Task 10: Understanding Pace

Speed of Editing

Scenes in films can last from mere seconds to minutes on end, with the length of each sequence establishing pace for how the film should progress on during and from this point. The speed of editing can create both atmosphere and mood to the characters in the film and the audience.

In order to create anxiety and suspense to the audience,the use of fast editing and scene changes in quick succession to each other are the most effective in presenting theses emotions. 

On the other hand, in order to portray calm or romance, scenes tend to last longer and change less frequently to exaggerate these emotions. 

Film trailers commonly use fast editing to pack in as much information in the film without giving away the entire storyline or lasting to long.

In the openings of films, so as the story and main characters are being introduced, the editing has to be slow and flow well in order to present to the audience where and who they are concerned with. As the film progresses, scenes may vary and even cross cut to show one or more situations in detail.

Cross Cutting

The idea of cross cutting is to present two or more sequences to the audience at once that have some relation to each other. This means something will be happening at the same time as something else but in a different location. An example of this is 'The Race Home' scene in Ferris Buellers Day Off, directed by John Hughes. As Jenie floors it home, we see Ferris running through multiple different gardens, back allies and roads to get home before her. These scenes, when cross cut together, emphasise the rush and competitive relationship between the siblings. This is also emphasised by the fast editing, creating a quick pace and making the audience feel the desperation that the siblings have to catch each other out. 

Engaging the viewer

The use of camera angles, the speed of scene change, actions themselves and rapid storyline are all concepts of pace used to engage the viewer. An example of this is the Gunfight scene from The Good, The bad and The Ugly, directed by Sergio Leone, in which three cowboys have a shoot out to win whatever hidden treasures there are in a graveyard. The camera angles change from wide shots to close ups as the tension rises between the men. Once the first shot has been fired, the pace quickens, with scenes changing rapidly and camera angles varying. 

Task 9: Non-Continuity

Non-Continuity Editing?

Non- continuity editing, or discontinuity, is the opposite of continuity editing as it uses obvious editing to create a non realistic sequence of events. Essentially, shots are juxtaposed to show very obvious editing which is a  technique made popular throughout the 1950's and 1960's, mostly by Jean Luc Godard and François Truffaut. The time period and creation of discontinuity was known as the 'French New Wave'.

The Techniques?

• Jump Cut: A jump cut is a literal cut in film editing which takes two following shots of the same scene and alters the angle in which they are filmed very obviously, even sometimes changing surroundings completely. This could be to show a jump in time, or to bring emphasis to certain scenes that are supposed to be unrealistic. It is also sometimes used to exaggerate facial expressions.  
• Breaking the 180 degrees rule: By breaking this rule, it shows the scene from complete different perspectives and also switches the meaning of the scene which could reflect the characters emotions. 

A Bout de Soufflé - 

The 1960 film directed by Jean-Luc Godard is an earlier example of this style being used effectively and deliberately.  In this film, jump cuts are used to show a sequence happening in shorter time and in stages rather than one continuous flow. When the woman is talking to the driver, the eye line match rule is still used, however discontinuity occurs when she begins to check her appearance. There is no clear change as to when she opens her mirror, so the audience are presented with a sped up scene. Also, the surroundings indicate the change in time which is effective as it breaks flow, and occasionally the 180 degree rule.

The Shining - Stanley Kubrick

In the 1980 film directed by Stanley Kubrick, the 180 degree rule is broken when the two men are presented talking in a bathroom. 'The Shining' is a fairly modern film, so it would no longer confuse the audience by breaking flow deliberately and causing confusing situations. Throughout the conversation, the rule is broken in order to show the characters emotions and the turning of events when revelations are made, as well as make the audience rather dizzy. This technique is very common in situations where one or many characters are scared or confused, therefore appropriate here. 

Task 8: Our Continuity Editing

After gaining  knowledge of continuity editing, we got back into our groups and filmed our own short using this technique. However, as it was raining, we decided to film quite a simple yet effective and very short video. Our main example of the technique is the orange being thrown, as although this was done in two takes, it looks like one continuous shot.

Task 7: Understanding Continuity Editing

Continuity editing? 

Continuity editing is a system of editing used to maintain clear and fluent action within the film. This involved the technique known as degree shots, which means scenes must be taken from certain angles to maintain the continuity and make sense. Without this, the storyline or even the single shot following would appear out of place, breaking the continuos flow thus destroying the audiences perspective of realism.

The Techniques?

