 Editing describes the relationship between

shots and the process by which they are

combined.
 It is essential to the creation of narrative
space and to the establishment of narrative
time.
 The relationship between shots may be
◦ graphic,
◦ rhythmic,
◦ spatial and/or
◦ temporal.
 Classical film editing has developed a
methodology which structures the work
process into precise stages
 Logging
 First Assembly
 Rough Cut and Variations
 First Cut
 Fine Cut
 Final Cut
 The dailies or rushes are sorted and labelled
in ‘bins’.
 Each take can contain extra notes from the
director or the cinematographer.
 This is the first time the editor sees the film,
and since it is shot out of sequence, it is out
of context of the story.
 A good editor views the rushes and looks for
fluidity of movement and nuances that will
later be incorporated into the film.
 Considers all the visual and audio material collected
on the shoot for each scene and then re-orders it in
the way to tell the story best.
 There are dozens of possible combinations the editor
can chose for this one simple sequence, each of
which create a different mood and tell a different
story.
 Often at this point the editor and director will decide
that additional footage of key moments is necessary
in order to make more editing choices available
during the edit.
 Hint: First assembly is like a sketch of the finished
scene.
It is a good idea to save these sketches for reference
later,
should the editor get stuck.
 The rough cut can take up to three months to
complete.
 Each editor works differently. Sometimes the
editor works alone and shows the day or weeks
work to the director and producer, Sometimes
the editor and director work together, discussing
every nuance.
 In the rough cut, the scenes are placed in order
and checked for continuity. This all-important
step in the editing process allows for revisions
and new ideas to be tried and tested.
 Hint: Make the edit points between the scenes
very obvious in order to emphasise the
‘roughness’. Failure to do so may result in the
editor committing to an edit before it is ready.
 The first cut is the rough cut that is accepted
by the editor, the director and the producer.
 Selection and sequence are basically fixed,
although changes can still be made.
 The later film is visible.
 Detailed fine cut starts out from its
proportions, structures, rhythms and
emphasises them.
 Hint: Never be afraid to let the first cut ‘rest’
for a few days so everyone involved can see it
with fresh eyes.
 The fine cut no longer focuses on the entire
film, but on the details of each and every cut.
 The fine cut emphasises and strengthens the
rhythms and structures identified in the first
cut.
 When a fine cut has been agreed with the
editor, director and producer, the sound
designer, music composer and title designer
join the editor.
 Sound effects and music are created and
added to the final cut.
 When everyone has agreed with the final cut,
the Edit Decision List is sent to the lab where
a negative cutter ‘conforms’ the negative to
the EDL in order to create a negative that is
an exact copy of the final cut.
 The shot is defined by editing but editing also
works to join shots together.
 There are many ways of effecting that transition,
some more evident than others.
 In the analytical tradition, editing serves to
establish space and lead the viewer to the most
salient aspects of a scene.
 In the classical continuity style, editing
techniques avoid drawing attention to
themselves.
 In a constructivist tradition such as Soviet
Montage cinema, there is no such false modesty.
 Cheat Cut
In the continuity editing system, a cut which
purports to show continuous time and space
from shot to shot but which actually
mismatches the position of figures or objects
in the scene.
Often used to disguise the relatively short
stature of leading men in relation to their
statuesque female co-stars
 Crosscutting, Aka Parallel Editing
Editing that alternates shots of two or more
lines of action occurring in different places,
usually simultaneously. The two actions are
therefore linked, associating the characters
from both lines of action.
 Cut-in, Cut Away
An instantaneous shift from a distant framing
to a closer view of some portion for the same
space, and vice versa.
 Dissolve
A transition between two shots during which the
first image gradually disappears while the second
image gradually appears; for a moment the two
images blend in superimposition.
Can be used as a fairly straighforward editing
device to link any two scenes, or in more creative
ways.
 Iris
A round, moving mask that can close down to
end a scene (iris-out) or emphasize a detail, or it
can open to begin a scene (iris-in) or to reveal
more space around a detail.
 Jump Cut
An elliptical cut that appears to be an
interruption of a single shot. Either the
figures seem to change instantly against a
constant background, or the background
changes instantly while the figures remain
constant.
Jump cuts are anathema to Classical
Hollywood continuity editing, but feature
prominently in avant-garde and radical
filmmaking
 Establishing Shot/Reestablishing Shot
A shot, usually involving a distant framing,
that shows the spatial relations among the
important figures, objects, and setting in a
scene.
