unit 16

Assignment 2 - Editing Theory


Development of video editing:
Film started in the 1800's and it had no editing at all because there wasn't generally any storyline, but now there is a lot of editing to make a film. films used to be made in one shot video but now there are a lot of clips that need to be recorded and put together to make a film, there are a lot of different rules for editing that most editors use while editing things to make the film look professional. continuity was a stile of editing that was assembled as a continuous or advanced flow of action and emotions in a film. Another form of editing is the classic Hollywood montage, this is where the editing is hard to see for the viewers, it has the 180 degree rule, witch makes characters that are talking to each other look a lot better, another one is shot reverse shot, this is use so it is easy to understand what is going on, the last one is cuts on action. 
Editing has developed so much throughout the years, it has got do much better that it was before.



The purpose of editing:
The purpose of editing is to create a film, it sets the meaning for the film. Editing can also help the film with the narrative, so people will know what the film is about and they will understand what the storyline and the plot is and will get more information about the film, it can be used to build up peoples different emotions about a character. If the film is edited to professional standards it will enable people watching to engage with the film. The editing of a film can be used to bring out emotions in an actors performance within filming, it can also create a point of view on things that happen in the film, it can be used to guide and the pace of the story. the editing can create the illusion of danger when there isn't any so it keeps the person who's watching on the edge of their seat making the film more exciting.

The conventions of editing.
There are a lot of conventions of editing for example continuity editing, this is a technique that is used in the TV and film industry, continuity editing is to make sure that every scene is cut smoothly to the next scene, this makes a logical connection between both of the scenes. In a lot of films logical connections between two shots is achieved by cutting to continuity which gives it a smooth transition. This makes the film look a lot better and more professional. An example of continuity editing is the Britney Spears song Til the world ends, where you can see Britney underground and it switches to above ground.

Another example is jump cuts, this is when two shots of the same subject or item are filmed from different camera angles, then they are cut together quickly, an example of this is from the film Breathless, the film has a lot of jump cuts in it. Jump cuts make it easier to move onto the next clip. 

Another example is the 180 degree rule. An imaginary line that is called the axis, connects both of the characters and makes sure that the camera stays on one side without crossing the line, if the camera does cross the axis it is known as crossing or jumping the line. the 180 degree rule enables the audience to connect visually with the movement happening on the screen.

One more Example is shot reverse shot, this is where one character is looking or talking to another character and then the other character looks and talks back to the other character. The shot reverse shot is used because it is faster and a successful way of recording a conversations between two characters without having to pan backwards and forwards all the time. An example of this being used is in the TV show Friends ad Scrubs, they use the shot reverse shot so the audience can fully understand the narrative.