I will first look into the development of editing.
Lets begin with the Lumiere Brothers. In 1985, Auguste and Louis Lumiere invented the cinematographe. The cinematographe was an invention that combined a camera, with a printer and a projector.
If you click on the image above, you can see what the standard cinematographe looked like.
A man named Thomas Edison invented an incredible device named a Kinetoscope. The Kinetoscope allowed motion picture to be viewed. Thomas also invented the Kinetograph, which was used for capturing motion picture.
If you click on the image above, you can see what the kinetoscope looked like and how it was used.
Another early film editing pioneer was David Llewelyn Wark "D. W." Griffith.
D.W. Griffith used close-ups, camera movements and lighting. He did this to emphasise the action in the film.
The clip below is from D.W. Griffiths movie, Birth of a Nation.
The clip demonstrates early use of providing information, as seen at 1 minute and 28 seconds into the video.
It also demonstrates different sized shots and framing throughout.
As seen at 6 minutes and 45 seconds, a fade in is used. This is one of the very early uses of the fade effect.
D.W. Griffith also pioneered the use of invisible editing, this is where cuts between shots match the action in the film correctly.
This editing style is used commonly in cinema today as it allows shots to appear quickly.
The short clip below is a perfect example of an invisible edit.
I will now look into the Soviet Russian pioneer Sergei Eisenstein.
Sergei came up with five types of montage.
These are metric, rhythmic, tonal, over-tonal and intellectual.
Metric montage is when shots are cut at equal lengths without considering what is on the screen.
Rhythmic montage is when shots are cut together based on timings and also considering what is on the screen.
Tonal montage is when shots are cut together for their emotional content, such as a person starting to cry and then moving closer to their face, with an invisible cut for example.
When all three of the above are used, this is called an over tonal montage.
Intellectual montage is when shots are put together to give a metaphorical meaning, this is called an intellectual montage.
I will now look into Russian filmmaker Lev Kuleshov.
Kuleshov used an editing technique, famously known as the 'Kuleshov effect.'
The image above is taken from the original Kuleshov's experiment.
By projecting a persons face, followed by an image, it paints a picture to the viewer what they feel.
For example, when an image of soup is shown after a person, the person must be hungry and wants the soup that is shown.
Editing used to be done manually by physically cutting and pasting a film together using a tool called a splicer.
The image above is of an early splicer. Once the film was finished being cut, the film would then be threaded onto a machine with a viewer.
Nearly all films now are done digitally, a lot using a program named Final Cut Pro.
I will now look into the purpose of film and video editing.
The main purpose of editing a film is to separate the most relevant and usable scenes of a movie into one collection. Whatever clips are unnecessary are removed to reduce the length of the film and help ensure a good continuity.
I will now look into the principles of editing. As long as the editor takes all of these into consideration, the editing should be correct.
Continuity - It is a system that focuses on creating a clear consistence sequence.
Making the edit more invisible.
Having a motivation behind every edit.
Delivering a certain message.
Ensuring the audio is kept in mind at all times.
Not over-using techniques and/or visual effects.
When looking into the principles of editing, there are important things to also consider.
The first is creating a pace. By finding the right pace, the story is told differently.
For example, if a scene is fast paced, it usually means a lot is going on in that current scene.
An example can be found below, taken from the James Bond film, Quantum of Solace.
Another is the telling of the story. The audience must be able to discover what the point of the movie is. This is done by allowing the viewers to listen to what the character says and also how they act.
An example of actually telling the audience the current situation in the film could be a character talking to another character, expressing how they feel towards something that has happened. The editor can do this well using flashbacks that appear and disappear quickly.
An example of showing us what the character feels could be the editor showing us a cutaway of their hands or eyes. If the character was crying, that suggests they are upset or angry.
There are three stages of editing.
These are:
Editors Cut - Sometimes the editors cut is also known as the 'rough' cut. The editor and director will discuss the days filming and the editor will edit the footage. Often, the editors cut is longer than the final film.
Directors Cut - When filming is finished, the director will then take the editors cut and change it into their vision. The editor and director will then collaborate and look over the entire film. Shots and scenes may be re-ordered or even deleted.
Final Cut - After the director has looked over the film, the producer will then look over what has been edited. If everything is fine, the film is finished and ready to be released.
http://ivanredi.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Lev-Kuleshovs-effect.jpg http://crizah-editing.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/origin-of-film-editing_09.html http://troyduff.wordpress.com/2010/11/01/development-and-principles-od-editing/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlbWbAcVuHw (The Purposes, Principles and History of Video Editing)
