Editing rhythm refers to a number of different shots played in a particular pace in order to excite the audience and increasing intensity.
The quicker the pace, the more intense whereas the slower the pace, the more relaxed.
The editor would then have to choose which particular shot would have the most impact and where, in addition to choosing which shots create a better and more accurate visual representation of what is going on in the scene.
The appropriate sequence of shots will create an effective build up.
Providing and withholding information is a useful method of keeping the audience engaged in the story. This strategy is often used in genres such as horrors, due to the audience not having a substantial amount of knowledge as to what will happen next in the action shown.
This strategy can be carried out by using cutaways and point of view shots considering that extending the amount of time before a viewer can find something out can leave them on the edge of their seats wanting to find out more. Again, point of view shots are frequently used in horrors and thrillers to make the audience feel as if they are the victim themselves and are unaware of the events that can happen next.
This image is a point of view shot of a character running in the street, this is an example of making the audience feel as if they are running along and feeling as vulnerable as the characters in the film.
This is also an example of a point of view shot from what seems like a horror/thriller. This could be represented as a victim looking at its attacker as they lay on the floor, which again can make the audience feel as vulnerable as they are.
The 180 degree rule refers to keeping a camera positioned on one side of an imaginary line, this is to achieve the best shots that make sense to your audience, helping them gain an understanding of where everything is in the scene. This can be achieved through using looking space and eyeline match.
In addition to this, it is important to capture facial expressions and reactions of the actors in order for the audience to gain a sense of what's going on in the scene, this is where you shoot in one direction (facing over the shoulder of one character) and then do the same with the character facing opposite.
Here is an example of a shot reverse shot, it is first shot showing one direction and then the exact same angle in the other direction. This is to clarify to the audience that they are exactly looking at eachother. In order to correctly achieve this, you need to imagine that there is a line between the actors and you must not cross that line by moving the camera too far away.
Here is an example of the line (the blue area) that must not be crossed, if the camera is placed outside of the line, then the rule is broken.
Point of view shots enable the audience to see events from a character's perspective.
Point of view shots are often edited in a particular way so that it is clear to the audience as to who's perspective they are seeing from. This could be through showing what the character is looking at and another shot showing the character's facial expression, which is referred to as a reverse shot.
Here are a range of examples of point of view shots from a selection of different films. The point of view shot in this clip is taken from inside the trunk of a car, to the audience this can provide them with a first person view of whatever the object/person can see from that particular position. This can be a useful tool to make the audience feel as if they are in that character's shoes, such as to make them feel as vulnerable as the character is.
This technique is used when shots are cut in sync with a beat.
The beats of the music will often dictate where cuts will happen.
Depending on the type of action, the editor can edit the cuts to either a fast beat or a slower pace. The editor may decide to go against this, making the shot asynchronous in order to confuse the audience.
Cutaway shots are often included in a scene of action. This is where there is a shot of something else in between that action.
Cutaways enable the director to include breaks at different periods of time during the action, keeping the audience ready and wanting to see more.
However, cutaways can make the audience lose interest and patience due to consistent interruption.
Cutaways can also be used to:
Create suspense.
Give the audience a sense of place and time.
This extract from The Godfather is a clear example of a cutaway; for around a minute the main character (Michael) speaks about his family, engaging both the person he is speaking to and the audience into the story he is telling. The man Michael is talking about his father being close to is the singer that the camera cuts to right before he says "That's my family, Kay". This leaves creates suspense for the audience, making them want to watch more into the story.
Cross-cutting refers to where you cut between different sets of action that could either be occurring at the same time or different times. This technique will build suspense, making the audience more keen to see what happens next. Parallel editing refers to two or more simultaneous sets of action occurring within one sequence.
This technique is used to:
Create tension
Show multiple points of view
Create dramatic irony; when the characters are unaware of the events unfolding from the main action.
These techniques are used to highlight a connection between the different action. Cross-cutting shots can be from different time periods. Parallel-editing enables different events to be shown simultaneously.