• Shot/Reverse shot: In order to achieve the illusion of two people having a conversation in a film or television programme, each shot has to be specifically angled to show their interaction. Usually one person will be facing left, and the other right, in this case a shot is taken either face on or from the side of each individual separately. However, sometimes in more complex editing, over the shoulder shots are taken which may show the person talking and the back of their opponent. In this case, the second person would have to maintain their position throughout in order for it to flow. 
• Eye-Line Match: Eye-line match is the technique of assuring that each character is looking at each other in the correct direction to show some level of communication. This is done through a cut of two shots. By doing this, it gives the audience the perspective of the characters, which makes the film more intimate to watch. 
• 180 Degree Rule: This rule is a basic guideline that states two characters in the scene should always conform to the left/right relationship. It's as though the camera passes over an invisible axis that connects the two subjects, known as 'crossing the line'. When filming like this, the camera should always be on one side of the screen so that the characters will appear to switch position on screen.
• Match on Action: This technique links two shots together, as we see the character start the activity in the scene from one shot and end from another. By doing this it ensures that the action seems like one fluent and realistic movement when the actor may have actually performed it in two halves. 

Casablanca 

The 1942 film 'Casablanca' directed by Michael Curtiz is one of the earlier examples of this technique. In order to show fluency, a series of swoop shots and wide shots are used to show multiple people interacting in one large and eventful scene. Without this technique, it would be unclear as to who was speaking to who, as the eye contact wouldn't have been established using the 180 degree rule. Also, as this scene is so busy and there's lots to see at once, without this editing skill there would be no indication of who/what the audience is meant to focus on. 

The Hangover: Part 3

The 2013 film directed by Todd Phillips is the finale in 'The Hangover' trilogy, and displays a more modern example of continuity editing. In this scene, we see character Alan driving down a highway with his new pet giraffe in tow. On his journey, he speaks to a little boy in another car and his giraffe, in which both conversations require the eye line match rule to be successful. Also, in the huge accident towards the end of the scene, fatalities occur in time with each other, however this isn't necessarily how it may have been filmed. Continuity allows the audience to see an accident happen in an instant, but also Alan continuing to drive on in one flow of filming. This scene would be jumbled and confusing without the rules, which could take away from it's humour. Warning: Contains some graphic content.

Task 6: Creating a Montage

After gaining knowledge of montages, we were asked to create a montage using either soviet, french or hollywood style. As a group of 4 we devised a story board that we could roughly stick to in order to create a structured montage.

The concept we were given was 'a school day', so we decided not to go too far from this by showing an end of year exam.We decided to use Hollywood style to compress the sequence of exam preparation, an exam and getting the exam results.

Task 5: Montage

Methods of Montage 

In films, television programmes and sometimes even music videos, montages are used to show progression through the compression of time. This means scenes that have taken place over the course of months can be presented in key sequences that last a matter of minutes in the film without dragging out storyline or time. However there are many different types of montage that aren't usually recognised as montages, as they're not as easily as identifiable. For example, if two different scenes are presented next to each other or in a parallel edit, the technique of montage is being used.
-The French Montage 
In French films, 'montage has a very literal meaning: 'assembly'. Therefore, in French film the term simply identifies the process of editing.
-The Soviet Montage 
In early 1920's soviet filmmaking, 'montage' had a different meaning. It would be used here to show a whole new meaning to a scene, and to increase drama.
-The Hollywood Montage
Using the rocky films as an example, Hollywood montages are used in the traditional way of the common montage. This means a long period of time is compressed.

Charlie Chaplin: Modern Times 
A famous example of a parallel editing montage is an old video by Charlie Chaplin that presents a short clip of sheep in a herd followed by workers coming out of a subway station. Although it may not seem like a montage, by simply showing these two clips back to back, a theme is created which can be discussed and interpreted differently. A similarity is displayed between the two shots, bringing a direct comparison to the herd and the workers. This was revolutionary, as it introduced the idea of symbolism in films, foreshadows (for example, a situation altered to present what's coming next) and the use of parallel editing further.

Rocky Montage 

The rocky montage- because it's simply the best montage ever. Also, it is both an example of traditional montage and parallel montage which makes it unique. These montages show weeks of training compressed down into a matter of minutes, which is incredibly convenient to adding backstory and showing progression of Rocky's physical fitness in preparation of the fight. As well as a dramatic audio, this montage sticks to all of the golden rules of montage, and is as informative as possible in just a few minutes.

