The Purpose of Film and Video Editing

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.