Unit 16: Task 1
Analysis Essay
Editing is crucial when making a video for personal or
commercial reasons. The purpose of editing is to create content which would
send a message directly and indirectly to an audience. Editing is like putting
a puzzle together while creating the pieces. Editing has 3 main categories
which define it.
Development: In camera editing is a technique where a
director would film his shots in sequence or edit the shots instead of shooting
the shots separately and editing them into sequence. In developing the
narrative of a video the director would have follow the action in the scenes taking
place. The director would cross cut from one person to another to show what is
happening. When action is taking place the director would show different viewpoints
sometimes from the characters in the video. In editing we see that the editor
uses camera shots were the camera pans off the action before cutting.
The editor slows the pace of the video to show the
manipulation of time. Most films and programmes have digital editing which allows
people to edit using software. In the past films like Charlie Chaplin’s city
lights was a product of analogue editing where films were developed and then
were edited. The process was longer and harder because they would have to use a
technique called splicing which created cuts for them to manually add into a
sequence.
Purposes: A narrative has to develop
to show a story in any media product mainly in films and TV shows, for example
‘The Shawshank Redemption’ or ‘Breaking Bad’, these products are well known for
their compelling storylines. During the editing stage the narrative is being shown
through the acting of the actors. During editing the cuts and positioning of
the camera during recording would have to show the narrative and engage the
viewer. The cuts and positioning of the camera would show the development of
the drama. For example in films when the drama is being built up to show a
reaction of the drama and tension building up the camera shot would be a close
up on the actor or the action taking place and the cut would be made to another
character reacting to it creating a domino effect in tension being built. Another
way of how editors engage their audiences is by adding cliff-hangers at the end
of their videos. One show which is well known for creating motivation is EastEnders
which has many cliff-hangers at the end of its show. Archie's killer is revealed (February 2010) (http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/eastenders/feature/a783903/eastenders-cliffhangers-ranked-the-13-all-time-greatest-duff-duff-moments),
this episode shows what happens at the end of the show when one of the
characters reveals themselves as the killer the show first plays the song and
cuts away.
The series has so many cliff
hangers the ending song is well known to be associated to cliff hangers. The
purpose of cliff hangers is to keep the audience interested in the show. It
keeps the fan base contemplating and debating on what happens and what the
reasons are for the drama. “A cliff-hanger or cliff-hanger ending is a plot
device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult
dilemma, or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of
serialized fiction. A cliff-hanger is hoped to ensure the audience will return
to see how the characters resolve the dilemma.”(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliffhanger)
From this we see that it’s used to make the audience return to watch the next
episode or film. It is also used as an interesting device to twist the plot
which changes the narrative making the audience shocked. A lot of the shots are
medium shots showing the characters and close ups to see the actors facial
expressions. It is used as a tool by editors and directors to keep franchises
going and it creates a cloud of different theories which keep people thinking
of the show.
Quicker cutting rates crates a pace which results in tension being built and to show multiple things are going on. We generally see this in action, thriller and horror genre related films and shows or similar conveying products. For example we see lots of shots being used to create tension from Resident Evil: The Final Chapter.
Quicker cutting rates crates a pace which results in tension being built and to show multiple things are going on. We generally see this in action, thriller and horror genre related films and shows or similar conveying products. For example we see lots of shots being used to create tension from Resident Evil: The Final Chapter.
There are more than 30 cuts with a variety of different
shots in this one fight scene in this film. From the examples you can see how
the pace is being built up as each cut last only a few seconds before the next
cut.
Conventions and techniques: Editors sometimes do to make an product look good for an audience they make seamless cuts where the audience would not know if there was a cut or not. In many films it is used if an actor cannot perform an action so there would be a cut to show it was done.
For example in the pictures bellow we see a card trick happening.
The cut is so seamless that the audience would not even notice where the cut was and what is was used for.
A lot of modern films use a continuity editing technique which was first used in the classical Hollywood films. Its purpose is the same as the seamless editing technique where someone would hide the cuts. It uses a lot of shots relevant to the plot and the scene taking place.
A jump cut has been used a
lot during the modern era of filming and is popularly used today by many editors
and directors. It is used mainly in montages, it is used to show the passing of
time and a change of an action in the same scene. We see from the example how they
change from doing one action to another through just one cut. We see how the
actors change position through the cut without seeing them move in to their
next position. The way the cut is done it does not confuse the audience but it
shows them how much time is going by, it is almost left for the audience's
imagination.
In the film “Shanghai noon” in a scene we see two of the
main characters training, to show the different exercises they do a jump cut to
the next exercise. This is done to show how time passes and how they move on.
Parallel editing is cross cutting between two different locations or scenes that happen at the same time. We see this a lot in films when the director is trying to show two different points of view in one go.
From the example from “Titanic”
we see how two different scenes and locations are put together. This was used
by the director to show two different viewpoints of the main characters in the
film. In one scene we see a rich character slowly walking and taking her time
while in the other scene and location we see the other main character racing
against the clock where they are portrayed as being poor and surrounded by
poverty. The editor crosscuts many times in this one part of the film. This is
done to show a contrast of the two parallel narratives.
