Development of Film Editing JP

Film editing has changed alot over the years. Films first started out in the 1800s without any editing atall. Earliest films in the cinema were done in one shot without any editing this was first done by the Lumiere brothers in 1895 where the audience were afraid at first as they knew nothing about film and actually thought the objects were coming towards them.

People thought that cinema wouldn't have a future as people were filming things they could just see themselves then came the cutting of shots which was first shown in The Great Train Robbery by Edwin Porter. To do this they physically cut and pasted pieces of film using a splicer and threading the film on a machine with the viewer. It was very popular as people liked to be able to edit their own lives and gave the reaction of laughter or startle them. Its also interesting as shots can be sped up or slowed down which can't be done in real life.

Editing went on to add colour as shown in the film Greed from 1924 where each shot was individually coloured by hand where certain parts of the film have colour.

D.W.Griffith was the first editor who invented and popuralized certain techniques such as narrative film. He was also the first to use close up in a big way. One example is Birth of a Nation where he uses various shots.Jimmy Edward Smith was Griffith's film cutter where he wanted it to move smooth so that it was barely noticable and the audience stayed involved throught the film. At this time though it was the director who got all the credit and instead Jimmy was not noticed for his editing at the time.

Film makers started using techniques then such as flashbacks, parallel action and close ups. They realised these effects could give a reaction to the audience and give psychological effects to the audince like making them nervous or in shock. An example of a early use of a flashback is the 1956 film Carousel.

Editing is seen as essentially the start of where a film begins as you can see the clips and where edits can be made and changes can be introduced to make the film more interesting and give off effects to the audience then the film can begin to be put together.
In the film the man with a camera you can see every modern editing technique we know today.

Hitchock is the known master for suspense where he used editing techniques to build up suspense especially during the shower part of the film where he uses quick cuts to build suspense and shock for the audience.

In the late 1950's and 60's French films used more aggresive editing like in the film A Bout Souffle using jump cuts that left parts out using discontinues between shots. The film Bullit has a large chase scene where it cuts from inside view to the out side view of the car to give the audience adrenaline and to show everyone that this is a really important scence to keep the audience hooked to the film

In modern day the use of CGI has given big budget films the chance to show the full power of editing and special effects. Films such as TDKR has been recieved very well by the audiences because of its use of all these techniques.

Conventions and Techniques- Cutting to Soundtrack JP

Cutting to soundtrack editing is when the pace and beat of a song can determine how fast scenes can cut. This can attract audiences attention because if it is a fast beat and it cuts fast it can get you interested into what it will cut too next. A good example of this is the music video 'Feel the Love' where it begins to cut quite slow then cuts more once the beat speeds up.

Conventions and Techniques- Crosscutting JP

Crosscutting is a technique used by many directors where two things are happening simutaniously and it cuts between them, showing you whats happening at one location then cutting to the other to show you whats happening there. A good example of this is in Silence of the Lambs as shown and explained in the video below.

Conventions and Techniques- Editing Rhythm JP

Rhythmic editing manipulates the length of time each shot remains on the screen. When the length of a series of shots (i.e. the pace and rhythm of the editing) is varied, different effects can be achieved or enhanced.
For example in the video below the rhythm of the background determines how fast it cuts similar to Cutting to Soundtrack editing.

Conventions and Techniques- Providing and Withholding Information JP

Providing and withholding information is a technique used to add drama. It is used in mostly crime films like when you get a murder and alot of information is witheld until the very end when things start to become revealed.At the same time information is provided to let the audience try and guess what will happen next or small hints that aren't noticable until revealed. An example of this is Murder She Wrote where alot isn't revealed until the very end.

Conventions and Techniques- Shot-Reverse-Shot JP

Is a film technique is shown looking at another chracter and then the other chracter is shown looking back. This if often used to add drama to a heated moment between people for example in western films when there is a stand off it often cuts from chracters looking at one another. The video below shows an example of this.

Conventions and Techniques- Point of View Shot JP

A point of view shot is a short film scene where it shows a character looking at a object (but its actually the camera). Directors use techniques like this to show the chracters reaction to the object. This can leave the audience pondering what the object could be or show the chracters emotion to the object and making them feel how the chracter does.