Task 6 Non - Non-Continuity

This type of editing is used a lot in French New Wave films and non-narrative films of the 1960s used a carefree editing style and did not want to conform to the traditional editing etiquette of Hollywood films. A director would use this type of editing because of its self-reflexive nature which basically reminds the audience that they were watching a film. 

A good example of non-continuity editing is a jump cut used in the film 'A Bout de Souffle'. We can clearly see that this is non-continuity editing as we can see a jump cut used when "Seberg" picks up the mirror in the car. A jump cut is when there a few are frames in the video deliberately missed out of the film. This is used to draw attention to something new that is introduced on screen. It can also be used to startle the viewer.

In this scene of the film 'The Shining' the director Stanley Kubrick Breaks the 180 degree rule. The 180 degree line is not usually crossed in film as it confuses the audiences and makes them feel uneasy as it is not usual to do this. However, in scenes like this in the shining, it is used to confuse the audience and make them feel uneasy on purpose to create a feeling that something is not right. Another good example of a film using this is The Hunger Games.

Task 8 Transitions & Effects

Transitions & Effects
Transitions and Effects are important in a film in order to make the film interesting to the audience and make it stand out in comparison to other films. An important factor in this are transitions which is the movement from one shot to the next. A straight cut is the most common type of transition as it is invisible and this used because it helps retain reality. They do not break the viewers suspension of disbelief.
A dissolving transition is when one shot fades off the screen while another shot is fading in. This transition can be used when the film maker wants to make a connection between two characters, places or objects.

A fade is when the image on screen darkens or lightens until it becomes black or white. It will fade until only a black or white screen can be used. This can be used to indicate the end of a particular section of time within the narrative or can be used to show time passing.
Wipe transitions are when one image is pushed off the screen by another image. The image can be pushed left or right. However, it is more common for the image to be pushed off the left-hand side as this movement is more consistent with the sense of time moving forward. These can be used to indicate the movement between different locations that are experiencing the same time.

Another good effect is graphic match that is used famously in this scene of Psycho;

You can see the woman's eye dissolving into the shape of the plughole and this looks good as they are the same shape.
"Following the Action" is when there is movement, or in an action scene, the camera would follow the action that is taking place. This is clear in this extract from the film Mr & Mrs Smith;
Multiple Points of View is where the characters/actors are showing each side of a point of view. This is where one character will show what he/she is seeing and then it will change to the secondary character and do the same. For example, this is done in Iron Man;

Shot variation is when a shot is uninterrupted by editing and the shot distance changes. The shot can be either static or mobile but it must be a continuous motion. For example the shot begins as a long or wide shot and ends in close-up. For example in the Matrix;
Manipulation of Diegetic Time and Space is when a film uses effects to show an age or time change. Either a person, an object or even an environment is shown either getting younger or getting older. It can be something as simple as using a colour filter or the desaturation of an image to show a different point in time. There are many films which uses the technique but an example is The Time Machine. The time traveller enters the time machine and the environment changes as he travels through time. For example; The Time Machine;

Task 7 Creating Pace

Speed Of Editing
In a film each scene may last a matter of seconds, or it could continue for minutes but the length of each sequence establishes the pace of the film moving the action along. The speed of editing will help to determine the mood of what is taking place on screen. To make the audience feel anxious or to create suspense, the pace of the editing will be fast and the transitions between shots will be quick. for example, a fight scene in 'The Bourne Ultimatum' -

To create a relaxed mood or a scene that is not intended to be fast and exiting, a slower pace of editing is required. This will make each shot longer and the transitions will be longer. For example romantic comedies. However a film does not require editing as shown in the film 'Russian Ark'. This film was created in one take which requires split-second timing and organisation. A trailer for a film will require a fast pace of editing as you want to include a lot of things in the trailer. For example the Hunger Games trailer;
Scenes at the beginning of a film must be long enough for us to be able to understand what is going on and be able to develop the characters. As the film progresses the editing pace may pick up as the film may be telling two story-lines at the same time.
Cross cutting will be used to edit together two sequences that the audience need to know are connected in some way or something maybe be happening at the same time in different locations, or a character having a flashback/reliving a memory. Cross cutting can be used to effectively create drama in a scene, for example the death of Casey in the opening scene of scream is make more dramatic by cross cutting to her parents walking up to her house nearly in time to save her.

A cutaway may be used to reveal details to the audience without detracting from the narrative or the action.

Task 5 Continuity Editing

Continuity Editing

Continuity editing is a system of cutting to different shots in order to maintain the flow and feel of the video.
You will see this type of editing in nearly every type of film or programme because editors will choose to do this to make the video flow more and just to make it seem more professional. Some examples of techniques used in continuity editing are;

Match on Action
 This is a shot that cuts to another shot showing an action being being done by someone on screen. This creates the impression of a sense of continuity because it shows the action through a "visual bridge" which can make the video seem more interesting and draw the attention of the audience. If a film maker didn't use this technique, then the film would not flow and it would look jumpy.

