1. Understand the development and
principles and editing

3. Auguste and Louis Lumière came from Lyon in France, where they worked in their father's
photographic factory. In 1894, they saw Edison's kinetoscope in Paris, and decided to design a
camera of their own. By February of the next year they had produced a working model of their ciné
camera, which they called a cinématographe. The machine was in fact not only a camera but could
be used, together with a magic lantern, to project the films which the brothers had taken.
As you can see from this movie of
workers leaving the factory it is
one long clip as back then they
didn’t have the software to edit
their films therefore they just had
to leave them as they are.
Although there was no editing
software people hadn’t
experienced anything different
therefore the movies were a
special event but then came along D.W Griffith who came up with a new type of
editing.

4. D. W. Griffith was a premier pioneering American film director. He is best known as the director of
the Ku Klux Klan epic 1915 film The Birth of a Nation and the subsequent film Intolerance.
When it came to D.W Griffith
there still wasn’t any software to
edit like there is today although
there was the skill of cutting and
sticking. D.W Griffith had to cut
up the film strips and stick it back
together in the order he wanted
the film to appear in. This
method was used for many years.
Although D.W Griffith was the
first to do this there were many
pioneers who followed in his footsteps for example Sergie Eisenstein

5. Sergie Eisenstein was a Russian film director and theorists, known as the 'father of montage'. He was
a pioneer in the use of montage, a specific use of film editing, and argued that montage was the
essence of the cinema.
Sergie Eisenstein used the same
editing skills as D.W Griffith with
the cut and stick method
although he was known for his
specific use of film editing.
Eisenstein used a lot of montage
which has been told that that’s
what made his films. Although he
used the same editing skills as
D.W Griffith he took them further
and made them his own by
adding his own style and techniques to it. Computer technology came soon
after this bringing further films that still used the cut and stick method but
used it digitally.

6. David Fincher is an American film director known for his dark stylish thrillers such as Seven, Fight
Club, The Game and more recently The girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Finchers films are always at the
leading edge of film making due to his lighting and editing styles.
When David Fincher came about
there was the software to edit
digitally therefore he didn’t need
to keep going through the cut
and stick method. There are a lot
of bonus’s to editing digitally as
you have a lot of effects and
transitions including common
bits like fade and black and
white. Editing digitally also
means you can easily go and re shoot bits if needed which you couldn’t have done if
you were editing with the cut and stick method.

9. Joining images is an editing form that creates a meaning.
Alfred Hitchcock has some great example of this. Take Psycho for example at
about 57 seconds in the clip below you see how joining images can create
tension in the scene. For example he could have just filmed where Arbogast
is looking then his reaction but by cutting and mixing it up, it makes you feel
more apart of the scene which gives a greater amount of tension -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bieIiX5KLQ

10. When controlling tempo editors will usually control the length of shot as
long shots will slow down the pace of a scene and short takes quicken the
pace. Romance use long scenes a lot whereas action uses quick scenes as
everything move much faster. The average shot length used to be between
5.15 or 5.20 where as studies have suggested that shots have gained pace
and the average shot length is now somewhere between 4.75 and 7.80
seconds.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vThuwa5RZU - Casablanca
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGCMfprPJoA – Sherlock Holmes
These clips from Casablanca and Sherlock Holmes are good examples of how
the length of can slow down or speed up the pace of scenes. For example
you can see in the clip from Casablanca the shots can last up to 25 seconds
this makes the movie slow moving as your looking at the same thing for a
great amount of time where as in the clip of Sherlock Holmes the average
shot length is only a second long which means that the shot is changing all
the time.

11. Another way editors change the tempo is by using shot transitions.
The most common of these transitions are
– Cut from a to b which is just a simple movement using no dazzle effect this is shown in the clip
from eastenders http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttsYAZ05JlY. Cut from a to b will quicken
a scene so is often used in action. No dramatic effect is in this transition so it is used quite a
lot in TV programmes especially soaps and similar programmes.
– Fade in/fade out which is when the screen dips to either black or white before returning to
the next cut.
– Dissolve which is done by overlapping the shots. The main reason someone would use a
dissolve transition would be to show a connection between two places for example this is
used quite a lot in the film by John Wayne ‘Angel and the Badman’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyiirU6npQ0&feature=related at about 5 minutes 27 in
the clip you can see how dissolve can link two places together. You could also use it in a flash
back or dream sequence.
A scene with long takes can often also suggest a sudden change in mood so it doesn’t always have
to be short takes.

12. Fades change the pace in films as they slow down the scene so aren’t really
used in scenes that action occur. Fades aren’t very common in films for this
reason but some films will use them to introduce a scene such as a
memory, fantasy or dream. They are also used at the beginning or the end of
films a lot to start the film off without just jumping in for example the opening
of Red River ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rANln-PpwxA ) use fades to
start the movie off smoothly. This often indicates a slow moving movie.