Cross-Cutting Example
In this extract from Casino, the audience is narrated through each death and events that were shown on-screen although it is not clear that these events were at the same time. This is used to build suspense as the audience is left unaware as to when they occurred but they are still narrated through and shown what happens. This is a quicker process by highlighting the events rather than extending screen time for each event.
Parallel Editing Example
In this extract from The Godfather, the beginning events starts at a church.Different shots are then included to show the audience people in different locations being murdered. The camera then keeps on showing Anthony Corleone in order to emphasise responsibility of those particular murders. This technique is also used to create tension for the audience.
A jump cut keeps the same angle but the shot can change, giving a jumping and awkward effect.
Jump cuts are used for:
Rebellion; French filmmakers wanted to break from the traditional editing.
Pace; to add speed to the events.
Psychological; to establish the strange way the human mind works.
This clip shows jump cuts of a man in a mirror cutting his hair and trimming his beard to slightly speed up the ace of the action. This creates suspension as time slightly goes quicker from when he entered the bathroom with a completely different appearance. Therefore, the jump cuts made this scene more distressing given what the build up leads to.
The main aim for this technique is to make the editing invisible to the viewers. Continuity editing should not draw the viewer's attention away from the story. This is then referred to as seamless. Cuts should be taken accurately and all positioning should be correct in order for the continuity to be seamless.
Mise en scene elements such as a moving object breaks continuity. Any form of action that does not match will also break continuity. The same applies to the 180 degree rule where continuity will be broken if the rule itself is broken.
"montage" comes from the French; 'monter' which means to assemble.
In film editing, montage can have three senses:
- In French film, "montage" identifies editing, as well as to assemble.
- In Soviet film, "montage" was a way of juxtaposing shots to provide new meaning that did not exist in either shots alone.
- In Hollywood cinema, a "montage sequence" is a short part in a film where a substantial amount of time and events is condensed into a short period.
Hollywood montage is a style that became a popular technique throughout the twentieth century and into our current one.
A montage sequence is an amount of different short shots that are edited into a sequence in order to show a quicker version of events and time passing.
Quite often, music is included in montage sequences in order to emphasise the mood of the events/scene.
In Soviet montage theory, editing different shots together creates a form of symbolic meaning.
Lev Kuleshov; editing a film is like constructing a building, brick by brick (shot-by-shot). Kuleshov conducted an experiment, finding that montages can lead viewers to make particular conclusions about the film. Kuleshov edited together a short film where a shot of an expressionless face was alternated with a range of different shots (a plate of soup, a girl in a coffin, a woman on a divan). The audience believed that Mosjoukine's face displayed three different expressions based on what he was "looking at".
Soup - Hunger Girl in coffin - Grief Woman on divan - Desire However, the footage of Mosjoukine was the same shot each time. Montage is effective because viewers interpret meaning based on context.
In this clip from Raging Bull, the montage scene shows the audience a number of life and boxing events the main characters pass through. The director used a montage to show the audience, in a quicker method, what events occur through 3 years using a variety of clips as well as including music in the background.
Storytelling is the portrayal of a series of events in words, sounds and images.
Stories have been shared for purposes such as:
- Entertainment
- Education
- Cultural preservation
- Instilling moral values
Essential parts of storytelling often include the:
- Plot
- Characters
- Narrative
- Point of view
"Visual storytelling" is where the story can be portrayed visually rather than spoken verbally. This enhances the meaning of the action sequence as the story is not being told in words, only pictures. This can be achieved through the choice of shots and the way they are edited together.
A visual storyteller will construct scenes which "cut the gab and give us a flow of pictures that coax us to follow a story". - David Bordwell.
Mostly in film, music and noise helps the story completely work when storytelling, however a use of powerful images can do the job alone.
Depending on the genre, the sequences of shots in a scene will be arranged in a particular way in order to fit that particular genre.
In a drama, the editor may start with a wide shot and then zoom in on particular characters.
