Unit 16 A03 ii

Unit 16 A03 i

Providing and witholding information

Providing and withholding information within a scene is when the editor doesn’t completely show a characters identity. Normally the main reason this is done is so that it gives the audience an opportunity to fill in the gaps of what this character may be like. People fear what they don’t know so overtime suspense and tension will build up in the viewers.

As an example of providing and withholding information I have used the fisherman from I know what you did last summer. The very first shot the director used was a medium close shot from behind the character, this shot is used as it does not show the characters face but it does show the characters hook. The reason the hook has been shown is to give the audience an inkling of what he might do with that hook.

The next shot shown is an Arial shot of the character walking; again the identity of the character is still hidden. The director has done this by dressing the character in very heavy clothing with a hood. The lighting in the shot is also very dark and gloomy which makes it harder for the audience to make out what the character looks like.

The final shot is a POV; this shows the predator closing in on the prey he is stalking. This shows a view of his prey but continues to hide his identity. It still creates a feeling of fear and terror in the audience.

Further on in the sequence there is a medium shot showing the fisherman stroll across the camera shot with someone hooked onto his hook. This shows the viewers that when there was an initial shot of his hook that he was actually planning to use it. It now keeps the viewers in suspense to what he might do next.

Cutting to soundtrack

When an editor cuts to a soundtrack it is almost like he is editing music as he would edit shots. A change in the music is made which stimulates a new visual idea. For example I have used run Lola run as an example, at 12:45 there is a beat in the music that signifies a change of scenery on screen. The shot cut from animation back to real footage.  It makes the audience feel as though they can follow what is happening on screen as the music helps the audience create a certain visual image in their head. One emphasises the other.

Another example of this happening in run Lola run presents itself at 16:51; Lola is running through the street, the editor has then cut the shot to someone’s reaction of her running and then them crashing their car. The soundtrack changes along with the change in shot. This helps the audience understand there has been a change in visuals on the screen.

Jump cutting

Jump Cutting

The idea of a jump – cut edit is to skip from one shot to another in an unsmooth motion, it shows a character from one angle and then from another unappealing angle.  In most cases jump cutting is not done deliberately and is actually an error in continuity from the editor. Some editors will deliberately put a jump cut edit in to challenge codes and conventions. Most jump cuts happen when the framing for a shot is not right so it may look like a continuity error. However, the framing just wasn’t set up to look like it is one shot into another. This is where the name jump cut comes from, as it looks more like the shot has just jumped forwards.

The video is  a clip from Taxi Driver it shows a prime example of a deliberate jump cut. The reason the editor has deliberately chosen to put this jump cut in is to show the fractured state of the characters mind, it shows the audience that the character is mentally unstable. The jump cut happens at 1:17

The pictures below shows an example of when a jump cut has occurred but was a mistake and turns into a continuity error.

Combining shots into sequences

This is the process of combining different footage together to create a clear linear storyline. For example there could be an establishing shot to a medium shot to a close up. A wide establishing shot establishes the background space and environment, it covers broad strokes of action. medium shots show body dynamics and close ups show facial reactions and for psychological conditions and states. combining the shots together it creates a sequence of shots which show continuity. When all of the shots are combined together you can tell if it is a good quality edit because you won’t be able to notice that anything has been edited. It will be as though the edit is invisible. Once you have finished editing all of the shots and footage together there will be a sequence of smooth flowing shots.

3:27 - long shot to establish  the scene  - flying across the space and hitting book shelf, this shows the force at which he is thrown and shows the speed he is thrown at, it establishes the energy that is happening in the shot.
3:28 - cuts to a medium shot- shows his body crumpling into the books, this shows the impact of his body and how many books are falling on top of him.
3:35 - it cuts to a close up - shows his concussion, you can tell this from the body language.

Development of drama

Producers of drama and film can choose between using cuts or more prolonged scenes to gain a reaction from the audience. Different shots and cuts are added in during the editing process to help the development of drama. The editor will put different cuts in depending on how he/she wants their audience to feel when they are watching a film. Western audiences tend to ‘need’ cuts to remain attentive to the text. Years of numbing from Hollywood has arguably established this need for cuts. In contrast non-western texts such as Iranian film do not rely upon editing to develop the drama. Rather they use prolonged static shots to make western audiences feel uncomfortable to ‘feel’ the drama. For example in the film Ten (Abbas Kiarostami ) the producers use longer scenes without cuts to make the western audience feel the oppression women are going through. The director does not believe that editing is required to develop the drama. In the case of most Hollywood and mainstream films narratives will have a combination of different scenes and a wide variety of cuts within those scenes to develop the drama. There are various reasons for this: the relatively young mainstream audience watching the film might become bored and unengaged if a wide variety of shots were not used; A list stars often expect a scene to lead to a close-up where they deliver their best performance; scenes in action films have a tendency to follow standard model, we start with big sequences with a lot of production value and we lead up to the intensity of action shots. An example of a film that has used a variety of different cuts would be CSI. This particular drama uses a range of shots and cuts; this is done to establish all the characters and the setting. If there were minimal cuts the audience would become uncomfortable with not being able to see all of the characters talking and engaging with other characters.

