Media Techniques- Editing

Editing

Continuity editing - The dominant editing technique found in narrative feature films, television shows and web content. It is used to unify a series of disconnected shots into a scene that plays out in a logical fashion. this editing is smooth, continuous and coherent which appears invisible. Part of what makes film so unique is that editing allows us to see scenarios from different angles so that you can see things differently to how you would view it in real life. This could make a story hard to follow, however continuity editing with solid planning allows the viewer to get easily immersed into the story. Some types of continuity editing are temporal continuity techniques and spatial continuity techniques.

Match on Action - This is an editing technique (also known as cutting on action) which is used for continuity editing in which one shot cuts to another shot portraying the action of the subject in the first shot.

Non-Continuity/Discontinuity Editing - This editing is intending to make the choices made in editing visible to the viewer. These effects call attention to themselves and violate viewers expectations of continuity.

Eye-Line match - It is based on the premise that the audience will want to see what the character on-screen is looking at. The eye-line match begins with a character looking at something off-screen, followed by a cut to the person or object that they are looking at. For example, a man is looking at something off-screen and then it cuts to a painting that they are looking at.

The 180 Degree Rule - the first rule that any filmmaker needs to learn before they pick up a camera is the 180 degree rule. adherence to this rule is necessary to create continuity in the scene. what you do is create an imaginary line across the set that you will not cross with the ca,era. this way if the actress is on the left side of the frame and the actor is on the right side of the shot, they will stay in those established positions throughout the scene as the medium shots and close ups are editing together. if a camera goes on the other line, it may confuse the viewer as the characters will look like they're facing the same way-  if you want to establish continuity, you should not break this rule as the continuity would be violated. However the rule can be broken to have an effect, for example to show chaos in a scene and to look disorientating (this would be ideal to use in a battle scene).


Types of cuts:

Straight cut- the most common type of cut, it is simply a transition from one shot to another.

Jump cut- there is a 'jump' in the continuity- it takes a section of time away from a sequence, allowing the movement of a character or object to 'jump'

Montage- multiple shots cut in time to music to emphasise a feeling, mood or theme within the film or scene.

Match cut- created by placing two shots next to one another in which a similar action, movement or objects are shown- this is used to make a comparison between two things.

Action match cut- a cut made on action or movement between two shots in which the action has been overlapped by either repetition of the action or by the use of more than one camera.

Eye-line match cut- to show what the character is looking at; first you will see a shot of the character's face looking at something, then we see a point of view shot of what the character was looking at.

Cross-cutting- created by cutting back and forth between two separate scenes. Used to establish action happening at the same time; this can be used to build tension.

Passage of time- when a period is shown through a way of editing (e.g. slow motion or speeded-up footage). This allows the editor to show that time has passed without it being 'real' time. It draws the audience’s attention to time- to emphasise things like the ageing of something or someone, or the monotony of a task.