Lauren Rushton. Unit 16 Film and Video Editing Techniques: Task one.

Unit 16 Task One: Development of Editing.

Editing has come a long way beginning in the 1920s, the technologies of editing has developed with
time with some devices being more effective than others, but for their time was still ahead of other
technologies. All devices still being used throughout time, and some still being used now in modern
day by famous directors. In order to record the information to create the footage to be edited, the
camera converts the light into electrical signals which is recorded onto a magnetic tape.
Before devices were released that allowed editing to become easier, film editors worked
with raw footage by selecting shots and combining them into sequences to create a final motion
picture production. Editors work creatively and complete the puzzle by joining the story with the
use of photos, dialogue, and music to re-imagine the production to create a final production. Before
technology was created for editors, they had to manually cut and splice film, getting rid of the
frames of film that wasnt necessary for them to use. Although this method was time-consuming, it
was effective and allowed each frame to show clear information to the audience.
During the 1920s, technology began being made in order for editing to become easier for
film editors to use and for the film to end up as well-created as when the old method of cutting and
splicing was used and being done over half the time than what is was like when it was created
manually. For the first time, technology was produced and was introduced as being invented before
its time. The timeline begins with the first device of editing that was introduced, the Moviola.

Moviola (1924):
The Moviola was seen as being a device for Linear Editing. This was
released in 1924 by the pioneer Iwan Surrier and this was a device that
allowed you to view the film while you were editing for the first time.
It was released in Hollywood where the large studios were located.
This was the first device that was used an allowed the editing of
motion pictures, and many studios quickly snapped one of them up
when it was released, these include:
Universal Studios
Warner Brothers
Charles Chaplin Studios
Buster Keaton Productions
Mary Pickford
Mack Sennett
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
The Moviola was originally supposed to be developed to be a home
cinema projector, although an editor that worked for Douglas Fairbank
offered the idea of it being equipment that could be used for editors to allow easy process editing to
footage to create a well-executed production, and as a result it was a
piece of editing equipment and Douglas Fairbank was the first to buy
one of the devices when it was released. This device allowed the study
of individual shots in their cutting rooms, it focused on where the best
point for cutting was when editing. Although this was the most
effective device that was used around its time, more advanced technology was being released and
different editors ran to the next craze of technology that was being created. This with the exception
Lauren Rushton. Unit 16 Film and Video Editing Techniques: Task one.

of a few, this includes director Steven Spielburg who still continued using this device as he thought it
was effective, it was still used to edit with years after other devices were released.
Steenbeck Flatbed (1930s):
The Steenbeck Flatbed is seen as a form of Linear Editing. This method was released during the
1930s and it allowed editors to load picture and audio rolls onto separate motorised plates, the
plates moved forward, backward and separately or if not they were in motion together to maintain
synchronisation between the picture and the sound. There were two most common flatbeds, these
were both created in Germany during the 1930s, and
these were:
Steenbeck Flatbed
K-E-M (Keller-Elecktro-Mechanik
Both of these types of flatbeds were the most
common and really the only ones that editors used.
The mechanism works through a prism that reflects
the film image onto a screen to view, when a magnetic
playback head reads the magnetic audio track. There
was two most common plates that were used, these include the six plate and the eight plate, the
different between them both is that the six-plate where one picture is a transport and there are
two audio transport and the eight-plate being where there are two pictures transport and two
audio transport. With the device the requirements is that the picture is recorded on film and then
the audio is recorded separately and the audio is transferred onto a magnetic track called a mag.
The magnetic film is usually edge-coded: sequential numbers are stamped on the edge of every few
frames to facilitate locating frames or scenes when editing.
CMX600 Non-Linear Editor (1971):
This device was the first device that introduced non-
linear editing which was created by CMX Systems in
1971. The equipment was known as RAVE by the
company that produced it, it represented:
Random
Access
Video
Editor
The way of editing with this equipment was using the
right monitor which played the preview video, and was
used by the editor to make cuts and edit by using the
light pen to select and edit features on the film and the
left monitor was used to display the edited film. The
problem with this method was that it recorded and
played back in analogue on a specific modified disk, that
were commonly used to store data on mainframe
computers at the time, but they were the size of
washing machines.
Lauren Rushton. Unit 16 Film and Video Editing Techniques: Task one.