Motionless Montages

Montages can also be used to show different meaning behind a picture or a video. A man called Lev Kuleshov explored this concept in the dawn of the 20th century with a very famous experiment to present how situation can be changed by montage. By taking a screenshot of a Russian actor looking head on at the camera with a rather vague expression, he was able to put this image beside another to add substance and meaning to the mans expression.

In the first two images, it could be interpreted that the man is saddened over the dead child before him, therefore his expressions shows sorrow. The second image shows a bowl of soup, which could make the man appear hungry, therefore now his expressions has changed completely into hunger. Far from the first, his expression shows satisfaction when being met with a beautiful woman. Just by showing these two images together, the meaning is changed completely, which allows the director and the audience to explore concepts based on what interpretation is showed. No scene is definite to interpret without being shown in context, or with some form of follow up of previous situation.

Another famous Soviet director was Sergie Einsenstein. This director presented his '5 Methods of Montage' which are still used as a basis to most montages in modern days. These 5 methods are: 
Metric montage: A situation has 4 seconds on the screen in each part of the montage to build to a conclusion.
Rhythmic montage: Used to create visual continuity.
Tonal/ Overonal montage: Tonal is a scene in which a situation is repeated, for example someone coming to a window, before leading to some kind of bathos of climax.  Overonal is when a montage is used to express a situation and show glimpses of it without presenting the entire scene to it's audience.
Intellectual Montage: A scene is shown are a scene in which there is no climax to suggest what the climax was. For example, if someone is getting angry in one scene, the next may begin with a steaming, boiled kettle. This is shown in the film 'Strike' By Eisenstein, in which the scene of a bull being slaughtered is played alongside of workers being killed to symbolise the treatment of these workers. 

Task 4: From Analogue to Digital Editing

Analogue Editing

Analogue editing is the cutting and sticking of pieces of celluloid film to create a sequence. Traditionally films are made up of images printed onto this paper in acetate negatives which are then spliced together to form a complete reel of film. These reels are then fed through a projector at the constant speed of 24 frames a second (that's a little bit fast) which makes a moving image appear on the screen.

The Moviola 

The moviola is a machine that was invented in 1924 by Iwan Serruier that was the first device that allowed a film editor to view the film as they were editing. This meant if mistakes were made, the editors were able to pick them up at an earlier stage. However, a reel could only be passed through a number of times before getting scratched, torn or unglued, therefore editors had to be selective when checking certain scenes. This machine was the first used for feature length motion picture editing.

Video Editing

Before any digital technologies were available, magnetic tapes were used to store information. These tapes are known as video tapes or, in modern terms, VHS tapes. Video editing itself is the process of editing segments of film using a device that mechanically puts the pieces of video tape back together, which means each piece has to be edited in order using a process known as Linear editing. Commonly, and every 90's child will remember, in order to re watch the film printed on the tape, it had to be rewound by hand, or you had the 20 minute wait of your video player rewinding it. 

Digital Editing 

Digital editing is a form of electronic  media where data is stored in digital form. This form of editing uses computers and programmes in order to manipulate the digital data, for example Adobe premier, Avid and Final Cut Pro. It uses bits and bytes (strings of 1's and 0's) to record, transmit and reply images instead of using chemicals on film, which means the whole process is electronic. Due to the popularity of the editing form, it soon overtook video editing as it was much cheaper. easier to store and much quicker. The only con was that if the computer were to shutdown, or a file was lost, that section of work is gone forever unless backed up elsewhere. 

Task 2\3:In Camera Editing

COMING SOON TO A SCREEN NEAR YOU
A JOURNEY.....
KINDA.....


THE AMAZING ZAP AND HIS DISAPPEARING SQUAD.

From left:Jordan,David,Will and Jess.

For this assignment, we were asked to create a short film using a technique called in camera editing. This was discovered accidentally by George Melies in the 1800s, and is achieved by stopping the recording at a specific moment and restarting it again to create an illusion. When recording a piece that involves in camera editing, a tape camera is used rather than a digital as it allows the scene to carry on as one without stopping before the next cut.

For our short film, we decided to use a concept similar to Melies 'The Vanishing Lady'. Before we started filming, we were asked to create a storyboard in which we had to include where we going to stop the camera and what each scene would involved. We then gave out roles: Jordan as the magician, David and Will as his friends and me as camera man...woman.....and director.

The storyline itself was successful as we managed to achieve the illusion of people disappearing. Also, there was very little lag between each cut, unlike our first attempt where we managed to accidentally film Will walking off of scene. However, i feel as though we should've muted the audio, as on a few cuts you can here me shouting 'stop', which strips the illusion. 

