Talent Shows are currently one of the
most popular television genres. Following the success of the Reality genre,
Talent Shows fascinate the audience because of the fact that they show real
people put under pressure to perform at their best. The public see people
become stars overnight.
Much of the success is from the editing
techniques used in the talent show genre. The editing style and choices
manipulate the way the audience perceive contestants and judges increasing the
entertainment value of the programme.
A good example of this would be the Susan Boyle audition for Britain’s Got Talent. When the audience are first introduced to her, we are shown a unflattering shot of her eating a sandwich, this was used to create a negative image. In addition to this, there was non-diegetic comical music put over the footage to emphasise the negative connotations. Furthermore, as Susan went to appear on stage and was greeted by Ant and Dec, non-diegetic laughter was put in the background to make the audience think her audition would be terrible, like her appearance. As she was on stage, the editing drifted from shot to shot of peoples different facial expression towards her.
One shot shown below is from someone in the audience laughing at the idea of what her audition is going to sound like and other shots were of the judges expressions of smirking and talking to Susan. The editor chose to show a chot of simon rolling his eyes because he is basically the star of the show and the main opinion comes from him. This shot from the edit was then depicted by his reaction shot to when she began singing. As Susan starts singing, the whole audience clap, the edits go from showing peoples negative opinions to positively shocked, cheerful faces. Even Ant & Dec were clapping and saying ‘you didn’t expect that, did ya?’.
When Susan reaches that last few high notes , a shot of Amanda standing up is shown to applaud Susan's audition then a shot of the audience shows everyone else creating a standing innovation. The editors then decided to keep the footage of her walking off as soon as she had finished her song, just as part of the entertainment. All these editing techniques have been used to generate a negative image of Susan, so that the audience are expecting a dreadful audition but then get the shock when they hear her amazing voice. This is just merely one example from the Talent show genre. This is the type of editing used to entertain the Nation.
The
first ever Big Brother was a massive discovery for reality TV. People were
fascinated by the whole idea of putting people in a house and filming their
every move. The thing that people didn’t realise when watching is that what was
happening in the scene they was watching might not all be from the same event
during that time of day. The editors had the power to manipulate what they had
already filmed into their own storyline and only show that audience what they
are allowed to see. This either withheld or revealed what happened to the
audience. The diary room would have also been used to manipulate the storyline
that was already in tact and would make everything seem more believable. The
editors managed to build up drama from every day conversations and
interactions. This use of editing made the audience generate an image and a
perspective on each person in the house and turn them into characters in a
drama. The audience will develop an opinion on each person whether they thought
they was genuine or ‘‘playing the game’’.
In
Big Brother, They manage to put 24 hours of film and condense it so it shows
all the highlights of the day into just 1hour. This is how it is so easy for
the editors to just manipulate the time and space in the house. The hour slot
is enough to show the audience what they are allowed to see as well as some
things that might not even turn out how they started or ended. By using
conventions like close up shots, voice over and narrator the editors are able
to generate opinions about other people in the house against one another.The close up shots construct an image so that
the audience are manipulated into thinking that the individual is doing
something that they shouldn’t be or overreacting to another’s comment. The fact
that it is real people being filmed doing day to day things people find it
authentic and buy into the idea that they are just watching people complete
tasks and talk about each other to Big Brother.
None
of this would have been prior to digital editing systems which allow people to
work with a vast amount of footage very quickly. However, now everything is
done digitally on computer systems and are easily put together by the click of
a button.
A
montage is several shots juxtapositioned with one another. The way they are
edited together makes the audience innovate their own narrative instead of
telling them the story, like done in continuity editing. Montage is when
several shots
are edited together rapidly, sometimes showing continuous action.
The
first time montage was used, Kuleshov done an experiment using the same
‘beginning and ending shots’ then putting something totally unrelated in the
middle. In one of Alfred Hitchcock's narratives to the experiment, he mentioned
that when the first shot of the man was combined with the woman and her child,
he looked like a nice man. Then when the shot was put together with a woman in
a bikini, the audience would instantly think that he was a dirty old man.
