Unit16Task1 AS1 - Editing in Early Cinema

Editing in early Cinema

In this task i will explain how editing has developed and evolved in the early stages of film making. I will also explain how each film maker contributed to the development of editing.


Thomas Edison

This is a clip from one of Thomas Edison's greatest films "The Electric Light Bulb". This invention is known as one of the most famous inventions which makes it one of the most important landmark moments in editing history. Thomas Edison introduced a new era to become great history. This is important because it alerts people of how to create something new and gain good knowledge from it and this clip shows exactly that.

Lumiere Bros

The lumiere bros are praised for being the first filmmakers in history and introduced their first ever film. They began this process by inventing their very own device, by combining a camera with a printer and a projector and with this combination they named it the 'Cinematographe'. This technology was a newly introduced style for the people which meant that other people could even adapt from an idea like this and create more films like these. For this reason being, the Lumiere Bros not only gained popularity in what they did but introduced outstanding inventions which are a huge part of film today. This is a very short and simple clip and because of its simplicity, it gave people an insight to something new that they've never seen before.

G.A. Smith

The Miller and the Sweep

Similar to the the Lumiere bros, G.A Smith created a very short and simple film. The film contributes to introducing new film making. My reason for saying this is because the only type of shot we see is a still shot that only focuses on the subjects and even though the subjects move around a lot in the film, the camera stands in a position where it can include everything it needs. This clip is effective because of the humour that is added to it and something like this would be exciting for the audience as they've never seen a humorous film before. Based on this reason, this type of comedy genre developed at this stage.

The kiss in the Tunnel

G.A Smith also created this clip called "The Kiss in the Tunnel". Based on his work before, he gradually showed improvement in filming. For instance, unlike the still shot he used in the previous example above, he used a point of view shot, following the action and a still shot. All these shots make the film look more effective and also active, this is because the audience begins to see more movements going on not just based on the actual characters but also the camera's movement too. This is what makes it so important as it creates more of a meaning for the film.


George Melies - The Vanishing Lady

George Melies creates a variety of genre's such a documentary, short film and silent film. In this clip you can see that it is a silent film and short film. What George Melies does is he walks onto stage and brings out his assistant spreads newspaper on the floor and puts a chair on top. She sits down then places a cloth on top of her, removes it then she is gone but then once he waved his hands in the air a skeleton appears. He again, places the blanket on top, of the skeleton then removes it off. We then see his assistant again then they both walk off stage. This film introduced entertainment but also magic. Films back then were rather plain, simple, and had a basic story line, but here George Miles created a short film, with no sound and still somehow in some way won over the audience's attention.

Edwin S Porter - The Life of an American Fireman

Edwin S Porter was an American film pioneer, and is best known for the director of Thomas Edison's company. He created over 250 films but most important films are the 'The Great Train Robbery', and 'The Life of an American Fireman'. Similarly to the other examples I have explained above, this film has no sound however it is longer than most. Already we can see that because of the length of this film there must be a meaningful story line. Even though the shot techniques were basic it was shown that the camera was moving around more often, showing the audience what exactly is going on. This introduced different shot techniques to early cinema.

The Great Train Robbery

Edwin S Porter also created this film 'The Great Train Robbery'. As you can see, the first change we see in Edwin S Porter's filming is that he developed his filming by including  sound. The type of sound included in the film is very loud and pressuring, causing a lot of tension on the audience. He introduced sound, and a use of good timing in the film and because of this the audience gains an emotional and personal response to the film.

Charles Pathe - The Horse that Bolted

Charles Pathe was a French pioneer of film and recording industries. He also invented the newsreel that was shown in theatres prior to a feature film. Straight away when hearing the music added in the clip, the audience will have an idea that the film is humorous. This will make them want to watch it and know what this humorous clip has to offer. To show the variety of different scenes, the camera continuously cuts in different scenes to put together the film, and because of this cross cutting technique it makes the film flow and not just run though for about 2 mins. This shows a change in editing in terms of how films should now look like and now be structured.