The audio that was recorded was captured digitally using pulse-code modulation which is a
system where it digitally represents sampled analogue signals. The audio that was captured was
poor due to the jitter occurring from the signal coming from the playback of disk packs. The quality
of film was not great because of it being recorded in black and white but the main purpose of this
device was to allow off-line editing. When editing, it was controlled by two equipment racks of
support equipment, the first rack contained the electronics for the system including a Digital PDP-11
minicomputer with 32 kilobytes of RAM. The second rack contained all the audio and video
electronics, and the Skip-Field Recorder (black and white recording), which took editing from a VTR
and then recorded one or more disk pack drives that was interfaced to the CMX600. Each disk pack
in terms of format video, recorded up to 5.4 minutes of NTSC video or 4.5 of PAL video.
Digital Editing Software (1987 Onwards):
Digital Editing Software was introduced in the late 1980s, digital editing software was introduced on
computers. In 1987, Avid was released onto the computer which allowed a non-linear editing system
to take place. This method of editing was
where any footage could be editing using any
device with a camera. It introduced colour
editing and audio combined where it is clear
and no jittering existed. This method allowed
the RAM to excel so therefore all editors
decided to use this easy, less-time consuming
method to edit production footage. It allowed
editors to relocate lost clips and using them in
their online-editing by re-pasting them back
into the programme. A lot of the programmes
such as the earliest being Avid, offered high
definition import so therefore the quality
becomes almost perfect.
In order to use this programme, all
that is needed is footage recorded on any
device and is then connected to the computer
and opening the selected programme and
importing the chosen footage into it. They offer simple
transitions and editing techniques that is needed in order to
edit footage. This is the most effective version of editing
that is known and will no doubt continue to be the most
popular. They progressive programmes release, begin from
here:
Avid (1987)
Adobe Premiere (1991)
Media 100 (1993)
DV Codec and IEEE-1394 (FireWire 400) (1995)
Final Cut Pro (1999)


Lauren Rushton. Unit 16 Film and Video Editing Techniques: Task one.

Linear/Non-Linear Editing:
Linear and Non-Linear editing is the process dependent upon which way chronologically you decide
to edit footage. When editing, some devices of technology only allow you to do a certain type of
editing whether it be linear or non-
linear.
Linear Editing:
Linear editing is where you select,
arrange and modify images and sound
in chronological order, regardless of
what footage is recorded on, the
content must be accessed in
chronological order. Video Editing
Software has replaced the idea of
Linear Editing. When this type of
editing was first introduced it was used with ferrofluid (film) and it was cut with a razor blade or a
guillotine and splicing it with other ferrofluid, a method that was similar to manual film editing.
When this method was used, the two piece of tape to be joined was painted with a solution of fine
iron filings combined with carbon tetrachloride, a toxic and carcinogenic compound. Devices of this
type of editing are typically:
Moviola
Flatbed Editor
Non-Linear Editing:
Non-Linear editing is where the material that you are editing, does not have to be edited in
chronological order. It can be careful examined in whatever way that you wish for it to be. It is the
most common type of editing that is used and it was introduced to begin with when Digital Software
Editing was brought in. It has been the most popular source of editing to be used since it was first
introduced and has maintained the
most popular ever since. Non-Linear
Editing has always been produced
through Digital Software Editing as it
was not possible to be able to do it
anywhere else without losing the
majority of the footage that was
created. Programmes such as
Avid
FinalCut
Premier
CMX600
allows this type of editing to exist in a
manageable process.

Lauren Rushton. Unit 16 Film and Video Editing Techniques: Task one.


Offline/Online Editing:
Offline and Online Editing is the initial before and after, you could say testing the water for the
permanent edit that is going to be used for the final edit of the production. Systems such as:
Moviola
Flatbed
CMX600
were used in order to trial
offline and online editing,
although when Digital Editing
Software surfaced, this method
was almost non-existent.
Offline Editing:
Offline Editing occurs before
the online editing process
begins, this is always the last
stages of completing the
production. This is where the
raw footage is copied and edited without affecting the original footage, it can be seen as the
planning stage of the final (online) editing, once this process has been done the editor will make final
decisions and begin the online editing process.
Online Editing:
The term online comes from where pictures are re-assembled at full or online resolution. Online
Editing is where the final edit begins for the production footage, online editing has now been
replaced with digital editing software that operate on non-linear editing systems (NLE), some
production companies still use NLE offline - online editing workflow. Video quality on Avids media
composer in 1989 was in cable of producing visible quality images due to computer processing
limitations. An EDL (Edit Decision List) is used to carry over the cuts and dissolves during the offline
edit.
To conclude, I have displayed the technologies and approaches towards the development of
editing within the industry including the dates that they were released and using examples to
support my knowledge and research. I have developed the idea of technology moving forward and
explained the impact that it has on the industry and how people believed that the devices were seen
as before their time. I have also displayed my in depth secondary research that I have carried out in
order to explain and critically assess the impact that these developments have had on the industry
and to find the devices themselves and have included a full references in my research piece and on
the task itself.

Bibliography:
Moviola: (including images used)
Lauren Rushton. Unit 16 Film and Video Editing Techniques: Task one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moviola
Film Editing Techniques:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_editing#Editing_techniques
Flatbed:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatbed_editor
Flatbed image:
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-
vEfLl6DZg9g/T3B3R6nl9mI/AAAAAAAAAlU/831T8a4xhik/s1600/Steenbeck.jpeg
CMX600 image 1:
http://www.studiodaily.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/cmx600.jpg
Digital Editing Software:
http://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/fun-facts-and-dates-in-digital-editing-firsts/
Avid image:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/pbblogassets/uploads/2011/12/Avid1-c.png
Final Cut Pro logo:
http://applefinalcutpro.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/final-cut-pro-x-logo.png
Linear Editing image:
http://www.csudh.edu/televisionarts/images/BetaSPLinearTape.jpg
Non-Linear Editing image:
http://i1.creativecow.net/u/1027/0_20120413_edius-6.5_main-shot.1920x1080.jpg
Offline/Online editing image:
http://flylib.com/books/2/193/1/html/2/images/005fig01.jpg