Montage
was then used again in a very famous film by Eisenstien called The Battle Ship Potemkin. This
film is remembered for its astonishing use of montage. The main scene is set on
a large set of stairs with people running down the stairs then eventually
fighting with each other. The effect of Eisenstien’s montage is to emphasise destruction and
cause panic. Continuity editing is used rarely in this piece. A mother is at
the top of the stairs with her pram and then all of a sudden she loses grip,
the shot changes and you see the pram tumbling down the stairs.
Continuity
editing is an illusion that creates the appearance of continuous action in a film. It is used to
carry on the story from where it left off and take you into another space to
develop the narrative. Itis done by
using these rules:
•180° Rule- The basics of this rule is used in
a dialogue between two or more people. Like in the picture shown before, there
is an invisible line in between the two people. The red side of the floor is
the no go area and the green side shows the area that the camera can go in. It
can be placed anywhere in that region, even on the line. As the diagram shows,
the camera needs to stay in the same line of action so that the actors look
like they’re talking to each other.
•In this scene from V for Vendetta (Dir. James McTeigue, 2005)
the 180° rule has been used in this dialog
between two characters. Throughout the scene, they both move around however the
camera always makes sure the rule is followed by not crossing the line of
action. This ensures that Natalie Portman’s character
is always on the right hand side looking at the left and
the other character is on the left hand side looking right, so it looks like
they are talking to each other even though they aren’t shown in the same shot.
From the screenshot this creates an
eye-line match.
Match on Action-
This
is used all the time but is disguised by the editor because of the illusion.
Match on action is used in most cuts. In the example of the Katherine Hepburn
film (dir.) K begins to light the match from the table, then in the cut is put
in between so we see her with the match lit, at a mid shot.
Eye-line match-
signifies
what the character is looking at. For example in the film Inception, you see
Leonardo looking down to draw, then you see what he’s drawing. This shows the
eye-line match because it is showing the audience what he is looking at.
Eye-line match can also be when two people are having a conversation and they
are both looking at each other at the same eye level.
Shot reverse shot-
This
is used mainly when there is a conversation between two or more people. The
camera keeps on cutting between the two people several times so that the
audience don’t get bored, and so that they can observe each characters body
language/facial expression to the conversation.
Cross Cutting/ Parallel Action-
This
editing technique is used to show two different stories at once. For example,
if there were two main characters in a film both trying to get to the same
destination, the screen would be showing the audience a clip from one persons
journey, then cutting to the other persons journey. The reason why this type of
editing is called parallel action is because it is showing two different things
that are happening at the same time. This technique is used alot in the action film genre.
The picture above is a good example from the film Inception (Dir. Christopher Nolan, 2010). The top of the picture is showing what is happening in reality, the second shows what is happening in the first dream and the last picture shows the second dream. These are all things that are happening at the same time. Throughout the film when these three different places are shown, the editor constantly cuts form one scene into another to show that all three scenes are happening at the same time.
Following
on from Porter, D.W. Griffith developed continuity into a higher level in film.
His first film, Birth of a Nation was created in 1915. In this film, he
developed more story telling techniques. These include:
• The 180°rule-
This orientates the audience so they know what they are looking at.
•Close ups-
this allowed the audience to
see peoples facial expressions.
This also enabled the audience to understand the characters feelings in their
given situation
•Flashback- Were already in books, he just
figured out how to represent it.
Edwin
Porter created a film called the Life of an American Fireman in 1903. The film
shows a fireman rescuing a woman from her burning house from the outside, then
replays the same thing but with a view from inside the house. Porter then
realised there was no point seeing the woman being rescued twice, so he decided
to put the cut in before the fireman had rescued her and changed the shot into
the bedroom scene. This meant that we saw the fireman climb up the ladder to
get inside, but when he was inside, the audience had the view from inside the
room. This was the first time continuous action was represented by using two
shots. This film had created the first use of continuity editing.
Since
Porter, continuity editing has dominated the film and TV industry and is
constantly used. Continuity
editing is used in most film and is meant to make the cut invisible.
Méliès
accidentally created the edit when his camera jammed when he was in the process
of filming street traffic in Paris. Something in his camera had jammed, the
traffic carried on moving, and once he had fixed the camera, it began filming
onto where the traffic had moved on to. He was astonished when he played it
back and saw one part of the traffic being replaced by another.This technique is called stop trick. The
process involves something being filmed, the camera being stopped and the object
leaving the shot so that when the camera is then turned on it creates the
illusion that the object had disappeared.
