Film Editing and Editing in Film

Sebastian Mendez

Since the beginning of filmmaking, people have cut and moved around the footage to put scenes

together and change between shots and angles. Originally, one would literally cut the film and

tape pieces together to play between the two clips. Machines were soon built to more easily

achieve this. After film, came videotape, which allowed for a magnetic medium of editing

recordings together seamlessly. Only years later came the introduction of electronic editing,

enabling people to edit movies without physically taking the tape and cutting it. Non-linear

editing was the next big step in editing, which made it possible to edit film digitally in any order

wanted, and move things around and use them freely. With the advances in the digital world, this

became the norm, and now just about anyone with a computer can easily edit their own videos.

There are of course many different types of editing. Theres basic cutting and putting

scenes in the right place. Editing also includes adding transitions of all kinds, or placing music

and sound effects on to a video. You can also edit the exposure or colour of a shot to make it

look more cinematic or to give it a certain mood. Special Effects could also be considered a form

of editing, as you would layer the effects on the footage to create something interesting. An

editor will spend lots of time making things fit nicely and make sense. Editing is like the frosting

on a cake, and neat little things can add extra movie magic and charm, being the cherry atop the

metaphorical movie cake.

Great editing can add a lot to a movie without being too in your face. If an edit is done

well, it shouldnt even cross the viewers mind that there was a cut between shots, as theyre too
focused on other aspects of the film, and so the editing will seem organic and flow through the

motions. This can be seen in the subtle or not so subtle changing of angles or perspectives in a

scene, but it all seems normal to the eyes of the audience. However, you may want to make your

edit jarring or unexpected to put a feeling in peoples minds. Editing can be used to add emotion

to a scene, or can be used humorously. Placing sad music or imagery next to someones blank

face can make the face seem sombre or melancholic. On the other hand, one could intercut

different videos to make the same face seem disappointed or angry or even happy. You can add

extra meaning to two or more clips by putting them together, by showing parallels or contrasts in

the videos. Great editing should really enhance your movie and make it just that much better.

The first machine created to facilitate editing was the Moviola. This machine was

originally from 1917, and was meant to be a home projector system to be sold to the public.

However, the price was so high that not many of these actually sold. The machine was later

reworked and adapted to work for film editors. The first Moviola was sold in 1924. Many movie

companies soon adopted the Moviola, and it ended up becoming common practice to edit film

with the machine until about the 1970s. The Moviola was a vertical machine, and was relatively

slow and difficult to use, compared to later machines. However, it helped editors greatly as they

could see their film more clearly, study individual shots, and be more precise with their cuts and

splices. It was easier than eyeballing or estimating the film.

Replacing the Moviola almost entirely in the 70s, the flatbed editor was a far simpler to

use and more helpful product than its predecessor. First invented in the 1930s, these horizontal

machines functioned using motorized disk called plates, and would let the editor run two films

and one sound, or vice versa. The plates move forward and back, or together for synchronization,
and a prism reflects the film and displays it on a viewing screen. Meanwhile, the sound, at this

point on magnetic tracks or mags, is read and played back to go alongside the film. The first

couple companies to produce this technology were Steenbeck and KEM (Keller-Elektro-

Mechanik), both German manufacturers. The name Steenbeck was often used to describe the

flatbed editors, as these were the most popular flatbeds. While they were first created in the

Thirties, it wasnt until the Fifties that more advanced models came out, and throughout the 60s

and 70s, these became commonplace. Editors now had a simpler way to cut their films, and

could be more liberal with their decisions, and more precise. Tape had replaced glue by this point

as well, which made it all the easier to splice edits.

The next big advancement in editing technology was the birth of the non-linear editing

system. Non-linear editing systems allow the editor to take a digital version of their film and cut,

splice, move things around in a virtual space. The term non-linear came from Michael Rubins

book Nonlinear: A Guide to Digital Film and Video Editing, first published in 1991. The first of

these digital editing systems was in 1971, with CMX Systems production of the CMX 600.

Computers werent very powerful when these first were introduced so they were very slow and

not ideal. Big computer machines were required to process all the things needed. However, with

the improvements in technology in the years after, these systems were made much more useful

and started to replace other editing formats. With the new editing systems, anything was

possible. Not affecting the physical film and wearing it away, these systems let people

experiment with their editing without much concern or worry, as the actual film was left

untouched. Previously, when making a film, the movie could only be screened every so often,

with weeks passing by between screenings; with the new technology though, movies could be
screened several times a week, allowing there to be more discussion and everything could be

done faster and easier.

