’ into something similar in the next shot.
A graphic (match) cut with a dissolve
Match cuts from the John Lewis 150th anniversary advert (2014)
23. Editing
Editing techniques
Shot-reverse-shot
Character A looks at character B. The shot then cuts to character B looking at character A. Then back to the original shot.
Two subjects talking
Shot
Reverse
Shot
24. Editing
Editing transitions
Fade out / fade in
A gradual transition from one shot to another; one darkens and the next brightens.
Dissolve
One scene fades out while another fades in over the top of it – the two scenes mix into each other (see the graphic match cut example).
Wipe
The subsequent scene wipes over the prior scene.
Wipes from Star Wars
A fade up during the opening scene of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
25. Editing
Editing transitions
Superimposition
One image is placed on top of another.
Slow motion / fast motion
Slowing down or speeding up time or an action.
Ellipsis
The editing out of a period of time or series of events, leaving the viewer to fill in the narrative using their own imagination.
Superimposition in
The Lion King (1994) Dir: Roger Allers & Rob Minkoff
Slow motion in The Matrix (1999) Dir: Andy & Laurence Wachowski
An ellipsis in Bruce Almighty (2003) Dir: Tom Shadyac
26. Editing
Exercise
* Note down what you think the purpose and/or effects of the following editing techniques are…
- Cutaway
- Jump cut
- Shot-reverse-shot
- Fade in / fade out
- Dissolve
- Slow motion / fast motion
28. Editing
Exercise
* You will watch an extract of a film / TV drama.
* You must note down all of the editing principals and editing techniques that are used.
* If you have identified the editing techniques used, you can go on to explain the effects of these editing techniques within the programme.
29. The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Making
New Media Rights – Video Editing Techniques
Basic editing techniques explained
Yale University – Editing Techniques
Web Pages