13. Timing of shot can be cut away to emphasis a reaction or response to
something for example it could start of with a two shot then cut to close up for
a facial expression of a character, another example would be cutting from a
close up to a long shot. This is used in the same example as I gave for joining of
images http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bieIiX5KLQ. In this clip from
Psycho it although the camera will look away and investigate the surroundings
it keeps coming back the response which is often used to emphasis tension
again as you don’t know what to expect when returning to the surroundings.

14. Attribute to editing Techniques used in Notorious
• Medium shot (romantic intimacy)
• Collage vs. Close up (disappointment)
• The cut abruptly changes the
• Tempo pace of the conversation; As
Alicia and Delvins words become
more heated, the scene relies on
shorter takes
• Timing • Cut to close up of Alicia coincides
with Delvins line “I bet you’ve
heard that line enough’

16. Narrative describes a sequence of events there for narrative sequencing is
use a lot in film and TV. Some films jumble up the narrative which is called
‘Madias res’ this term is used in the film ‘Odyssey’
( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-7_8y-McLo ) for example. By starting
in the middle or maybe even at the end of the film it means you can hook the
audience right from the beginning by starting in the middle of the action.
Linear editing is also used a lot in films as it tells the story as it happens, this
is the most common in Hollywood films, although most films now use it.
Linear editing is basically a sequence going from beginning to end.

17. • Condensing time - Collages use condensed time as the director doesn’t want to drag
it to the actual time represented. A good example of this is the training scene from
rocky ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0qVUn4797g ) as the director has cut
days down to minutes. This scene unparticular shows how much hard work the
character is doing which you wouldn’t necessarily see if the director had used
expanded time.
• Expanding time – Sometimes an editor or director will want to drag out the scene
beyond the actual time represented, for an example there may be a group of people
sat around when a bomb goes off but before the bomb goes off there will be lots of
other shots going on for example some of the bomb ticking and some of the people
but in actual time the bomb would go off and everyone would die and that would be
it. Another example of how expanding time is used in the slow motion bit in the
opening sequence of ‘Reservoir Dogs’
( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyR4RK0LA_E&feature=player_embedded#! ). If
this scene hadn’t been expanded then it would look like a bunch of average guys just
casually walking to their cars but because it’s slowed down it looks like a bunch of
tough guys strutting their stuff.

18. Media Res – As I mentioned while talking about Editing and Timing media res is when
the story or narrative is all jumbled up for example when a film starts in the middle
instead of the beginning.
Flashbacks – Flash backs are basically images from the past for example someone
could be doing something in the present when suddenly its interrupted by images that
have taken place in the past. A good example of this is the ‘flying’ scene in ‘titanic’
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BT4ZyAfEFAI) when they both get flashbacks
from past events they’ve shared with each other. This shows the audience the feelings
they have for each other are true and strong.
Flash-forwards – It’s uncommon for flash forwards to occur in films as they can be
really confusing and are only really understood when the event has happened in the
actual time. A good example of this is the opening scene to ‘flash forward’
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u19qcl4k0OQ) This scene shows an event that
happens but then later on goes to say 4 hours later. It gives you an idea of what’s
coming up before the characters do.

19. Editing draws the viewers attention to the detail need to make the scene for example in the
close up used in this clip of the very first close up the close up makes the scene more
understandable as it may be confusing without it -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2X_BZpnWFc.
Another example of how the editing draws the viewers attention to the detail is ‘Return of the
king’. The editing follows the lightening of the Pyres across a mountain range in a majestic call
of arms. This makes the viewer notice a number of things:
– Characters gaze
– Group dynamics of a scene
– The mood of a conversation

20. Shot reverse shot
A shot reverse shot is used a lot in film as it can show a conversation between
two people or even one person speaks while the other just sits and listens.
Most shot reverse shots use an over the shoulder shot to see the speaker so it
doesn’t look like the actors speaking to the camera. A good example of shot
reverse shot is the scene in love actually with the ‘carol singers’.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFnSgPC-VXA As you can see the camera
doesn’t only stay looking at one character but returns to the other which
shows the audience both sides of the reactions making them feel more apart
of the scene. If you could only see one characters emotions then the scene
wouldn’t work as well for example the cards may not mean anything to Juliet
and you wouldn’t see this if the camera wasn’t looking at her, the same with
Mark.

21. Eye line shot is a shot that looks like its out of the viewer vision. This draws
the viewers into the characters thought process and emotional state. For
example if someone had taken something that may effect their head an
eye line shot may show this by going out of focus or shaky.
Cutaways are different in the way that cutaways aren’t character
centered, the on screen appearance of an object does not depend on the
character seeing it in the previous shot.

23. Continuity is the process of cutting to keep the flow of the shot together as
fluidly as possible not showing the whole footage. This would include things
such as:
• Wardrobe
• Lighting
• Audio
• Movement
• Props
• And other elements.

24. The 180 degree rule says the cameras should remain on the same side of an
imaginary line. The rule enforces continuity of the film. For example if your
filming someone running from the right side of the frame to the left side the
next shot has to be from the same side so the runner is again running from
the right to left.