In camera editing has both advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages:

• Quick cuts
• Continuos film
• No need for extra software

Disadvantages:

• Hard to re-do mistakes
• Imperfect timing
• Audio problems 

Task 1:Editing in Early Cinema

Lumiere Brothers and Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison ran a film lab where the first Kinetographic Camera and the kinetoscope were invented. This was also where the 35mm film strip was made to industrial standard. The camera would be set up using this film to capture short videos and films if used in high quantities.
The first films were produced in 1895 by the Lumiere brothers accompanied by Thomas Edison (his company invented a film camera and projector for film.) Their first film was released in 1895 by the name of 'Sortie d'usine' and was composed of one continuos shot of people leaving a barn. There is very little editing here, which means that as extraordinary as this film is as the beginning of a revolution of films to come, the editing skills are very minor.  

  

   G.A.Smith 

G.A.Smith was a famous filmmaker active between 1897 and 1908 with over twenty short films released by the end of his career. Two of Smiths most famous works include 'The Miller and the Sweep' of 1898 and ' The Kiss in the Tunnel' of 1899. The first one was made up of one shot showing a miller leaving a windmill only to be attacked by a sweep, which was famous as it showed the first signs of comedy, action and storyline. 

The second was iconic as it displayed the use of parallel editing and further into storyline. This short film was also seen as 'inappropriate' and 'risky' due to its content, which displays a couple sharing a kiss on a train, which was a huge leap in film content. Smith not only has introduced themes into film making, but has progressed editing further so that parallel editing can now be used to emphasise a situation and make the film more visually excited. 

George Méliès

Before becoming a director, Méliès was a magician who was a fan of the Lumiere brothers. Whilst watching their films, he saw possibilities of a novelty more than a motion itself, and decided to get hold of a camera. From here he developed a studio, scripts and attempted to make a short film. However, when making one, it is rumoured he accidentally discovered 'in camera editing' when his camera glitched for a second. This is how his most famous work, 'The Vanishing Lady', became to be in 1896.  By using this skill he discovered, he was able to stop and start his camera again, and edit the clips together effectively by hand to produce a very cool illusion. Of course, the woman wouldn't have actually disappeared, but simply left the shot whilst the actor held his stance.

  

Edwin S Porter 

Before joining the film lab which was ran by Thomas Edison in late 1890's, Porter worked as an electrician. In 1903 he made the breakthrough film 'Life of an American fireman in 1903. This film alone introduced close ups, further and more informative use of parallel editing, and also encouraged more people to take up acting as a career. In my opinion, this film acted as a pioneer to really start the progression of film making. One iconic scene from this short film is a close up of a hand pulling a fire alarm, which was the beginning of close ups. Another iconic film made by Porter was 'The Great Train Robbery' of 1903, which demonstrated continuity.   

Charles Pathe 

In 1984, Charles and Emilie Pathe formed their own record company, and after two years created their film industry, Société Pathé Fréres. They created this industry to break through into the motion picture and filming world, practicing techniques and creating series of short films to progress. The most iconic and recognised film created by Pathe was 'The Horse that Bolted' in 1907. This film is one of the first examples of cross cutting being used to show multiple story lines rather than analysing one in detail. Also, it shows examples of continuity in places, like when the people run around corners to escape the path of this horse.

D.W Griffith

Griffith was a U.S film director and one of the earlier supporters of out of camera editing. He would use cross cutting to show actions happening in different locations, what was also known as parallel editing, as well as showing an increase in cast and other techniques, including close ups, continuity and ongoing themes. 'The Birth of a Nation' in 1915 was his most iconic films, and is widely known for its vulgar, offensive and racist content. This film was so racist, in fact, that it was partly responsible for the KKK regrouping in 1920. Throughout the film, all of the techniques mentioned above are used, however a new technique to change the visual style is explored. Over each new scene, a coloured filter is used to make the film more visually exciting, but also to change atmosphere and to show clear scene change. Also, the length of this film would've been a great feat, as each role of film would've only filmed 8 minutes, meaning great effort is shown.

Allo Lads!

Hello! This blog is part of my first year of BTEC media, and will discuss and explain the use of editing, skills and development in film making.
I aspire to be a director is music videos and short films when I have the opportunity to begin a career, and learning the basics in media will hopefully assist me to achieve this.
Me as a person, i enjoy making short YouTube videos with friends and watching as many music videos as I can to see what fits each genre perfectly, and what just looks stupid. As for films, the more skills I learn the more critical I have become, especially in regards to bad directing of scenes.