Preliminary exercise: Editing in Film

6 visual editing techniques

1. Eyeline: when an editor cuts to the object of a character's attention.

-second shot tends to be a pov shot.

-suspense can be built from audience waiting for reveal of what the character sees or by showing nothing.

-character's eyes motivate cut

2. Cross-cutting: when an editor cuts between two or more scenes happening in different locations.

-scenes tend to be happening at the same time.

-can be used to combine multi-layered action.

-can create parallels between separate scenes

3. Eye Trace: When an editor cuts between two or more shots that focus on the same area of the frame.

-allows audience to stay focused without scanning frame after each cut.

-can be used through blocking and camera movement.

-ideal for action scenes which move quickly.

4. Split edits: changes either the sound or image before the other.

-J cut is when audio from a shot begins to play before audience sees it

-L cut is when audio continues to play from previous shot after already cutting.

-often used during dialogue scenes.

5. Intellectual Montage: puts unrelated images together in order to evoke a specific idea or emotion.

-makes use of the Kuleshov effect (creating meaning out of a cinematic juxtaposition.)

-separate scenes combine to create a single idea.

6. Cut on Action: cutting during a character or object's movement.

-can be used to create smoother transitions that feel more natural to the audience.

-often found in fight scenes, cut on impact

2 sound editing techniques

1. Foley: The recreation or creation of sounds unavailable to execute on set.
-Footsteps, the breaking of glass, or even sounds that don’t exist in real life.
-Foley studios have viewing screens, props, and recording equipment for artists to capture sound as view each scene.

2. ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement): re-recording of dialogue.
-sometimes sound isn't captured correctly and must be re-recorded for quality.
-voice overs might need to be added in.

Defining these different editing techniques has given me more ideas on my film and I feel like I will be able to add versatility in sound and visual techniques. Some editing techniques seem necessary for most films like ADR and cross-cutting. I want to try and challenge myself in making transitions in my movie that seem real to the audience.