Editing History
Over time, it is clear to see an improvement in films. This is mainly due to the large changes to editing within films over history. Film editing goes back as early as the 1800's. Many pioneers made breakthroughs that have allowed film to develop to what it is today. Some of their breakthroughs turned out to be huge in the filming industry, some of the examples are:
Eadweard Muybridge
Eadweard Muybridge was born on 9th April 1830. By the age of 20, Muybridge had moved to America and it was when he was living over there in San Francisco that he acquired his interest in photography in 1855. His original goal was to photograph the west with his mobile darkroom. He produced many landscape photos of the scenery in the west, some of which became quite popular. His reputation as a photographer increased in the late 1800's and this is how he then made his major discovery.
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| Image from: http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist3/sallie.html |
He was contacted by the ex-governor of California, Leland Stanford in 1873 to try and settle a bet. Stanford believed that when a horse was running all four of it's hooves left the ground. This theory could never be proven as a horse moved to quickly for the human eye to tell. To find an answer, Muybridge placed 12 different cameras in a line. Each camera was attached to a trip wire which when triggered, would close the shutter of the camera. He then made a horse run past the line of cameras. The horse triggered each cameras trip wires individually and a picture was taken by each one. Each picture showed the horse moving and therefore made motion photographs. The images proved that a horse does in fact have all four hooves off the ground when running.
Muybridge then had to present his results to prove what he had found. He needed to develop a projector to display his images in motion. To do this he decided to develop the Zoetrope created by William George Horner. A Zoetrope was pictures which were inserted into slots of a drum and when rotated. Their would appear to be one picture moving. Muybridge adapted the Zoetrope to create the Zoopraxinoscope. This used glass disks with images painted on them. when the disks where quickly rotated it looked as though the images were moving. This is considered by many as the first movie projector. By 1978 Muybridge had perfected his work which had lead to him becoming very popular in the photography industry.
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| Image from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoopraxiscope |
Thomas A. Edison was born on the 11th February 1847. Edison is most famously known for his invention of the light bulb however he also played a big part in the advancements of film editing. Before his work on film, Edison had worked on many other projects. He started his working life by selling newspapers and experimenting on press machines. He then went into work as a telegraph operator which was when he made his first invention, a telegraphic repeating instrument. Edison had made a lot of inventions and in turn made a lot of money however it wasn't until 1879 when he created what is regarded his best invention-the Light Bulb. He spent many years after this developing the light bulb.
In the year 1883, Edison had hired W.K.L Dickson as his assistant. They were inspired by the previous works of the likes of Edweard Muybridge and wanted to create his own invention that would create and show moving pictures. His first attempt was to arrange small photographs around a cylinder with a light inside it. He had to improve this idea if he wanted to make a working invention. It wasn't until 1890 when Edison attempted his first film with the cylinder method. He found that this technique made the images look extremely grainy, even when magnified. Edison then decided to abandon his cylinder method.
With Dickson doing most of the research, they had developed the Kinetoscope. This invention was a large box which the viewers could peer into from the top to watch around 1 minute of film. In 1892, a studio was built named the Black Maria in Edison's laboratory grounds. This studio showed the Kinetoscope in 1983. There were people lined up outside the door to see the Kinetoscope display a short scene based on a blacksmith. The Black Maria was used in the future to show Edison and Dickson's films. Through his career, Edison had created over 1000 inventions.
Lumiere Brothers
Brothers Auguste and Louis Lumiere are widely regarded as the first film makers in history. They were both sons to a famous artist Antoine Lumiere. Antoine, realised the money that was in photographic processing and decided to leave behind his successful art career to begin selling photographic equipment. Intrigued by this field of work, Louis had decided to join his father and experimented on the equipment he was selling. Whilst experimenting, Louis developed a new dry plate process for taking pictures at only 17. This brought in a lot more money to his father's new business. Antoine now a respected business man, was invited to see the Kinetiscope that Edison had created. He came back to Louis and told him to make his own so he could sell them for a cheaper price as Edison sold them for large amounts. With the help of his brother Auguste, they got to work on their new project in 1984.
