Chapter One: Understanding the film editing process:

On its most fundamental part, the post production process in the movies industry is
one of the vital parts in the course of creating a film; however, its significance would not
be granted without the engagement of film editing stage.
In a broad sense, film editing is briefly outlined in the art and the practice of
assembling shots and combines them into sequences to create a finished motion picture.

Film editing is often referred to as the Invisible Art, that is, the ideal work of an editor
is manifested in the moment when a viewer can be engaged without even being aware of
the editors work or where this latter can somehow succeed in penetrating our
unconscious. This idea is suggested in Walter Murch editing book In the blink of an eye
(201.p 52 ehere he explains the importance of cutting and how it can control the blinks of
our eyes that punctuate our thought patterns and how the editor can use the actors blinks
IN or OUT points or to achieve the desired emotion:

"There are places in a conversation where it seems we almost physically cannot blink
or turn our heads (since we are still receiving important information), and there are other
places where we must blink or turn away in order to make better sense of what we have
received. And I would suggest that there are similar points in every scene where the cut
cannot or must occur, and for the same reasons."

Hence, Murch underlines the six goals editing should strive for:
1. Achieving the desired emotion,
2. Advancing the story,
3. Continuing a proper rhythm,
4. Acknowledging the eye trace from the audiences focus of interest as to
location and movement,
5. Achieving two-dimensional plurality, and
6. Respecting three-dimensional continuity.

Technically, this process starts after finishing shooting, when the editor receives all
raw footage (rushes) and start to assemble them. After inputting the rushes and the sound
in the computer, the editor synchronize them and store them into files, afterwards, he
selects the best takes and edit them together to create scenes as per the director s vision.
That is to say, this latter works closely with the editor during this period.
The shots the editor chooses and the ways they are combined set the mood, develop
the action, create the rhythm, establish the films time and space and guide the viewers
attention.
Film editing is the heart of our understanding of the film, American film editor Carol
Littleton once described this process as being a lot like writing: You become a writer, but
you are writing with images , that is, an editor s job does not simply lie in arranging
disorganized rushes and combine them into a coherent sequence but it goes beyond this to
creating a sense, through working creatively with the layers of images, dialogues, music,
pacing, actors performances and playing with the shots to find the continuity and the
connectivity, to reimagine and even to rewrite the film to craft a cohesive whole in order
to build a dramatic way of filming.
 Editing techniques:

Example
Technique Description

The prime rule of editing and one of the

primary transitions in film
( Cut, dissolve and wipe ), it refers to
Cutting an abrupt change or jump in camera
angle, location, placement or time from
one shot to another and consists of a
transition from one scene to another.

Continuity
editing A technique that aims to tell a story via
achieving:
Logic, smoothness, sequential flow,
temporal and spatial orientation for
audience to what they are exposed on
screen as well as the flow from shot to
shot and filmic unity. Such examples
could be: 180 degree rule, 30 degree
rule, crosscutting .

Discontinui
ty editing It emphasizes difference between shots
( calls attention to itself), this techniaue
violates the watchers expectations of
continuity.

shots A and B to produce an

effect or meaning not even
hinted at by either shot alone.
180 degree
rule An imaginary straight line drawn
between a subject and the item/person
they are interacting with. It can also be
 drawn along a path that a subject is
moving on.
It indicates the direction people and
things face when viewed through the
camera. The most important factor in
working with this rule is knowing how
to establish a line of action. When you
cross the line with the camera, you
reverse the screen direction of your
subjects, hence it can disrupt and
disorients the audience
Lets look at 2 actors position for a dialogue
scene:
If we look at the scene from overhead we can
draw a straight line from actor one sight line to
actor 2 this is our line of action for this scene
The 180 degree rule states that once you place
your camera on one side of the line you should
keep all your shots within the 180 degree arc on
the same side of the line in order to maintain
proper screen direction.

30 degree
rule Another continuity technique where the Lets say for example that you have 1
camera should move at least 30 degrees actor in a scene who is lighting a
cigarette under a tree.
between two shots of the same subject, You now have choices as to where to
event, object or character that is put your camera. Lets say in this
happening in the scene. By making sure scene we want to expose the facial
that the angle of the camera to the expression of our main character so
subject changes by 30 degrees between we might start with a wide shot to
two shots cut together, the background show context and then change your
will move enough that the shots will cut angle by 30 degrees and move into a
medium shot or close up.
together well without any apparent
visual discontinuity.
The 30 degree rule requires that no edit
should join two shots whose camera
viewpoints are less than 30 degrees from
one another. If this is not present an
abrupt cut known as jump cut will
occur, hence it will draw the audience
attention to the editing that has been
used. The purpose of this rule was to
eliminate jump cuts
Jump cut
a disorienting ellipsis between shots.
ut is a cut between two shots that are so
similar that a noticeable jump in the
image occurs, a discontinuous device, a
jump cut occurs when an edit is not
smooth or concerned with maintaining
the illusion of continuity.
result from cuts between two shots of
the same subject that are too similar in
angle and distance. Use the 30 degree
rule to avoid it.

Eye line
match

It consists of two shots. The first shot of

the character look off in one direction
followed a shot with what the character
is looking at.

Ellipsis
the most common manipulation of time
through editing is an omission of the
time that separates one shot from
another.
the shortening of the plot duration of a
film achieved by deliberately omitting
intervals or sections of the narrative
story or action; an ellipsis is marked by
an editing
transition (a fade,dissolve, wipe, jump
cut, or change of scene) to omit a period
or gap of time from the films narrative.

Fade
transition from black or to black.
A smooth, gradual transition from a
normal image to complete blackness
(fade out), or vice versa (fade in).
Flashback
the interruption of the chronological
plot time with a shot or series of shots
that show an event that has happened
earlier in the story.

Dissolve/la
p dissovle Shot B gradually appears over shot
A and replaces it- often implying
passing of time.
If you were editing a story that involved
a flashback, you could dissolve from the
last shot of the present time to the first
shot of the events from the past.
Generally, but not always, the use of a
dissolve is held to indicate that a period
of time has passed between the two
scenes.

Freeze
frame a still image in a cinematic work made
by showing a series of identical frames
or by stopping a film or video at one
desired frame, usually presenting the
suspension of action of time
Step printing of an image creating a still
much like an exclamation point.

Iris shot special small circle wipe lineit can

grow larger or smaller (iris in or iris
out)
Graphics
match provides continuity by matching a
shape, color, or texture across an edit.
By ending one shot with a frame
containing the same compositional
elements (shape, color, size, etc.) as the
beginning frame of the next shot, a
connection is drawn between the two
shots with a smooth transition.

Master shot
A shot that includes all of the actors in
the scene and it runs the entire length
of the action. It is usually the first shot
to be covered and the master shot will
then be interwoven with other shots
such as mid shots or inserts. It defines
the spatial relationships in a scene.

Parallel
editing two or more actions happening at the
same time but in different places.

Point of
view editing of subjective shots that show a
scene exactly the way the character sees
it.

Wipe
transitional device often indicates
change of time, place or location. Wipes
are dynamic. They happen when one
shot pushes the other off frame.
George Lucas deliberately used them
throughout the Star Wars series.