As you can see from this link there are a variety of cuts to establish all of the action happening and being able to follow it.

David Mamet an acclaimed theatre and film director in "On Directing Film" says that the way to develop a drama is through cuts, specifically through a "juxtaposition of images that are basically uninflected" images can be inflected or unrelated. Agreeing with the great soviet master of montage editing Sergei Eisenstein, he says that the best image is an uninflected image. He gives us the following example A shot of a teacup. A shot of a spoon. A shot of a fork and a shot of a door. Mamet advises us to let the cut tell the story because otherwise we do not have dramatic action we just have narration.

Splicing

Splicing

Splicing was a method of editing that originated in the early 1900’s. It was one of the more complicated and time consuming techniques of editing. The method itself was very simple. However, it was a very lengthy process compared to the forms of editing software we have available to us now. A splice film editor would take reels of film and cut the film up into scene sections, separating out the various coverage; he/she would then cut a desired section of film down to size, storing any unwanted parts, and splice it together the remaining film with splicing tape. When the form of splicing editing came around film editors would physically do this with scissors and tape, as time has gone by the technology has advanced and there are now splicing machines that can achieve the same outcome.

Storytelling,engaging the viewer,relationship to genre

Storytelling - drama

Once all of the footage is filmed it does not become a story until the editor edits everything together. When telling a simple storyline in a TV programme or a film there are 3 key shots that are frequently used. These shots enable us to understand the basic plot of a story. These three shots are establishing shot; an establishing shot is to establish what is happening around the character and what type of scenery the character is in. It gives the viewers a good idea of what type of story it could potentially be. From an establishing shot the editor will then cut into a medium shot of the character, the medium shot is used to get closer to the character and tell the audience more about the character. The third shot is a close up. When an editor cuts into a close up this is to show in detail what the character is feeling. For example, if we do a close up shot on someone’s face we can see more about what they are thinking. It gives the audience watching an idea of what might happen next.

Engaging the viewer - drama

When editing footage together there are lots of techniques that can be used to engage the audience watching. Some of these techniques consist of playing music before something is about to happen to build tension, playing music when something is happening, speeding up the cuts of shots and taking sound out completely. All three techniques give a different feel to the audience but are all to do with sound. Sometimes in media text the removal of sound is often as powerful as the inclusion of sound. The reason for this is because taking sound out completely often engages a viewer to watch closer to what the character is actually doing in the scene. It gives the audience watching an opportunity to understand how the character feels as there is no sound to tell the viewers what the mood of the scene is. When sound is played over a scene in most cases there will be an action shot taking place. Sound is played over and the cuts of shots are sped up to make everything seem quicker. When there are more shots and sound is playing over the top this engages a viewer and prevents them from getting bored. If sound gets played just before a scene is about to take place this builds a lot of tension in the audience watching which then engages the viewer. When an editor is editing a film together, they will use longer shot types when tension is trying to be built up in the scene. The reason longer shots are used is because when there are loads of shots it doesn’t give the viewer a chance to take in what is happening. Whereas, when there are longer shots there are often more silences and this gives the audience an opportunity to feel what the character is feeling.

Relationship to genre - drama

The conventions of drama are, a fight happening, something dramatic taking place and relationship issues. When filming these conventions different shot types are used to carry out these scenes in a proper way for the viewers to understand what is taking place. A shot type used when a fight happens is normally a long shot or a tracking shot. A long shot is to establish both characters and be able to see the action in full. A tracking shot is in case the action is moving the audience is able to follow the action. When there is a relationship scene taking place there are often over the shoulder shots used. The proximity of characters within dramas is essential in drama texts. This is why over the shoulder shots get used to establish that two characters are talking to one another.

Crosscutting and parallel editing

Crosscutting

Cross cutting is when a series of shots are combined together in order to build up tension with the action happening in the scenes. Most of the time the process of cross cutting will occur, either in action shots or when you are trying to bring two characters closer together. It is simply moving from one shot to another shot back and forth. For example, someone is making some food the shot then cuts to someone running home; it then keeps cutting back and forth to those two characters which create a clear and understandable story. Cross cutting shows two different things happening in two different areas of a scene. However, it has continuity and creates a story.