The brothers were not only set on recreating Edison's device, they wanted to improve it. They found that there were two major problems with the Kinetoscope: first was it's size, it was too big and heavy which meant it was generally restricted to one place. Second was the fact only one person could view it at one time, they wanted people to enjoy it together, By combining a camera with a printer and a projector in 1895, they had created a Cinematographe. This was a much smaller device and a lot lighter. It worked by turning a crank on the side which ran the film. Another change they had made to their new invention was it ran at 16 frames per second rather than 48. This meant they didn't have to use as much film and also the clatter made from Edison's device was reduced to a minimum. A big breakthrough the brothers found when making the device was that a similar mechanism used on a sewing machine could be used to run the film. This is something that Edison did not believe could work.
The first of their films to be shown was on March 22nd 1895 in Paris. This film showed workers leaving the Lumiere factory and was shown at an industrial meeting. The first showing of their films were private however word soon spread of their breakthrough until finally they showed their first public screening on the 28th of December that same year. The brothers then began to open their own theatres to show their films which became known as Cinemas. It took only four months before they had created cinemas in London, Brussels, Belgium and New York. From 1997 to 1998, their catalogue of films had grew from 358 to 1000 and also in 1900 they projected a film on a large 99X79 foot screen. This is how Cinema began.
Beginning of editing to what it is today
The first films made for Cinema were only short, they all used only one long shot. The reason for them being short was because they could only run for the length of the film in the camera. Due to them being short, the films made generally didn't have a story, instead it was just recordings of simple everyday things such as a train moving. This was not a problem however as it was a new thing so the fact that images were moving was enough to entertain a crowd.
Many people believe that editing first came into film in 1898 when British film maker Robert W. Paul made a film called 'Come Along Do!' This was the first film to use more than one shot. The first shot was a couple eating lunch outside an art exhibition then following some people inside, the second shot shows them inside the art exhibition and looking around it.
Robert W. Paul was also the first to use a camera that featured reverse cranking. In 1901, his film 'Scrooge' or 'Marley's Ghost' was the first film to use this technique. Reverse cranking allows the same piece of film to be exposed several times.
Nowadays all film editing is done on a computer however films were around long before computers were created. Film makers had to edit their films by physically cutting them. In a roll of film you can see all the frames of the film you have shot. Film makers back then would have to find the frame that they want to cut and quite literally cut it out of the film. They would then have to stick the two ends of the film that they just separated together with something transparent that wouldn't show up on the film when it is projected.
Many of the best film makers at the time would experiment with the rolls of film to try and find a way of adding special effects. One of the greatest pioneers to do this was Georges Melies. He was one of the first to add special effects into his films. He would personally take the films and alter their appearance by doing things such as colouring them. He would colour them as in that time the cameras only filmed in black and white. This meant however that he would have to colour every single frame in of the film. This was the same circumstances for any other effects that needed to be added in.
Now, almost all films are digitally edited. In 1985, a company called Quantel released the 'Harry'. This was the first completely digital editing and effects system. It could only apply affects to 80 seconds worth of video. Quantel were followed by other companies attempting to create similar devices such as Avid and Adobe. It wasn't until 1992 when the first feature film (Let's Kill All The Lawyers) was made using only digital editing. Before this all films digitally edited were only shorts. It wasn't until two years later when digital editing started to become recognised as the best way to edit films. Hundreds of films were now being edited digitally. In 1996, 'The English Patient' became the first digitally edited film to win an Oscar for best editing. Most films are digitally edited now as it is a lot easier than it use to be and it gives the user so many more possibilities. The most popular editing systems are Adobe Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro X and Sony Vegas Pro 11.
Purposes of Editing
The most obvious reason why we use editing in films is so the viewer does not get bored. In the first films, editing was not necessary as the fact images were moving was enough to keep a whole audience entertained as it was new to them. Nowadays, films compete to edit their films better than the rest as everyone wants to see something new.