Usually, the first few shots in a scene are
establishing shots, as they introduces us to a
location and the space relationships inside it.
 Shot/Reverse Shot
Two or more shots edited together that alternate
characters, typically in a conversation situation.
In continuity editing, characters in one framing
usually look left, in the other framing, right.
Over-the-shoulder framings are common in
shot/reverse-shot editing.
Shot / reverse shots are one of the most firmly
established conventions in cinema.
They are usually linked through the equally
persuasive eyeline matches
 Superimposition
The exposure of more than one image on the
same film strip.
Unlike a dissolve, a superimposition does not
signify a transition from one scene to another.
The technique was often used to allow the same
performer to appear simultaneously as two
characters on the screen, to express subjective or
intoxicated vision, or simply to introduce a
narrative element from another part of the
diegetic world into the scene
 Wipe
A transition betwen shots in which a line
passes across the screen, eliminating the first
shot as it goes and replacing it with the next
one.
A very dynamic and noticeable transition, it is
usually employed in action or adventure
films.
It often suggest a brief temporal ellypsis and
a direct connection between the two images.
 Editing matches refer to those techniques
that join as well as divide two shots by
making some form of connection between
them.
 That connection can be inferred from the
situation portrayed in the scene (for
example, eyeline match) or can be of a purely
optical nature (graphic match).
 Eyeline Match
A cut obeying the axis of action principle, in
which the first shot shows a person off in one
direction and the second shows a nearby
space containing what he or she sees. If the
person looks left, the following shot should
imply that the looker is offscreen right.
Eyeline matches can be a very persuasive tool
to construct space in a film, real or imagined.
 Graphic Match
Two successive shots joined so as to create a
strong similarity of compositional elements
(e.g., color, shape).
Used in transparent continuity styles to
smooth the transition between two shots
Graphic matches can also be used to make
metaphorical associations, as in
Soviet Montage style.
Furthermore, some directors like Ozu
Yasujiro use graphic matches as an integral
part of their film style.
 Match On Action
A cut which splices two different views of the
same action together at the same moment in
the movement, making it seem to continue
uninterrupted.
Quite logically, these characteristics make it
one of the most common transitions in
the continuity style.
Continuity Editing
 A system of cutting to maintain continuous
and clear narrative action.
 Continuity editing relies upon matching
screen direction, position, and temporal
relations from shot to shot.
 The film supports the viewer's assumption
that space and time are contiguous between
successive shots.
 Also, the diegesis is more readily understood
when directions on the screen match
directions in the world of the film.
 The "180° rule”
It dictates that the camera should stay in one of
the areas on either side of the axis of action (an
imaginary line drawn between the two major
dramatic elements A and B in a scene, usually
two characters).
By following this rule the filmmaker ensures that
each character occupies a consistent area of the
frame, helping the audience to understand the
layout of the scene.
This sense of a consistent space is reinforced by
the use of techniques such as the eyeline
match or match on action.
In the Hollywood continuity editing system
the angle of the camera axis to the axis of
action usually changes by more than 30 °
between two shots, for example in a
conversation scene rendered as a series
ofshot/reverse shots.
The 180° line is not usually crossed unless
the transition is smoothed by a POV shot or
a reestablishing shot.
Montage
An approach to editing developed by the
Soviet filmmakers of the 1920s such as
Pudovkin, Vertov and Eisenstein
It emphasizes dynamic, often discontinuous,
relationships between shots and the
juxtaposition of images to create ideas not
present in either shot by itself.
Elliptical Editing
 Shot transitions that omit parts of an event, causing
an ellipses in plot and story duration.

 Elliptical editing need not be confined to a same

place and time. A seven-minute song sequence
from Hum Aapke Hain Koun (Sooraj Bartjatya, India
1994) dances us through several months in the life of
a family, from a cricket match to a ritual welcoming a
new wife, from scenes of the newlyweds' daily life...
to the announcement of Pooja's pregnacy, from a gift
shower for the upcoming baby... to multiple scenes
of celebrations, as Pooja's approaches her ninth
month.
