Editing Analysis Post

Editing Techniques

What is editing? The history and development:

Editing is how audio and visual material is combined to create a production of TV shows, adverts or films. The original way of editing with the basic edit was with a ‘cut’ this is where editors used to physically cut with scissors the film in order to incorporate it how they wanted it to be shown and any film left over was disposed of. By combining shots into sequences it creates a storyline, not all media texts possess a narrative however editing aids to create this. There are two main video editing technologies, the first one is in-camera editing which requires you to shoot the footage in order of the sequences as it involves creating the videos without uploading the actual footage. The secondary video editing technology is linear and non-linear editing. Before the 1990’s linear editing was the only method of editing, it involves a tape-to-tape without the need for editing software, the finished videotape is called a master and this was the way of editing before the digital ages began. Non-linear editing is the digital age of editing, it is the process of uploading footage while being able to access individual shots/frames of the footage by selecting them on a computer ready to place into an editing engine like ‘Premiere Pro’. Transitions is a term for the joining together of two different pieces of footage, the most popular transition is a ‘cut’ that cuts from one piece of footage to another. A dissolve is transition frequently used to show a characters dreams and thoughts, also to go back or forward in times. A fade is another transition there are fade-in’s and fade-out’s these allow a change of time or a location also to define a beginning and an end and finally a wipe is another transition and this uses one piece of footage to ‘wipe’ another piece of footage off the screen.

Visual Analysis: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b051wtd4/eastenders-03022015 This is an EastEnders episode 03/02/2015 - description : 'Desperate to help her father but torn about what she should do, Tina looks to her family for support. Lauren makes a big decision but will she get the answer she is hoping for?'

At 00:39 this is where the 180 degree rule takes place during a conversation between two people, we see the female always on the left hand side of the screen and the male on the right side of the screen. This ensure a character is placed in a consistent area in the frame, it helps the audience to understand the layout of the scene, additionally reduces the continuity errors which decrease the authenticity. at 00:49 there is a type of motivated edit which is an eye line match, this scene includes a male character looking out of the frame and then it cuts so the audience can see what the character was looking at, and in this particular scene it was show in point-of-view (POV) however eye line matches do not always have to be in POV but usually are. A motivated edit is when a character is looking out of the frame in one shot and then it cuts and we see what they can see. It is effective because the audience can connect with the character by putting themselves in their shoes and seeing exactly what and how the character see’s and potentially feels as if they are in the scene. This is composed by the continuity system as the actor is always looking a certain way out of the frame if the actor was to change sides it would manipulate the footage and in-turn confuses the audience resulting in their loss of interest.

Examples to provide evidence of the eye line match and 180 degree rule.

 At 1:11 there is a shot reverse shot, which is also part of the continuity system. In a conversation between a female and male characters they are having this conversation over a dinner table and at this moment it converts from a medium shot to shot reverse shots which are over the shoulder shots to show one character talking in one direction and the other character talking in another, the 180 degree rule takes place here too. Shot reverse shot makes the audience feel more in touch with the conversation and also makes it seem realistic. At 12:18 there is a match-cut-on-action this is when an action begins in one shot and ends in another, in this scene the male character who is running stops for a drink, picks up the drink then it cuts to another shot and he drinks it, then it cuts back and he picks up another drink, then it cuts to another shot and he splashes the drink on his face. This form of a cut is effective because it brings the audience in the action with the characters and the audience begin to feel more engaged with what is happening in the scene. By using this type of cut it makes the scene seem to incorporate more cuts which creates an action feel and in this point in the scene the actor seems to be distressed and in action, the cuts just reinforce this feel. At 10:01 there is a conversation happening however there has been a close-up used, in the scene two characters are peeping through a window to watch a marathon this could suggest the reason why the close-up is used is because they are close up to the window which using this shot would engage the audience and make them feel that they are there with them, this is effective because it involves the audience into what’s happening and gives them a clear understanding of the feel of the scene.

example of shot reverse shot

Example of a shot reverse shot

Image 1 - match-cut-on-action

Image 2 - image 1 and 2 show a match-cut-on-action one action
happening in one type of shot and finishing in another
different type of shot.





Final written section and Conclusion:

The construction of time and space in my media extract is effective because it is a serial TV programme that has the genre of a drama which in theory should not be filled with continuous amounts of varied transitions because it should be more realistic and therefore have longer takes and consistent transition. In my media extract there are consistent cuts in between scenes, however when a conversation becomes heated the cuts tend to become more active to suggest warning and distress, this builds tension and manipulates the audiences view of the situation, also engages them because it creates excitement that something is going to happen.

In the scene that begins at 3:39 to 4:38 there are jump cuts, a jump cut is a transition between two shots it gives an effect of disorientation and also can create tension. How it is used in my media text is a conversation within a family of 3 people, even though they are all in the same room and close together there are many cuts included in the scene, this adds texture to the conversation. The conversation about one of the characters is getting ready for his race which is why I believe the jump cut was effective to build tension on that characters excitement, however also includes a disagreement with his children, the amount of jump cuts could be representing the two contrasting emotions of excitement an anger.

First jump cut in a heated conversation shows first reaction of one of the characters

Shot showing the whole situation building tension for the audience to see and develop an opinion on it. It shows the runner getting ready for his race which creates excitement, however jump cuts back to his children and the heated discussion. 