One of the most important things to note when editing is the pace of the film. The correct pace is needed to keep a viewer interested and it helps to determine what feel the film has to it. The editor must decide the correct time for each shot of the film. If they leave a shot on for too long then the viewer would get bored of seeing the shot and would start questioning what else is going on around the shot that they aren't seeing. If the shot is too quick then the viewer would not take in the detail that they have to see from the shot. This is why it is important to determine the style and pace of the film and then edit your shots around that. A slow pace film is generally made up of longer shots which last a few seconds. If a film is slow paced then it is usually not a tense film for example, a romance. Shorter shots generate a quicker pace which is usually good for action films. The film 'The Bourne Ultimatum' is a very fast paced film. This works for it as there are a lot of fighting scenes in which the quick shots are useful. In the gun fight scenes, the viewer would want to see every piece of action from every bullet fired to every man being shot therefore the quick shots are necessary to show everything.
Editing is also important as it helps the viewer understand the films story line better. A film must be edited right to get information on a character across correctly. With the right shot, the smaller details can be put across to the audience so they know how to feel about the character. Characters can be determined by their clothes, expressions, props and much more. If a character is wearing bright clothes then the viewer can tell that they will most likely be a lighthearted character at first glance therefore a shot that shows their full body would be useful such as a long shot. Sometimes an editor would not show certain decisive details of a character and introduce them later on. This way when the viewer finds out, it is a surprise and catches them off guard which makes a more entertaining film. An example of when this has been done was in the film 'The Usual Suspects'. It is only at the end of the film when we see the Police Chief's office and we see the details that were missed out previously like the bulletin board with the names of the characters.
Continuity
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| Image from: http://www.earlycinema.com/pioneers/edison_bio.html |
With Dickson doing most of the research, they had developed the Kinetoscope. This invention was a large box which the viewers could peer into from the top to watch around 1 minute of film. In 1892, a studio was built named the Black Maria in Edison's laboratory grounds. This studio showed the Kinetoscope in 1983. There were people lined up outside the door to see the Kinetoscope display a short scene based on a blacksmith. The Black Maria was used in the future to show Edison and Dickson's films. Through his career, Edison had created over 1000 inventions.
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| Image from; http://film110.pbworks.com/w/page/12610254/Kinetoscope |
Brothers Auguste and Louis Lumiere are widely regarded as the first film makers in history. They were both sons to a famous artist Antoine Lumiere. Antoine, realised the money that was in photographic processing and decided to leave behind his successful art career to begin selling photographic equipment. Intrigued by this field of work, Louis had decided to join his father and experimented on the equipment he was selling. Whilst experimenting, Louis developed a new dry plate process for taking pictures at only 17. This brought in a lot more money to his father's new business. Antoine now a respected business man, was invited to see the Kinetiscope that Edison had created. He came back to Louis and told him to make his own so he could sell them for a cheaper price as Edison sold them for large amounts. With the help of his brother Auguste, they got to work on their new project in 1984.
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| Image from: http://www.focusfeatures.com/article/sibling_cinema__the_lumi__re_brothers_and_the_dawn_of_film |
The brothers were not only set on recreating Edison's device, they wanted to improve it. They found that there were two major problems with the Kinetoscope: first was it's size, it was too big and heavy which meant it was generally restricted to one place. Second was the fact only one person could view it at one time, they wanted people to enjoy it together, By combining a camera with a printer and a projector in 1895, they had created a Cinematographe. This was a much smaller device and a lot lighter. It worked by turning a crank on the side which ran the film. Another change they had made to their new invention was it ran at 16 frames per second rather than 48. This meant they didn't have to use as much film and also the clatter made from Edison's device was reduced to a minimum. A big breakthrough the brothers found when making the device was that a similar mechanism used on a sewing machine could be used to run the film. This is something that Edison did not believe could work.
 |
| Image from: http://pixgood.com/lumiere-cinematographe-1895.html |
Beginning of editing to what it is today
The first films made for Cinema were only short, they all used only one long shot. The reason for them being short was because they could only run for the length of the film in the camera. Due to them being short, the films made generally didn't have a story, instead it was just recordings of simple everyday things such as a train moving. This was not a problem however as it was a new thing so the fact that images were moving was enough to entertain a crowd.