In order to add tension and build up in a scene, shots will often start off as wide and then develop into medium shots.
Closer coverage of characters will enable reactions and emotions to be highlighted due to facial expressions being shown in detail.
In an action adventure film, shots may balance between wide shots of the action happening in the scene and closer coverage in order to highlight character responses.
Chase scenes often include closer coverage in order to display character responses to each piece of action.
In a horror film, the shots may stay wide in order to convey the vulnerability of a character.
Using long takes whilst remaining on the same shot will create a sense of stillness.
Stillness in horror genre will initiate violence and terror.
Audiences enjoy suspense and being challenged especially when they do not know what is going to happen next.
Cutting away from scenes will keep the audience intrigued as to whether or not the action will be continuing in the next scene or not.
Internal Conflict
Internal conflict arises when the protagonist is involved in a battle.
Closer coverage will be used in order to show the emotions (discomfort/tension) of the character in order to make the audience feel similar.
External Conflict
This often occurs between an antagonist and protagonist.
The shot-reverse-shot technique will be used to move back and forth between two characters in order to make the audience see the on-screen character's emotion as well as anticipate for the other character's reaction/emotions.
Dramatic Context
Editors must make sure that the current scene must relate to the events before and after that scene. They also must decide on exactly what level of tension and suspense should be used in scenes.
Subtext
The editor can show something so that the audience can know more about a situation other than what is being said verbally, which would then increase the dramatic irony.
There are
ways of making the audience feel engaged with the action that is going on in a
particular scene which will enhance their overall viewing experience.
Different shots can help achieve this, such as:
Wide Shots; presenting a whole view of the action to audience. Ariel Shots; following the events while capturing the overall location. Crane Shots; scale buildings Bullet time camera-setups which enables the viewers to experience a moment of action frozen in time from 360 degrees.
Audiences enjoy variation of shot distance and camera angles:
During action scenes, the audience will want to visually see the setting of the scene in order to have a general idea about the space and proxemics of the area.
During key dramatic beats in a scene, the audience expects a close coverage of a reaction of a character or key objects that reveal information.
Point of View shots also enables the audience to see exactly what the character is experiencing from that action.
Changing editorial pace can also be used for creating tension.
Long takes can give the audience a sense of a long and natural amount of time passing in order to make the situation realistic.
Video can be used for recording, copying, broadcasting and display moving visual and audio media on magnetic tape using an analogue video signal.
Digital video is a digital recording system that works by using a digital signal rather than an analogue video. Digital cinematography is the process of capturing motion pictures as digital video images. Digital capture can happen on any type of media that can record digital data, such as video tape, flash memory and hard disks.
Analogue recording is a technique used for the recording of
analogue signals which, among many possibilities, allows analogue audio and
analogue video for later playback.
Analog
recording methods store signals as a continuous signal in or on the media. The
signal may be stored as a physical texture on a phonograph record, or a
fluctuation in the field strength of a magnetic recording. This is different
from a digital recording which digital signals are represented as discrete numbers.
Digital imaging does not require chemicals. Digital images
are captured using arrays of photo sensors and these images are then processed
by specialised software. Prints can be made through for traditional projection.
Or film can remain in a digital form for digital projection.
In an analogue audio signal, the voltage of the signal varies
with the pressure of the sound waves. Analogue waves are smooth and consistent.
Digital waves are more square.
Film can be used for recording, copying and broadcasting moving
visual and audio media on a material called celluloid.
Celluloid - Transparent plastic sheets used for making cinematographic
films.
The first celluloid film was 16mm, however the smaller sizes resulted
in films having lower picture quality which lead to larger sizes being introduced.
Film can either be a ‘chemical’ or digital process.
When a chemical process, a light sensitive silver halide
emulsion coated on a film base is exposed to light in a camera. This will then
create a latended image which is made visible by emerging the film into a
chemical solution referred to as a ‘developer’. A print can then be made by
projecting the image from the film onto sensitized photographic paper and
processing the paper through a number of chemical baths.
