Editing

Continuity editing

A system of cutting used to maintain continuous and clear narrative action by following a set of rules. It's meant to be unnoticeable and smooth. For continuity editing to work smoothly, it has to follow the 180 degree rule- which means the camera can only film on one side of the action. This rule can be broken, but mostly in films of the horror genre to help the audience feel more uncomfortable. Another rule that needs to be followed is when you join shots together using shot reverse shot, you need to be careful about eyeline match. 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, as in Shots 3 and 4. To get this right, you should put both camera positions at a similar distance from the ‘axis’. You should also frame the shots with looking space or nose room (more space in the direction they are looking). If one character is higher than another, the taller character should be looking down and the smaller character should be looking up.

Parallel editing 

Parallel editing (or cross cutting) is the technique of alternating two or more scenes that often happen simultaneously but in different locations. If the scenes are simultaneous, they occasionally culminate in a single place, where the relevant parties confront each other. It's a type of continuity editing. 



Match-cut (or graphic cut)

Technical term for when a director cuts from one scene to a totally different one, but has objects in the two scenes "matched," so that they occupy the same place in the shot's frame. The director thus makes a discursive alignment between objects that may not have any connection on the level of story. Match cuts offer directors with one way to create visual metaphors in film since the match cut can suggest a relation between two disparate objects. The match cut, however, is designed to completely hide the transition from the audience.

 

 

Shot reverse shot

Film technique used to show two characters looking at one another. It is, in effect a double eyeline match. In a given shot-reverse shot sequence of two characters having a conversation, the first shot is a character looking offscreen. The second shot would be a shot taken from the reverse angle (hence the name reverse shot) of the second character, the object of the first character's gaze, looking back at the first character. A shot-reverse shot sequence will cut between the two shots and is usually bookended by an establishing shot.The shot-reverse shot is a form of continuity editing, and my first example for continuity editing uses this technique.

Slow/fast motion

 The technique of slowing down or speeding up a scene.

Fade

A video fade is when a shot gradually fades to (or from) a single colour, usually black or white. A fade is different to a crossfade, which is a transition directly between two shots rather than one shot to a colour.
Fading to/from black usually signals the beginning and end of a scene. The timing of the fades indicates the importance of the change in time and/or location between scenes — a slower fade with more time spent on black indicates a more significant end/beginning. A fairly quick fade to and from black could indicate a time lapse of a few minutes or hours, whereas a long drawn-out fade indicates a much bigger change.

CGI

Computer-generated imagery. This can range from a green screen to an animated beast. CGI is used for visual effects because the quality is often higher and effects are more controllable than other more physically based processes, such as constructing miniatures for effects shots or hiring extras for crowd scenes, and because it allows the creation of images that would not be feasible using any other technology. It's used mainly in science fiction films, but as CGI quality becomes more realistic, a lot of movies are relying on it a it.

Sound bridge

A sound bridge is a type of sound editing that occurs when sound carries over a visual transition in a film. This type of editing provides a common transition in the continuity editing style because of the way in which it connects the mood, as suggested by the music, throughout multiple scenes. For example, music might continue through a scene change or throughout and montage sequence to tie the scenes together in a creative and thematic way. Another form of a sound bridge can help lead in or out of a scene, such as when dialogue or music occurs before or after the speaking character is scene by the audience.

Long take

In filmmaking, a long take is a shot lasting much longer than the conventional editing pace either of the film itself or of films in general. Significant camera movement and elaborate blocking are often elements in long takes, but not necessarily so. The term "long take" should not be confused with the term "long shot", which refers to the distance between the camera and its subject and not to the temporal length of the shot itself. The length of a long take was originally limited to how much film a motion picture camera could hold, but the advent of digital video has considerably lengthened the maximum potential length of a take.

Iris in/out

Most commonly recognised as a technique used in Bond films, this edit is a type of wipe shape that can be circular through the use of the camera's iris. By closing the iris, a blurry circle sweeps inwards to the middle of the frame, drawing attention to the subject occupying this centre space.

Match on action

Match on action is a technique of filming used in many sorts of films. It consists of connecting 2 shots together in which a character finishes off an action in the second shot that was started in the first one, for example a clip of a character walking through a door in which he opens the door being filmed from behind then the clip cuts to him walking through from the other one.

 

Jump cut

A jump cut is a cut in film editing in which two sequential shots of the same subject are taken from camera positions that vary only slightly. This type of edit gives the effect of jumping forwards in time. It is a manipulation of temporal space using the duration of a single shot, and fracturing the duration to move the audience ahead. Jump cuts, in contrast to continuity editing, draw attention to the constructed nature of the film.