This media kept evolving, with improvements in the storing of video to the compressing

of HD videos. Many companies have made editing software, and the depth and abilities vary

from each program to the next. Not just cutting and splicing, there are many options and features

in these programs that allow you to do various things that were either unimaginable, implausible,

or very difficult to do in the past. In just a hundred years, lots of progress has been made. Pretty

much anyone at home can edit nowadays on their own computer, with dozens of free and paid

programs on the net. Some simple editing software is made available for those with computers

from the get-go, like Microsofts Window Movie Maker. The question now is what will come for

the future, what more advancement can be made. Already, several programs out there make it

possible to edit videos in 4k video quality. With great pioneers of technology we can do so much

more in the years to come.

An editors job is to convey a message, to induce emotion, and to make a cohesive

picture. When shooting a film you get many shots, many angles, and theres a lot of footage that

comes from a shoot. In post-production, the editor can take these shots and bring them together

in a way that makes sense, and in a way that tells a story. There may be multiple takes of the

same scene; the editor can choose the best take, or blend different takes together, intercutting

with different angles of the scene. You could start off with the first angle on the first take, then

switch to a second angle, then come back to the first angle, but from a different take in that

angle. A scene must also tell a story, or at least convey that something is happening. An editor

could take two shots that, separately, say one thing, but together say another. A good editor
wants to move their audience by showing, not telling. In a scene from Stanley Kubricks 1968

film 2001: A Space Odyssey, we see a caveman take a stick and throw it in the air. The stick

spins a little, and then the shot changes; a modern spaceship is seen floating in space. These two

shots together show the advancement in human science, technology, and intelligence. The two

shots work to tell the audience something, to get them thinking, without explicitly saying

anything. Splicing shots like this works great to move the story along and convey a message.

Apart from the video, we have the audio. Sound is very important in movies. Theres the

sound that was filmed during the shot, like dialogue or ambient environment sounds. Then you

have all the sound added in post. Sound effects are put in to exaggerate something happening.

Sound effects can be used in many different ways. They can be used maybe simply to add a

sound that wasnt captured well while shooting. Or a sound effect can be used that really shows,

the action, like a car crash or an explosion or someone taking a fall. Sound effects can be used in

comedies to make something cartoony, or in horrors to make something spooky. You can also

have ambient sound effects, or add stuff that wasnt there, like birds chirping in a forest, or

people talking in a cafeteria.

Then of course we have music, which is crucial to a movies overall story. Even many

silent films had music over them back in the day. Music can set a mood, in many ways. It can be

ambient music that is simple or quiet. It could be something that, were it not there, or were it to

be changed, would completely change the scene. Thats how you know it changes the mood.

Music used can range from existing songs from various artists to a soundtrack entirely

comprised of original compositions; of course, many movies feature both of these. In many great

soundtracks we see how music can really push a story or affect the audience greatly. What would

movies like Jurassic Park, Jaws, Back to the Future, or Star Wars be without their iconic scores?
All these movies and pretty much every other movie would be very different, not to mention

boring, without the music to help. Music is part of the movie and the story, not just a supplement.

So in editing, it is key knowing how to put the music in and using it wisely, and hitting all the

right notes of emotion and story.

Good editing and post-production is imperative for the success of a film. Its not enough

to put scenes together. One must put these scenes together in a way that makes something

enjoyable to watch. A film must be cohesive and understandable. There are many different ways

to entertain the audience. Many overlook the editing of a film, and this is mostly because when

the editing has been done really well, everything works so nicely on the screen that the audience

just sees the big picture; and that big picture is done so well that people can enjoy the movie or a

scene because its made so well. A bad movie cant be fixed by editing, but good editing can

help a film greatly. Editing can be subtle or obvious, and both methods can work really nicely if

used effectively. The real goal is to make a film worth someones time to check out and to watch

and enjoy.
Bibliography

1. https://blogs.adobe.com/conversations/2015/02/the-evolution-of-film-editing.html
Evolution of Film Editing posted by Bill Roberts, Feb 20, 2015
2. http://newslatefilms.com/featured/importance-editing/
Importance of Editing by Saj Adibs, Dec 20, 2014
3. https:/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_editing
Further help in the See Also section.
4. https://film-production.knoji.com/filmmaking-101-the-importance-of-editing/
Filmmaking 101: The Importance of Editing by Emperor Fredrick Von Seidl, originally
published Oct 13, 2008
5. https://www.filmcomment.com/article/game-changers-editing/
Game Changers: Editing by Paul Schrader, 2014