The sound and images recorded during
production is loaded into the computer for
editing
If shot on analog video tape, it undergoes an
analog to digital conversion with digital
capture card or cards
Compression hardware is used for preserving
space on the hard drive- different
codecs(compression/decompression) are
made use for compression- depends on the
type of material and the final out put needed
 Compression can be
Spatial compression – looks for repetition
among pixels, does not record information
about each pixel, hence loses sharpness
and definition
Lossless compression- all information from
the original clip is preserved so that when
the material is decompressed , it has
original quality
Lossy compression – some of the quality does
not come back- for eighty shades in
original, we can get back only sixty five
shades.
Paper cut- list of the shots we want, rough time
code in and out points, places where graphics
and titles might be needed
Before digitizing, adjust the footage to be
consistent using digital waveform monitor- to
adjust brightness; vectorscope – to make color
modifications and VU meter - to ensure that
all audio is brought in the same relative volume
The marked in points and out points given in
terms of time code will make up a batch list- to
be stored as the soft copy
One aspect to be careful is the difference b/w drop-
frame time code and non-drop-frame time code.
After digitizing, the editing process begins.
Clips from the bin is drawn onto a timeline.
A representation of each frame shows up on the
timeline and the clip , if it is 30 seconds occupies
30 seconds of timeline space.
Timeline has two video tracks- for simple cuts only
one track is needed- drag the clip into timeline and
either shorten it or lengthen it.
The clip is shown on the source monitor window- which
has controls like fast forward, rewind and pause and
stop
Two shots can be brought together in a trim window and
trim frames from either end of either shots or use a tool
in the shape of a razor blade
Individual frames can be deleted to create fast motion or
repeat frames to give a slow motion effect
Fade in or fade out can be done by adjusting its opacity
using handles and rubber bands
For creating dissolves,wipes or other transitions, two
video tracks can be used to overlap each other
A-B roll editing – video track A and Video track B
Adding Graphics and Effects – after placing the
shots in the order, graphics and effects are
added
Built in character generator can be used to
create titles and other text materials – pull
down menu to access a special screen on
which the titles are built
Outputting
To get the material out of computer, run it
through a codec this time decompressing it.
Before exporting, build a leader to go at the
beginning of the movie-
Leader provides technical and identifying
information and prevents the placing of
program material at the head of the tape that
is subject to damage
Standard leader consist of color bars, tone,
slate and a count down
Colour bars and tones are essential to ensure
that all the visuals and audio are played back
in its original form
Slate identifies the program – usually contains
program title, director’s name, date the
program was edited and the program’s length
Count down gives the number of seconds
before the program material will appear
Cuts only linear editing – basic editing system- two
methods – control track editing and time code
editing
Control Track editing – uses video control tracks
for editing – track has same function as sprocket
holes – present in all recorded video tapes –
contains an electronic pulse for each frame and
maintains picture steadiness
An edit controller connects two VCRs- used to
mark the inpoints and outpoints on the tape
Controller backs up both machines an equal
amoutn and starts them forward with the frames
running insync counts control pulses to the
inpoints and then start the edit.
Video editing involves rerecording each shot
from the original tape to another tape-
inpoint in a command to start recording and
outpoint is a command to stop recording
Time Code Editing – Each frame is identified
with a specific number (SMPTE time code)
that always stays with that frame
Time code generator writes the code on the
tape, a time code reader decodes it from the
tape and an edit controller reads the time
code
Time code editing is frame accurate because it
creates an address for each frame- editing
equipment can store the time code numbers
that indicate the inpoints and outpoints
Equipment for linear editing
Two VTRs, one or two monitors, and an edit
controller
The source deck contains the original camera
footage that is to be rerecorded
The edit deck is the machine onto which the
selected materials from the source deck are
edited
One monitor shows the output of source deck
and the other monitor shows the output of
the edit deck
Edit controller undertake all regular VTR
functions – play, fast forward, rewind, pause
and play for both machines through remote
control buttons
Graphics and Titles are laid down with a
separate equipment called character
generator or graphics generator.
 Assemble editing – one way of laying down
segments of material in linear editing –
control track information used to accomplish
the edit is taken from the material on the
source tape- as the edit is made audio video
and control track are transferred from the
source machine to record machine- at the
point at which edit stops, the picture will
break up and frame counter will stop because
there is no more control track
Insert editing – control track information is
already on the edit tape- during editing only
audio and video is transferred to the control
track already in the edit tape
Before editing, control track is laid down on the
blank tape, which is called blacking the tape.
Assemble editing is used when series of shots
is laid down in succession without changing
the audio or video
Insert editing is used when audio and video is
laid down separately.