Editing Essay

Editing was once scarce. There was no need for it as it consisted of limited knowledge. In fact, it didn’t exist. To come this far is pure evolution compiled by the sense of experimental need. Where would have filmmaking lead to instead? Who knows; but judging from the result today, I’d say somewhere equally as fascinating.

A condensed purpose of editing is that ‘it protects the director from suicide’ as comically stated by Sean Penn. However, the very main purpose of editing is the fact that it polishes and brings meaning to the film. It determines four main aspects:

1.    The order of the events within the film

Directors usually shoot the film then provide the editors with shots to edit. Directors don’t necessarily shoot the film chronologically therefore; it’s up to the editor to put them in order according to both the script and their interpretation of it.

2.     The amount of information received (narrative)

This is where the editor recruits their perspective on the narrative. They choose whether a small or large amount of information should be included. It usually affects the overall narrative. Editors have the first choice of withholding certain details until the end or revealing details throughout.

3.    Emotions generated at certain times

Editing can set a certain mood through specific cuts. For example, if you have a scene in which a woman is ducking down in avoidance of a gunshot, cutting it there would ruin the suspense. So, editors usually keep that shot as long as possible and abruptly add the next one in which the bullet is shot. In that way, the audience would feel fear caused by the sudden shot of the bullet. Therefore, editing can be used to further exaggerate the mood.

4.    The pace of the narrative

The editor can determine the pace as they can either speed up or slow down the narrative according to the script. For example, if the genre were romance, the editor would decrease the amount of cuts made in order to lengthen the narrative. In this way the scenes would flow smoothly thus gradually building up the narrative. Another thing editors can do in terms of pace is base it on the target audience. For example, if the target audience were younger people then the editor would speed up the pace as it keeps them enticed. However, with an older audience, the pace is slower as they’re less accustomed to registering information on a high speed.

In addition to the purpose above, editing also:

·      Emotionally engages the audience

·      Manipulates information or reality

·      Uses sound which can create suspense

“Once upon a time there were no editors and no cuts.” Filmmakers used to photograph things that amused them. A shot was held until they got bored or it ran out. There was no narrative, plan or edit. The worldwide interest in seeing a moving image wasn’t enough to pay for. People would eventually realise the shots made are of things you see everyday, so why pay for it? This is why Auguste Lumière predicted that cinema is an invention without a future. Little did he know it would become as big as it is today. However, Edwin S. Porter was able to prove him wrong by discovering cuts. He was able to identify that cuts created a story. Life of an American Fireman (1903) is a short film made by Porter himself. It was able to emotionally impact the audience as there were intercuts of two completely different scenes. One of a woman stuck in a burning building, and the other a fire-truck speeding somewhere. Immediately this showed the woman was in danger and the firemen rushing to her rescue; which built an emotional connection towards the woman’s life. The Great Train Robbery (1903) was Porter’s next film. This was when the possibilities of editing were vividly seen. The discovery of editing “gave birth to a new language”; as seen today.

D.W. Griffith was ‘The First Modern Editor’. He was the first filmmaker to realise the ‘psychological importance of editing.’ Griffith was the first to use close up (CU) in such a big way. The Birth of a Nation (1915) was the film that actually brought it together; a collection of ten years’ worth of editing knowledge put together. It included close ups, flashbacks and parallel action. He established the classical film editing which mainly relied on the ‘Invisible Cut’ also known as ‘The Invisible Art’. It was used in Orphans of the Storm (1921) which masked the cut in order for the audience not to notice. The purpose of it was to keep the scene continuously moving and fluid. It was also the first to use continuity editing. For decades, Griffith’s seamless editing became the ‘most dominant editing style’ in Hollywood movies. An example of a Hollywood film that used it is The Matrix (1999).

Originally, editing was considered an easy task. Therefore, women were assigned the responsibility. It was considered similar to knitting. However, when sound editing was introduced, it was recognised as difficult for women to manage. Therefore, it gradually became a man’s job.