The length of film was always very short
and the only way to elongate it would be to put parts of film together. This solves the Lumiere Brothers
problem mentioned previously.
George Méliès discovered by sticking two
different pieces of film together he could change scenes. By editing shots
together, Méliès also realised he could form a narrative. In 1914, he directed
Trip to the Moon. In this story, the edit points are between the scenes in
order to link them together.
The
Lumiere Brothers were the first to introduce cinematography in 1895. The films
that they were making were short documentaries of little things from day to day
life. When they had created their short films, they used the same shot and no
edits. Their films were just at the same shot and angle throughout. One of
their pieces is called ‘Sortie des
Usines Lumière à Lyon’ (Workers
Leaving the Lumière Factory).
The Lumière Brothers had come to an conclusion that cinéma wasn’t going to last
becausetheycouldonly
film one shotdocumentarieswhichlimitsthemfrommakinga narrative.
The first sign of moving image was created by Ting Huan,180 AD. It was
a lantern version of the Zoetrope. He named it chao hua chich kuan (the pipe which makes fantasies
appear. The lantern had transparent paper, also known as mica paper, which hung
from the top. When the latern was spun at the right speed, the pictures painted
on the panels would appear to move.
The Zoetrope was later modernised version by William George Horner
however had named the device “daedalum” even though it was popularly referred to as ”the
wheel of the devil” perhaps because of the fact it created the illusion of
movement.
When
the device was patented during the 1860’s, by William F. Lincolin, who had
renamed the device Zoetrope, meaning “wheel of life”.
I
suppose there are no signs of real editing in these devices, however, the
development of film did begin here and without film there would be no reason to
edit.
The Lumiѐre Brothers
The Lumiere Brothers were the first to introduce cinematography in 1895. The films that they were making were short documentaries of little things from day to day life. When they had created their short films, they used the same shot and no edits. Their films were just at the same shot and angle throughout. One of their pieces is called ‘Sortie des Usines Lumière à Lyon’ (Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory). The Lumière Brothers had come to an conclusion that cinéma wasn’t going to last because they could only film one shot documentaries which limits them from making a narrative.
GeorgeMéliès
Méliès accidentally created the edit when his camera jammed when he was in the process of filming street traffic in Paris. Something in his camera had jammed, the traffic carried on moving, and once he had fixed the camera, it began filming onto where the traffic had moved on to. He was astonished when he played it back and saw one part of the traffic being replaced by another.This technique is called stop trick. The process involves something being filmed, the camera being stopped and the object leaving the shot so that when the camera is then turned on it creates the illusion that the object had disappeared.
The length of film was always very short and the only way to elongate it would be to put parts of film together. This solves the Lumiere Brothers problem mentioned previously.George Méliès discovered by sticking two different pieces of film together he could change scenes. By editing shots together, Méliès also realised he could form a narrative. In 1914, he directed Trip to the Moon. In this story, the edit points are between the scenes in order to link them together.
Edwin Porter
Edwin Porter created a film called the Life of an American Fireman in 1903. The film shows a fireman rescuing a woman from her burning house from the outside, then replays the same thing but with a view from inside the house. Porter then realised there was no point seeing the woman being rescued twice, so he decided to put the cut in before the fireman had rescued her and changed the shot into the bedroom scene. This meant that we saw the fireman climb up the ladder to get inside, but when he was inside, the audience had the view from inside the room. This was the first time continuous action was represented by using two shots. This film had created the first use of continuity editing.
Since Porter, continuity editing has dominated the film and TV industry and is constantly used. Continuity editing is used in most film and is meant to make the cut invisible.
D.W. Griffith
Following on from Porter, D.W. Griffith developed continuity into a higher level in film. His first film, Birth of a Nation was created in 1915. In this film, he developed more story telling techniques. These include:
• The 180°rule-This orientates the audience so they know what they are looking at.
•Close ups-this allowed the audience to see peoples facial expressions. This also enabled the audience to understand the characters feelings in their given situation
•Flashback- Were already in books, he just figured out how to represent it. Flashbacks are when a cut is used and the next shot represents something from a long time ago, is sown in an old time edit or is perhaps someone remebering the saem sityuation happening in the same place.
