the art of editing #2 jan 24
DESCRIPTION
This week we look at some of the basic concepts that developed the language and grammar of film editing. We spend a bit of time talking about Sergei Eisenstein and his theories around editing, and some of the innovations and experiments that were happening in the early period of film history. The second half of the lecture we learn about technical aspects of Continuity Editing.TRANSCRIPT
THE ART OF EDITING
CONTINUITY EDITING
SHANNON WALSH / SM2002 / SPRING 2014
SCHOOL OF CREATIVE MEDIA, CITY UNIVERSITY HONG KONG
CLASS 2
BASIC TRANSITIONS
The basic 4 edits:
• Cut
• Dissolve
• Wipe
• Fade
THE KULESHOV EFFECTFilm is editing.
THEORY OF MONTAGE:SERGEI EISENSTEIN
Metric montage:
the length of the shots relative to one another.
Rhythmic montage:
continuity arising from the visual pattern within the shots.
Tonal montage:
the editing decisions made to establish the emotional character of a scene.
Over tonal montage:
the interplay of metric, rhythmic, and tonal montages
Intellectual montage:
the introduction of ideas into a highly charged and emotional sequence
The power of the cut, rhythm, juxtaposition, parallel action and montage.
“ODESSA STEPS” SEQUENCE
HISTORY OF EDITING II
REBELSINNOVATION & EXPERIMENTATION
EXPERIMENTS IN CINEMA:DZIGA VERTOV
“The Man with the Movie Camera” (1929)
• Vertov reminds viewers that cinema is not reality
• Special effects and fantasy
• Playful clash of reality and illusion
• Visual associations
• Many, if not all, editing techniques used
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1fxbcgptFA
EXPERIMENTS IN CINEMA:LUIS BUNUEL
“Un Chien Andalou” 17min,(1929)
• Destroys meaning, shock
• Surrealism, expressionism, psychoanalysis
• Visual discontinuity: continuity editing, but discontinuity in the story plot and character goal
http://youtu.be/_DZ1x-xBtUM
INNOVATIONS IN CINEMA:CHINA & JAPAN
Ruan Lingyu
1910- 1935
Yasujiro Ozu
& Kenji Mizoguchi
ACTION CONTINUITY:ASSIGNMENT #1
In the first assignment you will learn techniques of action continuity.
1. Match on action2. Shot/Reverse-shot3. 180 degree rule
ACTION CONTINUITY:MATCH ON ACTION
“Match on Action” is when you cut to a new camera angle at the same point in time without breaking the flow of the previous shot.
ACTION CONTINUITY:SHOT/REVERSE SHOT
“Two shots edited together that alternate the characters, typically in a conversation situation.”
ACTION CONTINUITY:SHOT/REVERSE SHOT
ACTION CONTINUITY:SHOT/REVERSE SHOT
Editor Thelma Shoonmaker on Raging Bull (1980): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6enMrxbpI-w
Dirty Harry (1971) “Do you feel lucky?” Unlike most shot reverse shots this isn’t over the shoulder. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Xjr2hnOHiM
EXAMPLESSHOT/REVERSE SHOT
ACTION CONTINUITY:180 DEGREE RULE
180 DEGREE RULE
ACTION CONTINUITY:
ACTION CONTINUITY:IMAGE SIZE FOR CUTTING
LONG TO MEDIUM SHOT
MEDIUM TO CLOSE-UP
1) Emotion 51%2) Story 23%3) Rhythm 10%4) Eye‐trace 7%5) Two‐dimensional plane of screen 5%6) Three‐dimensional space of action 4%
THE RULE OF 6: WALTER MURCH
For Murch, an ideal cut,
• Is true to the emotion of the moment; • Advances the story; • Is rhythmically interesting and “right”;• Acknowledges the “eye-trace”;• Respects “planarity”;• Respects the three-dimensions continuity
of the actual space.
But, he says, emotion “is the thing that you should try to preserve at all costs.”
Murch, W. In the blink of an eye: A perspective on film editing. Silman-James Press, 1995, pp. 17-20