Eye-Line Match
This like 'Match on Action' creates a "visual bridge" that contributes to flow of the video. Eye-Line Match refers to the path of the looking eye and is similar to shot reverse shot. It basically shows an actor or person on screen looking at an object or something then shows the object that is being focused on. If the film maker did not use this, then it would not be clear what the actor is focusing on or looking at and would overall be very confusing.

Shot, Reverse Shot
Shot, Reverse Shot is a continuity editing technique that shows one character looking at another character and then shows that other character looking back at them. A film maker would typically use this technique to portray a conversation between two characters to make it clear who is saying what to who. If they did not use this then a conversation in a film would be very hard to follow as you would not be able to follow who is saying what to who and would be very confusing.

180 Degrees Rule
This technique of editing again is typically used when a conversation is being portrayed on screen and if not used would make the conversation seem very weird. This basically means that when two people are having a conversation the camera should not be filming across an imaginary line and if does would confuse audiences.

AS2: Exercise Three: Continuity Editing



The first technique we used in our film was a POV (Point Of  View). I think that it was not very clear in our film that the shot was a POV shot and we could have included more things in the shot than just me looking down at my feet. We then used Match On Action we i go to open the door of the classroom. We can clearly see me going to open the door then a close up of my hand opening the door and i think we do this very well as the film flows and does not seem jumpy and seems to flow with the rest of the film. In the conversation between me, Jake and Charlie, we use both the; 180 Degree Rule and Shot, Reverse Shot in the conversation. I think we do this very well as the the film was not jumpy and seemed to flow. After that we Charlie says "Why cant you be more like them", then me and Jake look at Lauren and Gabrielle, at that point me and Jake both look at them and can see that we use Eye-Line Match to show this.

So overall i think that we could have used the POV better but all the other continuity techniques we done quite well on.

Task 4 Montages

French Montage
A French Montage is literally just editing a film. Even though the name of it says montage, it is not actually montage, it just contains editing.

Soviet Montage
A soviet montage was a method of juxtaposing shots to derive new meaning that did not exist in either shot alone.

Hollywood Montage
A Hollywood montage is a short segment in a film in which narrative information is presented in a condensed fashion. For example; Rocky Balboa



Lev Kuleshov
Lev Kuleshov argued that editing a film is like constructing a building. Brick-by-brick (shot-by-shot) the building (film) is erected. He did an experiment that proves this point. He took an old film clip of a head shot of a noted Russian actor and inter-cut the shot with different images. People praised the actors acting when in fact he did not change his facial expression throughout the whole experiment which proves this point.

Sergei Einsenstein
Sergei Eisentein was briefly a student of Kuleshov's, but the two parted ways because they had different ideas of montage. By contrasting unrelated shots Eisentein tried to provoke associations i the viewer, which were induced by shocks.




This montage is a Hollywood montage, this is because it contains all the key characteristics that make it one. The intention behind the montage was to show how a victim got revenge after a bully attack. I think that we were successful in portraying this as it is clear what he did in order to get revenge.

This montage is a soviet montage because it follows a lot of different characteristics of a soviet montage. The intention behind the montage was to show what would happen if you start to get involved with drugs. I think that we were successful in doing this as it clearly shows what happens if you do drugs.

Soviet Montage

A soviet montage is when there is a montage of video clips to emphasis a point that the whole film is trying to get across. In the case of our montage, we tried to get across the point of not taking drugs through. We convey this through drugee getting arrested for taking drugs.

AS1: Task 3: From Analogue to Digital Editing

Analogue editing is cutting the pieces of celluloid film. Traditionally films are made up of images printed on to acetate negatives. These are then "spliced" together to form a reel on film. These are then fed through a projector a constant speed of 24 frames a second which makes the pictures appear to be moving. This is known as analogue editing.

The First Moviola 

Before the use of widespread use of non-linear editing systems, the initial editing of all the films was done with a positive copy of the film negative called a film work print (cutting copy in UK) by physically cutting and pasting together pieces of film using a splicer and threading the film on a machine with a viewer such as a Moviola.

Video Editing 

Before digital technologies became available magnetic tapes were used to store information - these are known as video tapes. Most video editing has been superseded by digital editing which is faster and cheaper.

Digital Editing

Digital media is a form of electronic media where data are stored in digital (as opposed to analogue) form. Digital editing is the use of computers to order and manipulate this digital data.

Digital cinema use bits and bytes (strings of 1s and 0s) to record, transmit and reply images, instead of chemicals of film. The whole process is electronic so there is no printing or splicing involved.

Non-Linear Editing 

In digital video editing, non-linear editing is a method that allows you to access any frame in a digital video clip regardless of sequence in the clip. The freedom to access any frame and use a cut-and-paste method, similar to the ease of cutting and pasting text in a word processor and allows you to easily includes fades, transitions and other effects that cannot be achieved with linear editing.