Unit16 Task4 AS1: Montage

In the world of montage there are 3 different types:

French Cinema - The french cinema comprises the art of film and creative movies.

Soviet Cinema - In soviet film making montage is the method of juxtaposing shots to derive different meaning but when the shots are out together they have the same meaning.

Hollywood Cinema -  in a hollywood montage

Hollywood Montage





The intention behind the montage- Three of my friends were involved in the making of this film. They used an empty classroom as setting and they used various different props e.g. handbags, books and handmade price tags. There was 4 different scenes. Scene 1 was one girl walking into a market place, looking at handbags, she came across one bag that she liked but noticed she couldn't afford so she walked away. Scene 2  is of the same girl in a bookstore trying to sell her books to customers so she could buy the bag. Scene 3 is of two other girls walking into the bookstore and both purchasing some books. Scene 4 was the first girl then going back to the market place to buy the bag that she wanted, and then her walking away happily.

What went well-

Was it successful-




Soviet Montage






The intention behind the montage- This montage we found rather difficult to make. We used an empty classroom to make this short film.

What went well-

Was it successful-

Unit16Task3 AS1 - From Analogue to Digital Editing

From Analogue to Digital Editing 

Analogue editing is the cutting together of pieces of celluloid film.

Traditionally films are made up images printed on to acetate negative. These are the "spliced" together to form a reel of film. These are then feed through a projector at a constant speed of 24 frames a second.

Before the widespread use of non-linear editing systems, the initial editing of all films was done with a positive copy of the film negative called a film work print (cutting copy in the UK). By physically cutting and pasting together pieces of film, using a splicer and threading the film on a machine with a viewer such as a Moviola.  

Video Editing

Before digital technologies become available magnetic tapes were used to store information - these are known as video tapes.
Most video editing has been superseded by digital editing which is faster and cheaper.

Digital Editing

Digital media is a form of electronic media where data are stored in digital (as opposed to analogue) form.
Digital editing is the use of computers to order and manipulate this digital data.
Digital cinema uses bits and bytes (strings of 1s and 0s) to record, transmit and reply images, instead of chemicals to film. The whole process is electronic so there is no printing or "splicing" involved.

Non-linear Editing

In digital video editing, non-linear editing is a method that allows  you to access any frame in a digital video clip regardless of sequence in the clip.
The freedom to access any frame, and use a cut-and-paste method, similar to the ease if cutting and pasting text in a word processor, and allows you to easily include fades transitions and other effects that cannot be achieved.

Unit16Task6 AS1: Non-Continuity Editing

Non-Continuity Editing 


Jump Cut
French New Wave

French New Wave filmmakers such as Jean Luc Godard and Francois Truffaut pushed the limits of editing techniques during the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s. Jean Luc Godard directed a film, Bout de Souffle

French New Wave films and the non-narrative films of the 1960s used a carefree editing style and did not conform to the traditional editing etiqutte of Hollywood films.

French New Wave editing often drew attention to itself by its lack of continuity, its self-reflexive nature (reminding the audience that they were watching a film), an by the overt use of jump cuts or the insertion of material not often related to any narrative.


A Bout de Souffle - Jean-Luc Goddard - Jump Cut:




This is an example of Jump Cutting. Because the shots aren't edited continuously, it makes the effect on the film.  For example, when the mirror appears then suddenly disappears emphasises to use of jump cut in this scene.


The Shining - Stanley Kubrick - Breaking the 180 Degree Rule:




This is a example from the film. 'The Shining' we see the camera man deliberately breaking the 180 degree rule. This was intentional to create an effect on the audience.





The Hunger Games - Gary Ross - Breaking the 180 Degree Rule

This is also another example of breaking the 180 Degree Rule in the film 'The Hunger Games'. It shows her looking at one side of the room, then completely rotates onto the other side.