Pulp Fiction (1994) At the very beginning, wide shot was used as an establishing shot, which showed the viewer where the action will be taking place. It allowed the viewer to have an insight of the environment and lighting, which set the mood for later. Towards the end of the clip, the camera angle changed to mostly extreme close ups and zoom ins. The very act of starting with wide angle then coming in with close up creates suspense. In this way, the viewer will feel the sudden seriousness of the situation as it foreshadows something big. The pace in which the shots were cut was fairly fast towards the end, which allowed the viewer to stay aware of the suspense.

There was then a wide shot of Vincent, Lance, Fabienne, Jody and Mia in one room which allowed the viewer to see the room (setting). At the same time, it showed the characters’ facial expressions, which helped set the mood- for most of the part. Jody wasn’t serious, but the rest were. The combination of the two ideas created an overview of the situation. When it came to the big moment in which Vincent was going to stab Mia with a needle, everything sort of paused. Suddenly there were brief shots (ECU) of Vincent, Lance, Mia and the dripping needle. In that moment, it allowed the viewer to focus on the moment and worry whether Vincent is able to stab her in the right area without hurting her. The shots were cut frequently, which caused the narrative to flow quickly with suspense.

I Am Sam (2001) Eye-Level (EL) was used throughout the clip. This is a neutral shot in which it may seem to not generate any sort of engagement with the audience. However, because it’s shot in a way that we are used to in real life, it makes the audience feel comfortable with the characters. Sam, Lucy and his retarded friends seemed harmless in that scene. This is because the specific camera angle used aided the character’s level of danger.

Also, I have noticed that throughout the scene, the camera was simply handheld rather than static. The simplicity of the scene set the mood in the sense that it reflected innocence; a retarded father taking his daughter shoe-shopping and resorting to the help of his retarded friends. It allowed the audience to connect to Sam on a personal level despite what the court think of him (a bad father not fit for parenthood).

Another thing is the constant use of Medium Close-Up (MCU). It not only communicated the dialogue, but also the meaning behind it. Just the fact that it showed Sam holding different shoes contemplating which one best fits his daughter Lucy made the entire scene simple and straightforward. It showed the audience that he didn’t have an ulterior motive in which he sets out to kidnap his own daughter. This was done by the use of two simple shots within the montage: EL and MCU.

The role of a film and TV editor is ‘tough’ as stated by Christian Bell. Their role is to polish the shots taken by the director. If the editor is unlucky, they will have to endure working with a new director. This means having to work around the shots given to them in an attempt of polishing them. At times, the shots are useless as it only consists of wide angle, which doesn’t provide much definition to the scene. Therefore, the director would have to re-shoot the scene. All this consumes time and so the editor is put to even more work.

Looking on the bright side for once, editors who possess the ability to edit any genre have more job offers, which guarantees their pay for at least a year. However, some editors are used to working on a specific genre due to many circumstances (i.e. being requested for one specific genre continually), which disadvantages them; as they wouldn’t be able to freely edit other genres. On the other hand, experienced directors would leave ‘gold dust’ along with the footage for the editor (as stated by Christian Bell). This means they’ll shoot a few seconds both before and after a shot. In this way, the editor possesses the luxury to determine which part needs a clean cut.

In conclusion, editing has developed immensely over the years. It has become a huge part of the TV industry. Seeing it come this far allowed me to envision a great future for it. However, the technology behind it seems to be as far as it gets. I too share Auguste Lumière’s theory- there seems to be no further future for editing.

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4.5 Bibliography

Mark Winokur and Bruce Holsinger. (2001). Movies and Film The Purposes of Editing. Available: http://www.infoplease.com/cig/movies-flicks-film/purposes-editing.html . Last accessed 22/09/2014.

The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing. (2004) A.C.E, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), NHK Enterprises, TCEP Inc. London. Wendy Apple.

Clip No. 1: A Shot of Adrenaline – Pulp Fiction (6/12). (1994) Jersey Films, A Band Apart, Miramax Films. Quentin Tarantino. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOoJoTAXDPk&list=PLA1EC9692E5B92C14

Clip No. 2: I Am Sam – Scene: Shoe Shopping. (2001) New Line Cinema, Avery Pix, Bedford Falls Productions, Red Fish Blue Fish Films. Jessie Nelson. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g92fueqZi48

Mindy Peterman. (2013). The art of TV editing: A conversation with Nancy Forner. Available: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/348455  Last accessed 22/09/2014.