The
Purpose of Editing
What is
editing?
Editing is the art of putting film, music, pictures or words
together to create something. Film editing is the only are that is unique to
cinema. In film, the editor works with the unedited footage and selects shots or
goes by an EDL (Editing decision list) in order to combine the clips into
sequences and create a finished movie. Film
editing is often referred to as the "invisible art" because when it
is well-practiced, the viewer can become so engaged that he or she is not even
aware of the editor's work.
What is
the purpose of editing?
The purpose of editing in film is to create a piece that will tell
a story, inform or/and educate the viewer. In cinema, films have been edited
together to create an hour or so film. The Lumineer Brothers were the first to
create a movie but had come to the conclusion that cinema had no future because
in all of their movies, it was just one shot, at the same angle throughout,
which would manage to get boring after a while.
Porter was the first person to actually edit two different shots of
film together. It was in one of his short films called The Life of An American
Fireman. The first shot was a view from outside the window of a burning house
which then went into a shot from inside the house showing the fireman helping a
the woman to rescue outside the window and down a ladder.
How does
editing help develop a narrative in film?
Editing creates narrative by changing to different shots. The
changes in shots show a continuous change in the film. One shot leads to
another, then leads to another to the point where the audience begin to
associate the different shots with a storyline.
How does
editing engage the audience with characters and situations?
The music, angles and rhythm of the edit create tension and the
emotion in the audience. If you want to create tension in a horror film, the
editor would use short clips to build up to the scary part.
How does
editing link to genre? Use two different genres, what sort of editing
techniques would they use? What is the effect?
In horror films, there needs to be tension and good control of
rhythm and pace in order to create the build-up before you actually see the
scary part. In a romantic comedy, using slow pans and normally paced cuts
creates the effect.
The different music used in films also creates the emotion in the
film whilst the audience are watching. The music in a horror film for example,
would be a beat that creates pace and builds up the tension. It would be
something that sends chills down your back, makes you lean off your seat and
will shock you when it happens. In the trailer ‘The Host’ the first shot zooms
into a girl taking things out of a fridge, the music now is quite a low,
unnoticeable tone. When someone comes up to her and grabs her, the music has a
sharp quick noise that replicates the movements that have just happened, which
create the emotion the audience would be feeling if they were in her position.