Creating pace

Creating Pace

When an editor puts together footage a lot of how the audience will respond is through the pace of the scenes. So it could be fast paced or slow paced. In most cases it will be a quick pace if it is an action film. The reason fast pace would be used on this occasion is because a lot of action is going to be happening in scenes at a time, the editor is going to have to carry out fast paced cuts in order to keep up with the activity on screen. whereas, if it is a drama and a romance scene is taking place then the cuts are going to much slower in order to give the audience time to respond and take in what the characters are feeling and the emotion on there face. As well as the different cutting techniques used sound is also a very important factor when deciding if you want a specific scene at quick or slow pace. for example in jaws the music gets quicker and quicker when something is about to happen this also heightens what the viewers are feeling as everything is happening quicker. If music being played is slow then the chances are it is a romantic scene or a problem has just been resolved. this makes the audience feel at ease with the situation. The link below is an example of a fast paced music scene in jaws.

As you can see as the music speeds up the characters on screen react to that and also speed up. This is an example of the difference music makes compared to no music.

The link below is an example of two main characters in a fast action scene.

Creating motivation and motivated editing

Creating Motivation

When editing and cutting together a film it is essential that there is a sense of motivation in both the storyline and within the characters in the scenes. If there is no motivation then the audience watching wont want to continue viewing what is happening. There are 3 different ways to create motivation within a film or TV programme. These 3 types are story motivation, physical motivation and character motivation. Story motivation is when an editor will put certain cuts in particular places to drive the storyline forward. It is crucial that these cuts are done at the right time so the audience get the proper emotion for that scene. If not the storyline might not flow properly. Physical motivation can be linked in a lot with sound and mise en scene. An example of physical motivation could be if the camera is focusing on a character on screen and there is then a loud bang then the camera could film what that bang was as the character looks over. This type of shot urges the audience to continue watching as they want to see what the final result is, they want to know what the character is looking at. character motivation focuses solely on the characters and getting to know the characters. The use of motivation can either be positive or negative depending on how the editor wants it to come across. The same applies for characters motivation, whether the editor/director wants the viewers to like dislike or be intrigued by a character. The idea of character motivation is how are the cuts going to build and develop your character which continues the storyline further. An example of physical motivation being used is shown in this clip below.

Transitions

A transition is the movement from one shot to another shot. The transition process can either be smooth or not this depends on how good the transition is. an editor is in charge of putting these transitions and cuts in and ensuring that the two shots go well together. Almost every transition that is put in is called a cut. A cut transition is simply when one shot switches to the next instantly. although that is the most frequently used transition when editing all of the footage together there are some others. Dissolved, fade and wipe are also possible transitions that an editor can chose to put in. most of those transitions are only used to create a certain type of affect on the audience watching. For example a dissolve transition may be used to signify a dream, flashback or something that has happened in the past. It helps the viewer understand that it is not a normal shot that is about to happen. A fade transition will normally fade from a shot into a colour. normally a fade transition will go out into the colour black. this type of shot is used at the end of films the camera will gradually fade out until the screen is black and credits come on.

Continutiy and seamless Editing

Matches on action should be "seamless" meaning that if for example we watch a person enter a room approach a seat and begin to sit down in a wide shot and cut to a medium  on the action of sitting. The match on action must be refined to the point where the movement of sitting becomes one fluid motion. Continuity editing happens during the editing process, when the editor begins to cut the film together they will do it into a smooth and clear storyline in one fluid action, this is continuity editing. Films with continuity editing have a clear and understandable storyline as it all happens in order from start to finish of the film. This makes it much easier for the person watching to be able to follow and understand what is happening, it gives structure to what is happening in the scenes. The purpose of continuity system is to allow space, time and action to continue in a smooth flow over shots. When continuity editing is used it makes it seem like no editing is being used it should be invisible and smooth. Seamlessly editing is when something happens seamlessly, so editing can be seamless. Establishing shot – creates a clear narrative space, establishes the scene and presents all the action. Camera coverage – The amount of footage shot and the different camera angles used to capture a scene. Master shot – This records the whole scene from start to finish, etc. me and Callie sit down and have a fight about the laptops. I get knocked out and Callie gets escorted out the room and medical people come to take me out, if a master shot was used everything that’s happening would be filmed nothing would be missed. In some cases a master shot establishes the scene.