Many people believe that editing first came into film in 1898 when British film maker Robert W. Paul made a film called 'Come Along Do!' This was the first film to use more than one shot. The first shot was a couple eating lunch outside an art exhibition then following some people inside, the second shot shows them inside the art exhibition and looking around it.
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| Image from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_film |
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| Image from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_editing |
Many of the best film makers at the time would experiment with the rolls of film to try and find a way of adding special effects. One of the greatest pioneers to do this was Georges Melies. He was one of the first to add special effects into his films. He would personally take the films and alter their appearance by doing things such as colouring them. He would colour them as in that time the cameras only filmed in black and white. This meant however that he would have to colour every single frame in of the film. This was the same circumstances for any other effects that needed to be added in.
 |
| Image from: http://www.olivefilms.com/2013/08/georges-melies-the-father-of-special-effects/ |
Now, almost all films are digitally edited. In 1985, a company called Quantel released the 'Harry'. This was the first completely digital editing and effects system. It could only apply affects to 80 seconds worth of video. Quantel were followed by other companies attempting to create similar devices such as Avid and Adobe. It wasn't until 1992 when the first feature film (Let's Kill All The Lawyers) was made using only digital editing. Before this all films digitally edited were only shorts. It wasn't until two years later when digital editing started to become recognised as the best way to edit films. Hundreds of films were now being edited digitally. In 1996, 'The English Patient' became the first digitally edited film to win an Oscar for best editing. Most films are digitally edited now as it is a lot easier than it use to be and it gives the user so many more possibilities. The most popular editing systems are Adobe Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro X and Sony Vegas Pro 11.
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| Image from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adobe_Premiere_Pro |
The most obvious reason why we use editing in films is so the viewer does not get bored. In the first films, editing was not necessary as the fact images were moving was enough to keep a whole audience entertained as it was new to them. Nowadays, films compete to edit their films better than the rest as everyone wants to see something new.
One of the most important things to note when editing is the pace of the film. The correct pace is needed to keep a viewer interested and it helps to determine what feel the film has to it. The editor must decide the correct time for each shot of the film. If they leave a shot on for too long then the viewer would get bored of seeing the shot and would start questioning what else is going on around the shot that they aren't seeing. If the shot is too quick then the viewer would not take in the detail that they have to see from the shot. This is why it is important to determine the style and pace of the film and then edit your shots around that. A slow pace film is generally made up of longer shots which last a few seconds. If a film is slow paced then it is usually not a tense film for example, a romance. Shorter shots generate a quicker pace which is usually good for action films. The film 'The Bourne Ultimatum' is a very fast paced film. This works for it as there are a lot of fighting scenes in which the quick shots are useful. In the gun fight scenes, the viewer would want to see every piece of action from every bullet fired to every man being shot therefore the quick shots are necessary to show everything.
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| Image from: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0440963/ |
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| Image from: http://neuroanthropology.net/2008/06/23/encephalon-48-the-usual-suspects/ |
Continuity is important in film as it is used to try and make a film as realistic as possible. If continuity is added in correctly then it should give the viewer a feel of what the film would be like if it was reality. In turn, by doing this it is easier for the audience to understand what is going on in the film and take into account the action that is happening. A technique of how to use continuity is to match on the action. This means that the camera must follow the action that is happening for example if someone is walking then the camera follows them. In the film 'The Wizard Of Oz' there is a character shown riding a bike. The camera follows her whilst she is riding and when she comes to turn a corner, there is a change of shot to show her riding from the front therefore allowing the viewer to see exactly what is happening at the time. If she simply rode her bike off screen then the viewer would not know what is happening.
