Editing Terminology 

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Editing

Editing describes the connection between the shots/scenes and the transition between them. Typically the editing is continuous to create a consistent narrative to add to the suspension of disbelief so the plot can be followed however some editors may change up the editing style to suit the movie. Different things used in editing are the shot choices, continuity, transitions, duration of shot, pace/rhythm and special effects.

The clip from 'The Princess Bride' starts off with a very slow pace however as the two characters converse and one of them gets too excited with spilling his own knowledge the pace of the clip picks up. As the clip involves a conversation two shots, close ups and shot-reverse-shot are used. The shot duration is dependent on how much dialogue the character has and the transitions for the shots are all quick edits to keep with the style of a conversation and the pace of the movie. No special effects are used.  

Order of the shots shows character perspective and screen time which indicates to the audience which character is important in the scene or overall plot. The shots may also be of objects which highlights the importance of the certain object and their link to the movie.

The order of shots in this clip from the movie 'Carrie' is important as it is showing Carrie and what she is doing followed by the effect it has on the people at the Prom. This is important as it shows narrative details of Carrie's power and certain objects she chose to kill people like the hose pipe and the shot follows the pipe as it stops students from leaving the hall. The screen then splits into two, to make sure that Carrie has screen time as the focus is on her. 

Continuity is used to link scenes together to create a continuing smooth narrative and generate realism. Techniques used are 180 degree rule, shot reverse shot, eye line match and match on action. The shot types/angles, costumes/props, parallel editing and the lighting must be continuous to create the effect

Continuity is used to link the narrative and conversation in this clip. Shot reverse shot is used to portray the conversation with the sole focus being on the person who is speaking as the background is then blurred out. The shot types are mainly close ups on the face of the characters when they speak. The costumes fit into the military narrative whilst the props link to the court setting. The lighting used in the clip is continuous with natural lighting and lighting from the set.  

Non-continuity editing breaks the continuous flow in favour for a more constructed feeling to create opposing effects.

From the movie 'Memento' the clip shows 2 different types of scene. One black and white scene with no sound and a very relaxed character whilst the other shot is with colour, a voice over, action in terms of a chase and bullets and a very frantic character. 

Transitions are the process of going from one shot to the other. Some examples include straight edit, fade in, fade out, flash, cross dissolve/fade and wipe.

 Straight Edit

Cross Dissolve

Shot duration usually reflects on the certain scene, if it’s a long shot duration the pace might be slower and the narrative may be intimacy whilst a short shot duration is more for action and chase sequences. Slow paced shots are calmer to draw the audience’s attention to some detail, medium paced shots are normal to create a comfortable effect whilst fast paced shots are thrilling to create a tense and exciting effect.

Special effects can create better effects for the scene like black and white, contrast, colour, animation, CGI, fast forward, slow motion, ghost trail and blur.

Time is also important to editing as it can be manipulated to fit the narrative. Different types of Time are story time, discourse time, summary, ellipsis, scene, stretch, flashback and flash-forward.   

Narrative Draft

How the plot of the film we’ve planned fits into different narrative theories. 

Film Title

Film Title Planning

As a group we each offered a couple of ideas for the film title. Afterwards we went through them and underlined the ones we felt were the best and most suited to the premise of the film. After we picked up 5 of the best titles we each asked other people in our target audience which one they preferred and tallied all the marks together. The title that got the most marks was ‘The WRITE of PASSAGE’ which links to the plot of young adult female going through a transition in her life and the aspect that she writes everything she does in a diary which is why it’s ‘WRITE’ not ‘RITE’.