In films and TV shows editors and directors have 180 degree rule which is used mainly when characters would face each other and have a conversation.
The cameras can only film from a 180 angle and cannot cross
the line. From the example above the three shots show how the cameras would be
angled from A, B and C. however the camera D is shown as red because it is
crossing the line. Within the only shots that can be used is on one side of the
line the shots cannot vary from beyond the line.
This rule is seen in an action in a film called “Inglorious
Bastards”. We see that the camera shots are taken from only one side we see
only the right side of one actor and the left side of the other actor in the
scene. We do not see the vice versa to the camera shots from the others side
because it breaks the rule.
A lot of films have transitions to show a different scene or
if time is passing and objects/actors are disappearing. It in many cases show
how time has passed by and how characters have changed. The simplest cut would
be the wipe. In first Star wars film we see
the use of the wipe transition showing a different scene.
The transition here is a wipe from the scene from a mountain to whole different location.
Another transition which is typically used is a fade which can be a fade to black or a fade to white.
In this example we see how the close up on the actor slowly
goes dark fades to black than brightness from the dark to the next scene and
location.
A dissolve transition is very different compared to the wipe. This transition is the scene going dark to black and then cuts to the next scene.
The technique called the dissolve transition is very good transition to use to show two different things at the same time. It can show how time passes by and how people can age or change. “Dissolves are often used to show the passage of time. While the end of a scene can cut directly to the beginning of the next, typically a dissolve will be a clue to the audience that, like the real-time, gradual transition, some time has passed by”( Helen Kantilaftis,14/01/15). From this quote we see that it is typicaly used to show how time passes or it can show how a scene changes.
TFrom the
film “The Godfather” we the
example of the dissolve transition when the passing of time occurs as the
characters eat and a news article is being shown of the current events while
the dinner is slowly going on. The editor puts both scenes together using a
dissolve transition.
Cutaways shot is an insert of a shot between two similar or the same shot. It mainly happens in the same scene.
In 300 there is a scene where the shot is on the protagonist and then on the surroundings then on the protagonist. From this wee see that it is a cutaway. From the inset shot being put between the close up of the eyes and the openness of the next shot.
A point of view shot or also known as a POV shot is a shot from the characters point of view. It shows a first person type of shot and is eye level showing the prospective of the character.
Shot-reverse-shot is when the camera angle changes to the
opposite side. It is mainly used in dialogue scenes between two people. It can
be easy to use to keep actors still and you would be able to use more than one
camera. The example of the film “O Brother, Where
Art Thou?” we see George Clooney's
character talking to his fellow character and the camera shot is mirrored to
show the reaction/response.
Providing and withholding information is a technique in
editing which can keep the audience in suspense or give the audience answers
they were looking for. For example in many films where there is a murderer and
he stalks and kills a character but the identity of the murderer is held from
the audience this known to be withholding information. “Providing information
to an audience does not necessarily mean that you find out information the same
time as the protagonists on the screen. For example, Alfred Hitchcock once said
“There’s two people having breakfast and there's a bomb under the table. If it
explodes, that's a surprise. But if it doesn't..." and that is a great
example of providing information.”(Lucy, Saturday, 16 October 2010). When the
audience knows of something going on the plot and the characters don’t this is
called dramatic irony. It uses the imagination of the audience to fill in the
holes within the plot and is used by editors to build up suspense.
Withholding information is when the protagonist/ important
character discover information at the same time with the audience. Many
problems with this is when editors and directors leave providing information to
the end. A film which withholds information from the audience which is well
known is “Memento” where the audience and
the protagonist learn the plot of the story and certain actions of the
protagonist. The way the scenes are edited they show the character in two
different timelines giving information to the audience slowly. We see this from
the saturation from both scenes which are sequenced together.
Editing rhythm is the pace of how the video is and the way
it’s been edited. Many directors have a certain pace in their films which is
unique to them. For example many Guy Richie films have the same pace and style
which makes his films unique from other directors.
Cutting to soundtrack is when the editors make a cut to the
music or a sound in a scene. So when a cut happens and music plays that would
be cutting to soundtrack. This technique is also applied to a L-Cut which is
when the audio continues into the next cut.
Another technique which uses audio from one cut to another would be the J-cut. This is when audio from the next shot is played before the cut is made. So you would hear what is going on before seeing what is going on or going to happen.
From the film “Saving Private Ryan” we hear waves crashing while the camera is
on focus on the first character we see then the cut goes to Omaha beach were we
see wave’s crashes.
Bibliography:
“A cliff-hanger or cliff-hanger ending is a plot device in
fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma,
or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized
fiction. A cliff-hanger is hoped to ensure the audience will return to see how
the characters resolve the dilemma.”
Titanic film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-Qtsoc7E68
180 degree line:https://www.flickr.com/photos/annamorphic/4005110690
http://loufromthebloc.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/principles-of-editing-providing-and.html
Ok so its a pass at the moment.
ReplyDeleteTo improve it:
- Go through the brief and make each bit of terminology bold so you (and I) can easily see that you've covered everything
- Use detailed examples from films/tv/music videos etc to support each point you make
- proofread
Jo