Jump Cuts
Jump Cuts are two consecutive shots that are showing the same target but have different camera angles. The two different angles generally only change slightly. By adding in jump cuts, you are giving the impression of time passing. This is used so the viewer does not have to watch parts of the film where nothing is happening as they would get bored. By using jump cuts you can skip straight to the action so the viewer is always interested. An example is from the film 'Breathless' we see a female character sat in a car facing forward and then there is a jump cut to show her doing her makeup and looking away. Here the new cut has barely changed in camera angles as the camera is still looking at the same subject. It also skips out the time in which she would be looking out the front window and taking out her makeup. This is useful as this is unnecessary action that the viewer does not need to see as it is not important to the story.
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| Image from: http://blog.lib.umn.edu/shaff090/3201section4/2013/04/prompt-10-editing.html |
180 degree rule
The 180 degree rule is used to display the relationship between two characters or a character and an object. When using the 180 degree, you need to imagine a line going through the middle of the two characters. This line is also known as the axis. The camera must stay on one side of the axis otherwise you are not within 180 degrees of the subject. The characters must always stay in the center and it is the camera that moves within 180 degrees. This rule is almost always applied during dialogue between two characters.
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| Image From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/180-degree_rule#mediaviewer/File:180_degree_rule.svg |
This image shows how the 180 degree rule is applied. The green area shows where the camera can be placed to get a shot of the characters. The red area is where you can't place the camera as the characters would then change which side they appeared to be on.
Dissolves
Dissolves
Dissolves are also known to some people as Fade in and Fade out. It is a transition that is put between two images or shots. It is the opposite to a cut which does not use any transition. A dissolve overlaps the end of one shot and the beginning of the next. They are generally used between two scenes but are also commonly used in montages. It is handy to use a dissolve between two scenes as it helps to get the point across of time passing between the two scenes. In the film 'Raiders Of The Lost Ark', the editors very effectively used the dissolve transition. At the beginning we see the Paramount pictures logo which is a picture of a mountain, it then dissolves into a shot of an actual mountain which is the first scene of the film.
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| Image from: http://www.rogerebert.com/scanners/opening-shots-raiders-of-the-lost-ark |
Shot-reverse-shot
A shot-reverse-shot is a good way to show the 180 degree rule. It is used when two characters are conversing. The character who is talking will be shown looking off screen usually, the other character will be shown in the next shot looking back in the other direction. This gives the viewer the impression they are looking at each other while talking. A shot-reverse-shot is usually done with 3 cameras. There is a camera showing both the characters which is usually a mid shot or a wide shot. This is an establishing shot to show the situation in which the action is happening. There is then a camera facing over the shoulder of each character which shows the character opposite them for when they are talking. The cameras do not only show the characters speaking, they also show the other characters reactions to the conversation. It is important to know when to cut between dialogue and reactions as this gives the viewer a good feel as to what the atmosphere is like.
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| Image from: http://deansmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/evaluation-continued-examples.html |
Cutting to a sound track
When an editor cuts to a soundtrack, they are changing the pace of the film to the speed of the music. This means they change the length of the shots to fit with the beat. For example if the background music has a fast beat then there will be quick shots and lots of cuts. If there is a slow beat then the shots will last longer and less cuts will be needed. It is important to change the shots only when the beat changes rather than just changing them at random as then it would not fit with the soundtrack. Cutting to a soundtrack is most important when making a music video. If the music video does not fit with the song then people may not watch it and therefore the song won't get listened to. A good example of a music video that cuts to the song is 'Rudimental's-Feel The Love'
In this song the cuts start off fairly slow as their is a slow beat however they gradually get faster as there is a bass that kicks in part of the way through the song therefore meaning there is a faster beat.
In this song the cuts start off fairly slow as their is a slow beat however they gradually get faster as there is a bass that kicks in part of the way through the song therefore meaning there is a faster beat.
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