Unit16Task7 AS1 - Creating Pace/Engaging the Viewer

Engaging the viewer and creating pace - are both very popular techniques in editing. Engaging the viewers and Creating pace are usually different depending on the genre it would be needed for. If it is used for action or horror scenes one would expect the scenes to go in a fast sequence, if it is used for a romantic scene the sequence would be expected to be a lot slower than action or horror. 

Speed of Editing

In a film each scene may last a matter of seconds, or it could continue for minutes but the length of each sequence establishes the pace of the film moving the action along. The speed of editing will help to determine the mood of what is taking place on screen. If the audience is to feel anxiety & suspense will be quick - the scenes and shots will change frequently. For example, in a trailer of a film the editing will be very fast because it needs to pack in a lot of detail. 

Cross Cutting

Editing in films is very important. This is because it creates a sense of pace within a sequence. To cross-cut is to edit two sequences together that the audience needs to know are connected in some way. Something is happening at the same time but in different locations or maybe a character reliving a memory.

Developing Drama 

Cross cutting can used to very effectively develop a scene of drama. The death of Casey in the opening scene of Scream is made more dramatic by the cross cutting to her parents coming home and almost making home in time to save her.

Cutaways

A cutaway is used to reveal details to the audience without really detracting from the narrative or the action. It is then usually followed by the first shot that it was cut away from, this then avoids a jump cut in the film. For example, if the main shot is of a man walking down an alley, possible cutaways may include a shot of a cat on a nearby dump or a shot of a person watching from a window overhead.

Creating Pace

Editing is vital in creating pace within a sequence. Creating pace is when editing is used to speed up or slow down a film. The pace of an edit can alter the way the audiences views the film. For example horror films are usually slow paced, this is done editing shots so they are longer and then slowly cut to another shot to create a dramatic effect.

Our Creating Pace video involved Cross Cutting, the purpose of this was to create drama and tension in the minds of the audience. So for our cross cutting we decided to act out a teacher & two naughty children. They misbehaved by playing music and dancing, around climbing on tables, and talking on the phone, all while the teacher was out of the classroom. While editing this film I developed drama by using cross cutting between when the teacher was returning back to the class but the two children were still misbehaving in the classroom. I done this to create tension and develop drama for the audience.

Unit16Task8 AS1: Transition and Effect

Dissolves

Dissolving is fading one shot off the screen while another shot is fading in. The audience will be able to see both shots at the mid-point of the dissolve shot. This is normally used is the film maker wants to show a connection between two characters, objects or places.

Fades

Fading is the gradual darkening or lightening of an image until it becomes black and white. The shot will fade until the whole screen is only black and white. This is used to indicate the end of a particular section of time within a narrative. 

Wipes

Wiping is when one image is pushed off the screen by another. The image can slide left or right. it is more common for the image to be pushed off to the left hand side as this movement as this movement is more consistent with the sense of time moving forward. This techniques is used to signal a movement between two different locations that are experiencing the same time.  

Graphic Match

Following the Action

This is when there is movement, or in an action scene, the camera would follow the action or event that is taking place. For example, in the fight scene from the film, Mr & Mrs Smith the camera rotates between them fighting instead of staying in one angle.


Multiple points of view

This is when the characters are showing each side of the a particular point of view. When one character will show his/her point of view (what they are seeing) and then will change to the secondary character and do the same thing. This happens in this extract from iron man.





Shot Variation

This is when a shot is uninterrupted by editing and the shot distance changes. The shot can be either static or mobile but it must be continuous motion. For example, a shot may begin as a long or wide shot and the end as a close-up shot. In this example from the Matrix it starts off as a long shot, then the camera moves into a circular motion shot, and ends in a mid-shot.

Evaluation - For our transition and effect we effectively used manipulation of diegetic time and space of the future. In this film we used three characters, Shemi was psychic who was looking into my future to see if i would hurt myself before a party net week. The clip goes black and white when it goes into the future and then dissolves back into present time. I think this technique was used effectively because, it shows that we understood how to use the technique properly and it links well with the theme of our film.