Relating Images: Editing

Editing is everywhere. It happens in the film industry, in the television industry and especially in the magazine industry. Editing can be seen "in store windows, on highway billboards, or on television when we channel surf" (The Film Experience: An Introduction pp.136). A director of a film only lets us see the things that he wants us to see. Therefore, he can edit out any of the things that he believes have little to no meaning during the juncture of his film. Also, images are linked together from different periods of time; however, this is not something we ever see in everyday life. "Thus we find that a film consisting of eight hundred or more images makes sense" (The Film Experience: An Introduction pp.136).



There are many ways in which editing is used in film. Some of these ways include: establishing continuity in a film, emphasizing particular patterns or graphics, organizing images as being meaningful, and edited certain images in which they are based on a break in the film. Personally, when I watch a film I notice "the cut and other transitions". This is an important process because it leads the audience onto the next scene with what is a usually smooth transition. "The earliest films consisted of a single shot, which could run only as long as the reel of film in the camera lasted" (The Film Experience: An Introduction pp.143). Technology has obviously been largely enhanced since this was what now seems to be a pre-historic time. Another method, well the only method, of editing during earlier years required the camera man to pause the reel. The stage workers would then rearrange the scene and proceed with the filming of the movie. Filming a movie using this method would obviously be a complicating thing, so new methods had to be constructed.

What is known as the cut is the foundation on which film editing is based upon. The cut "describes the break and the common border that separate two shots from two different pieces of film" (The Film Experience: An Introduction pp.143). This is used in mostly every scene in a movie and goes unrecognized because the viewers have become so adapted to it. Also, using this particular method gives multiple perspectives and viewpoints to the audience.



Edits can also be used to identify with the personality of a film. Certain ways can be used to have an adverse effect on our reactions, such as fading out, fading in, and in an older fashion, dissolving. According to film editor, Walter Murch, there are six main criteria for evaluating a cut. This is called the "Rule of Six". Here is his list in descending order of importance: 1) Emotion 2) Story 3) Rhythm 4) Eye-Trace 5) Two-Dimensional Plane of Screen 6) Three-Dimensional Space of Action.

•Emotion — Does the cut reflect what the editor believes the audience should be feeling at that moment?

•Story — Does the cut advance the story?

•Rhythm — Does the cut occur "at a moment that is rhythmically interesting and 'right'"

•Eye-trace — Does the cut pay respect to "the location and movement of the audience's focus of interest within the frame"

•Two-dimensional plane of the screen — Does the cut respect the 180 degree rule?

•Three-dimensional space of action — Is the cut true to the physical/spatial relationships within the diegesis?

Editing is one of the most important facets in a film. The director uses editing to control the emotions of the audience and keep a story line fresh. This can make or break a film.


WORKS CITED

"How to Edit" introtoediting.com. Web. 10 Apr. 2010
"Film Editing" wikipedia.org. Web. 10 Apr. 2010