A movie projector is a mechanical device for displaying
motion picture film by projecting it onto a screen.
This refers to a range of techniques used in filmmaking to
change the measurements of space and time in ways that would not be possible in
real life. This can be used to either show the audience a large amount of time
being compressed into a short piece of footage, or where a situation is made
out to be longer than it would be realistically. This technique is used to
create suspense for the audience and to maintain their attention to what is
happening.
This can be used through slow motion and repetition of the same
shot but from a number of different angles, especially wide angles. This can make the event seem longer
to the audience than it really is.
With this technique, time can be reduced and stretched and space can be compressed and expanded.
Cutting between two different locations can make them both appear connected, which can lengthen the event for the audience.
Flash backs displaying prior events that had occurred in a character's memory can be useful when revealing aspects of plot.
Flash forwards into the future can also reveal the intentions/expectations of a character.
Diegesis
Diegetic: Sounds people within the story can hear
Non-Diegetic: Sounds people within the story cannot hear. e.g. narratives.
Shot variation is a technique that includes a range of different shots in a scene in order to acquire as much coverage of the action as possible.
This includes:
Wide shot – Where the setting behind a character is also focussed on as well as the character.
Extreme long shot – Where you have a full view of the character but from a further distance.
Long shot – Where you have a full view of the character.
Medium long shot – Where you can see three-quarters of a character.
Medium shot – Where the camera focuses on the character’s head and upper body.
Medium close shot – Similar to a close up, however you can see the character’s face more clearly.
Close-shot – Where the camera is close up to the character however some background is included in the shot.
Close-up – A shot where the character’s face covers the majority of the frame.
Extreme close up – Where you can see up close on a character, such as to show their facial expressions or facial features.
A wide shot is generally used at the start of a sequence to:
Set the tone of the scene
Introduce the audience to the location
Enable the audience to understand the concept of the scene
L Long shots are used to present a new location
Medium shots are commonly used to show the dynamics of two or three-person interaction.
Closer coverage is used for:
Intensity
Intimacy
Detail
Shot variation can be used to keep the audience's attention on every angle of a scene in action films due to a large number of different cuts in a small amount of time. This technique can also be used to fasten the pace of a scene.
This clip from Saving Private Ryan features different shots
in order to show the audience what the main character is seeing and the impact
it has on him. The beginning shot is a mid-shot of the main character’s face to
show the audience his reaction to what he is seeing, which also include long
shots and close ups of his surroundings, the injuries and facial expressions/emotions
of other characters. This enables the audience
to have a full view of the events happening around the main character as well
as seeing most of it through his own point of view. Shot variation makes the
audience capable of understanding the events happening to the characters and
their surroundings.
At the editing stage, depending on what the subject is doing, the editor will switch between different camera angles. The range of distances and angles will bring shape, texture and depth to the scene rather than using just one shot.
Multiple points of view are a technique used when camera shots are filmed from a number of different character’s point of view. This enables the audience to see exactly what the character is seeing which can make the audience feel more involved in the action.
Difference between ‘following the action’ and ‘multiple points of view’ – the audience are eventually focused on a single piece of action and seeing that action from many different points.
Effects of the 'multiple points of view' technique:
Enable the audience to see a bigger picture and help them understand fully what is going on
Add dynamism to the action making the scene more engaging
Manipulate time: observing the same action from multiple perspectives extends time
Reveal key information from different perspectives
In this clip from Jaws, before the shark attack, the camera
shows points of view above the water as to what surroundings the children are
in (splashing and screaming in the sea) and how it would appear to be. The
audience then gets a point of view shot from the shark underwater, showing its
intentions. While the child is being attacked the camera switches to a point of
view shot from above the water, however the sounds of the children playing in
the sea conceals any sounds from the attack. These multiple points of view
enable the audience to see exactly what happened as well as how the other
characters in the film saw the events.