Another jump cut to how the children are reacting to their parents this shot suggest they are together because the father is out of shot and they are close together both in the same position as the father is standing. This gives an overview of the heated discussion to present to the audience. 

At 11:47 the narrative is restricting us by providing and withholding information, this is where the narrative only creates parts of the scene that it wants you to see. The restricted narrative does this to build tension and make the story line flow successfully. In my media extract this is scene during the marathon when two head to head characters stop for a drink and it keeps cutting from the characters drinking to the other marathon runners this suggests there is something coming up that the narrative wants us to see and that happens. This is effective because it creates the story in more depth and drops hints to the audience which keeps them wondering and therefore keeps them engaged with what’s happening in the scene. 

Character 1 stopping for a drink

Character 2 joins him at the drinks

Medium shot of the runners possible withholding information from the audience suggesting something is brewing and about to come up in the marathon that will effect character 1 and 2.

The shot of the revelation, character 3 overtaking character 1 and 2, this is how the narrative builds tension and provides information of what they want the audience to see and think a certain way about the characters. 

Even though the majority of the content in my media text consists of parallel editing/cross cutting at 10:48 to 14:45 is where this is most visible, there is a marathon happening and it begins at 10:48 then it cuts to several different scenes that are happening while the marathon is going on and then back at 14:45 it cuts back to the marathon nearly ending. This is effective because it gives a construction to the story line and generates a feeling for the audience towards characters and the scene, also makes it seem more realistic which engages the audience further. At 7:32 there is also montage editing, it cuts from the marathon begging to at 8:00 where an old man is now being taken to hospital by his daughter, this suggests montage editing because it is placing two pieces of footage next to each other in order to compare/contrast them to establish a relationship. This scene does this by having a marathon with healthy happy people and then it cuts to the juxtaposition of an older man who can’t walk very well and isn't very healthy. This creates an impact which increases the scenes authenticity by following different characters lives that are all happening at the same time, additionally engages the audience to think about why these two pieces of footage are next to each other and how it makes them feel. In the media extract I believe there are continuous cutaways because a cutaway involves cutting to a separate image in a continuous flow of action, increasing the authenticity of the media text and could be used more because cutaways are cleaner than jump-cuts. 

Here is the image of the ill man showing weakness and ill health.

Juxtapose to the marathon starting and showing strength and good health.

The Screen Time is different to analyse in my media extract from others as it is a soap drama and therefore does not have specific main characters as every actor gets equal screen time for their stories, however if there is a specific big event it will focus more on one particular group of characters more than others. For example in my media extract the big event is the marathon and some how each different character will connect to that big event in some way. Here are a few examples of different characters on at different times.

Example 1 

Example 2 

Example 3

Example 4

Example 5

The editing rhythm in my media text extract consists completely of cuts there are not any transitions which suggests that the reason there are so many cuts is to make it flow more and therefore be seen as more realistic, if transitions were included it would suggest events in the scenes where happening at different times instead of cutting to a different piece of footage which suggests events are happening at the same time. Also would be busier on the frame and suggest more action was occurring therefore making it less realistic. 

Cutting to sound track – (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YCGtT_FRYg) in this video it is edited to fit the soundtrack it has been given, at the start it begins with a calming part of the soundtrack which fits with the video because it is in slow motion of people walking. Then at 00:25 two of the people catch eyes in the video and the music begins to incorporate a beat and as a result it become higher paced, this manipulates the audience to think something is about to happen. Then more cuts start to happen which suggests action shots and suspense is building, the main male character then begins to run and the music picks up an even faster beat. At 1:33 it drops the beat and begins to become slow motion again still keeping an instrumental pace about it without the beat, and back to main man running again the beat comes back in for a while, while he is consistently running with many more cuts. Near the end an explosion on the man takes place and sends him shooting up to the sky and the beat drops again leaving the instrumental on however longer takes and barely any cuts. Overall when there is calming parts of the soundtrack there are fewer cuts and longer takes this is to increase the depth and emotion into this particular scene and connect the audience with a calming feel, whereas when the beat comes in there are many more cuts and rarely long takes, these cuts follow the action and build tension in the scene, making the audience feel like they have to keep their eyes on the screen in case they miss anything.

The calming music there are people walking in slow motion
backwards, reinforces this idea of peacefulness.

Here the beat has dropped and the footage begins to
move at a faster pace and the actors are now running backwards.
The music and the footage reinforces this aggressive/panicking feel

There is not much shot variation in my media extract and this is because I chose a TV drama, a TV drama will consist of mainly medium or close up shots, this is so it can seem more realistic and more relatable to the audience, it will be similar shots used throughout. In comparison to an action movie which will contain a variation of different shots to build tension and follow the action in a more flexible way. An example of an action film that uses a variation of shots and transitions is Wanted (2008) by Timur Bekmambetov, in the first scene of this film there is action, using bird’s eye view shots, dissolves, long shots, close ups all in one with very high speed. Using a variation of shots in action films is effective because it builds the tension and carries the audience to make them follow the action and become engaged, it can also disorientate while creating the storyline to be more fluid, using transitions to slow down or fasten time. Here is the link for the evidence - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lf3MqrE07I4&list=PL86E07BC3A4B44032