Assignment 2 – Editing Techniques and Transitions

(Continuity and Alternative)

In the following presentation, I am looking at the different techniques

and transitions that have been used by filmmakers over the years, and
how they have been updated as technology has evolved, in the area of
film editing. I will be using my presentation to cover the areas of
Continuity Editing and then move onto Alternative Editing and discuss
their uses within the filmmaker’s art.

Continuity Editing

Continuity editing is the process in film and media where the

filmmaker is combining more-or-less related shots into a sequence so
as to direct the viewer’s attention to a pre-existing consistency of story
across both time and physical location.

A list of continuity editing techniques includes;

1. Match on Action
2. Shot reverse shot
3. Eyeline match
4. 180 degree rule
5. 30 degree rule
6. Dissolves
7. Fade ins and fade outs
8. Wipes (eg. Star Wars movies)
9. Match cuts
Most of these techniques are shown in movie making applications like
iMovie and Adobe Premiere Pro. You might have used some of these
tools before when starting to make your home movies.

Starting off with Match on Action, this is where the editor cuts from
one scene of a movie to another, and the shots match and look natural.
This technique is important, because you want the illusion to be natural
and not jerky and unnatural. It gives a flow to the character’s
movements. A few good examples of this filming technique is the lobby
scene in The Matrix, and the sword training fight in Kill Bill Vol. 1.
Next is shot reverse shot, which is the classic style of editing between
two people or object. The movie Spider-Man shows us a scene where
Willem Dafoe’s character, Norman Osborn, is being haunted by his
reflection who turns out to be the Green Goblin.

Eyeline Match is another example of continuity editing, and this means

that the gaze of the character in one shot has to line up with the person
or thing they’re looking at in the next shot. Take for example ‘Back to
the Future’, where Marty McFly is looking at the back of Doctor
Brown’s truck and yet reveals the time machine coming out back, and
the time machine is the object the audience was focusing on.

The next technique in continuity editing is the dissolves. This technique

is most often used when: 1. There’s a change in time. 2. A change in
location. 3. When time needs to be slowed down or sped up. 4. When
there is an emotional component to the subject in the story. 5. When
there’s a strong visual relationship between the outgoing and the
ingoing images. For example, in Alfred Hitchcock’s movie Psycho,
when we reach the end of the movie, we go from the evil smile of the
evil character in his prison cell to a different location where someone
is towing the missing car out of the muddy river. And the dissolve
technique was used in a change of location.

Next, there are fade ins and fade outs. But what is the purpose of a fade
in and a fade out? These are often used to symbolise the end of a
beginning of a story, scene or chapter in a film, TV show or video. They
help the audience see that one story has ended and a new one is
beginning.

Similarly to fade ins and fade outs, wipes are usually used to suggest
the beginning of a new part or chapter of a film, TV show or video.
You might recognise this technique as it was used in the Star Wars
movies and TV shows, like for example in Episode 4, we go from Han
Solo walking out to a wipe when the tie fighters are heading back to the
imperial star destroyer lead by Darth Vader.
Next, there are match cuts. A match cut helps match two elements of
different shots together showing a relationship between them. For
example, in a scene from the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, we see an
ape beating up another ape, set in the early man age, using a bone as a
weapon, and when the ape throws it up into the air, it transforms into a
spacecraft, set in the future. The match of the shot shows how man
using early tools will eventually go into space to explore the future. On
the other side, the bone can be used as a weapon to kill, and this also
shows the violent side of the future where mankind may destroy each
other.

And in a scene from Lawrence of Arabia, we see Lawrence lighting a

match and letting it burn into his finger. From this, the match cut goes
to the burning heat of the sun in the desert. The meaning of the match
cut is that although the match burning his finger is very painful, he
doesn’t mind that it hurts. This is also true of the burning sun of the
desert, and how he manages to survive in it.

There are two rules regarding angles when making a film focusing on
the characters. The first rule is 180 degree which is a cinematography
guideline that states that any two characters in a scene should maintain
the same left/right relationship to one another and not cross over the
180 degree angle when filming together. If they didn’t, the scene would
look unnatural, and they would also lose the eye level contact.

The second is the 30 degree rule which is a basic film editing guideline
that states the camera should move at least 30 degrees between shots of
the same subject occurring in succession. This movement avoids any
jump cuts that would be made if you move the camera at lesser angles.

In my interrogation scene, I used the 180 degree rule that showed

Thomas and myself naturally lined up in 180 degrees for all the shots
that were taken from that scene.

