Editing Techniques

Editing and its history

Editing is the process of taking footage that you have filmed and putting it into a sequence that will eventually be a film. You use different techniques to make the film better like the use if transitions like; cut, fade, dissolve, wipe. Which make the change between two bits of footage more aesthetically pleasing. Also you can make use of sound effects and filters to give a different feel to the movie.

The first bit of cinematography was made by the Lummiere brothers in 1895 and ever since then technology has gotten better so editing has become more crisp. Cutting has also become better through the years as we now do it on a computer but before we had them you had to physically cut the tape which is where the phrase 'making a cut'.

The extract I have chosen is from the film 300 which is one about the story about how king Leonidas led 300 men into battle against the entire Persian army.

In the first battle at 0:34 there is a shot reverse shot where leonaidas is talking to the captain, this is the only example of this I could find in the extract. This is a technique that is used to help us to understand which side each person I the conversation is so when the person on the left is talking the camera is over the right shoulder of the other, and vice versa.

There is an establishing shot at 3:31 when they have broken out of the path between the cliffs. This technique is used to give us perspective on how large (or small) the area the characters are in. Also so we know where thay are and in this case how big the challenge they face is.

I believe that Snyder keeps to the 180 degree rule during this clip as we are always on the left side of Leonidas 3:48-End considering most of this clip is in slow motion it's easy to tell if they broke it. I think they break it later on in the film but not here. This rule is almost like the shot reverse shot technique as it's there to stop people getting confused as if you swapped sides on the character then it would look like he's going the other way.

There are plenty of match on action shots in this clip as it's a fight scene a great example of this would be at.   2:32 Match on actions are used to show the viewer what someone's doing in one shot and close up of the object he's interacting with.

There is a close up at 0:33 which is then followed by a zoom out to show the 300 Spartans. This technique is used to give scale to a certain person or object .

Also from 3:46-End slow motion is used to make Leonidas look as skilled as they can. It's a technique used primarily for this and to give more effect towards it. Which is why it was a good technique to use in this part of the film.

If the main character isn't on screen for enough time then people aren't going to think that they are the main protagonist, instead they'll think someone else is. In 300 Leonidas is on screen for the majority of the film but for example, new Robocop, he's wasn't on screen for long enough so the film became less interesting.

Close ups can help the viewer see the main protagonist feelings, as is shown in this clip at 0:33, and that will help us to relate to us and to understand them more. Especially in horror movies. 

Point of view puts us right into the characters body so we are the. Experiencing what they are, which could be adrenaline to feeling terrified. It again helps us to relate to the character as we feel like we have done the same things as the. So will be able to understand them better. As is shown here in Inglorious Basterds as we are given the eyes of Christoph Waltz who has been captured by Brad Pitt.

Reaction shots are as useful a close ups as we get an idea of how certain things make the protagonist react and they are normally what the viewers should be thinking. This shot is from Lord of the Rings Return of the King and this is just after Frodo has been poisoned by the spider.


Shot variation is very important in the making of a motion picture. If there aren't many different types of shot in a film then it will become very boring very quickly and won't do very well. Throughout this 5 minute clip alone there are 8 different shot types.

A montage is when lots of different shots are taken and put together into normally a short space of time, there are plenty of examples on YouTube and these are when people have done different things and put together their 'best bits'.

Providing and withholding information is used a lot in crime films as at the beginning of the film you see the crime but throughout the rest of the film the protagonist/s find out about how they did and then create a picture after they find out different bits of information. A good example of this would be in the Sherlock Holmes movies featuring Robert Downey Jr. who throughout the film creates a mental picture of he scene where he is.

Parallel editing is when there are two different scenes are cut between to show they are happening at the same time, a good example of this would be the TV series Heroes,  when there are lots of different scenes being put together.

Editing rhythm is when the shots on a film are maybe fast paced because what is happening in the film is fast paced, a good example of this would be the new Need for Speed movie in which the last race is in some really quick cars so the shots that go along with the footage are edited to quickly interchanged.

When you're editing a video if you have a shot of someone walking through a door and emerging on the other side in a completely different place but if the audience don't know where the character is then that is a diegetic change. Also if you had a shot of someone hold a picture of the character and a girl then you will imagine what has happened before, this is implied and the audience is supposed to make their own mind up about the protagonist.

Cutting to the soundtrack is a process when the editor cuts the footage to the beat of the music, this can be used to create impact and be used to create suspense. An example of this is Doctor Who in which they use this technique quite a bit to create a cliffhanger  at the end of a episode if it's a two part one.

A cutaway is a technique that the editor use to make a scene longer, for instance you could have fight scene and during the fight there could be a cut to a different place or something else in the same room maybe. An example of this would be in John Carter when he's fight so that his allies can escape, during this there are flash backs to when he found his wife dead and him buring her, this makes the scene longer but more interesting.

A jump cut is when you have a shot and in the next shot the camera has just slightly moved so it looks like the camera has 'jumped'. A good example of this would be in breathless when he's in his car and he gets the gun out of the glove box, then there's another shot with the glove box in the corner of the shot.