Next time, we’ll learn about the techniques and transitions in

alternative editing.
Alternative Editing

Alternative Editing is a different style of editing than continuity

editing. This style of editing was often not concerned with making sure
the view is seeing a believable space in front of them. However, they
can still manipulate the audience as the viewers have suspended their
belief.

A list of alternative editing techniques includes;

1. Montage
2. New Wave Editing
3. Superimposition
4. Split Screen
5. Temporal Effects (slo-mo or speed up)
6. Freeze Frames
7. Limited/No Cutting
8. Visual Effects

Starting off with Montage, this is the type of editing technique where
seemingly unconnected shots are spliced together to produce a further,
often symbolic, meaning. For example, when you watch movies like
PIXAR’s Up, we see Carl and Ellie living the happy life together with
all the highs and lows of their life until the death of Ellie, which is
shown in the following montage.

Sometimes, a montage can be a range of short little clips of something

happening really quickly and is accompanied by a sound effect, in
which they condense space, time and information relating to the subject
characters. These are shown in movies like Hot Fuzz and Snatch.

Next, there’s the style of New Wave editing, and the purpose of New
Wave is where the rules of continuity editing are deliberately broken to
create ‘visible’ editing. For example, in the French movie Breathless,
we see the camera focusing on the female character talking to the male
character in the car, and the purpose of the clip is that it wasn’t smooth,
but there was a series of jump cuts, which shows the audience that the
characters are talking to each other whilst travelling around the French
city. We don’t normally use jump cuts in editing as most filmmakers
stick to the 30 degree rule.

In the Superimposition technique, they work like dissolves showing us

two images at once (often one layered on top of another). Again similar
to a dissolve, they suggest a connection between the two images. Like
in the opening credits for HBO’s True Detective, they suggest
characters in an industrial setting with a religious theme of many
crosses, and some disturbing sexual relationships with a fiery feel
showing different types of flames.

Using the split screen technique, it has many uses. It can be used
alongside montage to show us two scenes happening at the same time,
it can allow us to watch two events unfold, it can show two different
versions of the events or simply show us different angles of action
occurring. For example, in the movie Snatch, we see Doug and Avi
talking to each other on the phone, but they live in different parts of the
world. We see a split-screen of two scenes where these two characters
are talking at the same time, and that it creates a bridge between them.
The purpose connects the two characters.

With temporal effects, you can speed the video up or slow it down for
different elements. In the Matrix, slow motion is used to build tension
and create dramatic effect such as the bullet dodging effect. This effect
has been used in many action movies like Watchmen.

Film can also be sped up and this is used for a comedic effect which
started with Charlie Chaplin and has been used by many comedians up
to present day. An example of this is shown in a film called The
Handyman by Benny Hill and has been copied by many film comedians
in future movies.

When a film uses a mixture of slow motion and sped up footage, it is

called ramping. For example, in the movie 300, we see Sparta soldiers
fighting the Persian invaders, and the director sped up the soldiers’
movements and slowed down the movement of stabbing the enemy
falling off cliffs and killing each other. The ramping effect is a
technique used to create dramatic tension and the blood and guts of war
shown in each tiny detail.

Freeze frames force the audience to look at one particular shot, they
can freeze action at critical times, and they’re also used for narration
purposes, which refers either to the past or present events. Director
Martin Scorsese makes use of freeze frame with added narration in
films like The Wolf of Wall Street and Goodfellas. In a scene from
Goodfellas, the young criminal talks about how crime gives him respect
in his neighbourhood, and in The Wolf of Wall Street, Jordan Belfort
was talking about his company and how much money he makes. And
the ending scene in The Breakfast Club, the narrative precedes before
the freeze frame.

The limited or no cutting technique is where the director places the

camera in a static position focused on the characters doing dialogue.
The audience can see that there is no movement on the camera, and it
can give an uncomfortable and claustrophobic element to the scene. For
example, in Steve McQueen’s Irish movie Hunger, the scene with
Bobby Sands and the priest goes on for about 20 minutes, making the
viewer feel uncomfortable, but also forces them to watch the scene
unfolding, and give extra emphasis to what the characters are saying as
there is little movement between them and constant dialogue.

I wish I could play you the rest of the video, but it does make you feel
uncomfortable watching it minute after minute.

Finally, there’s visual effects, and these were made to be as part of a

movie, but not special effects, and they’re often used to create a certain
style or highlight key information to the audience often in a comedy
style, like in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. The explanation of visual
effects involves live action footage being integrated with digital effects.
(show footage of Scott Pilgrim)
I hope you enjoyed my presentations on the different types of editing
techniques and transitions, and I’m hoping to use some of them in my
YouTube videos. That’s a wrap…