Film Editing Read online

  PREFACE

  Editing is like flying; it’s hard to say how it’s done even when you’re doing it or watching it on the screen. We fly in our dreams or see others fly in the movies and perhaps can state the mechanics of flight, but we struggle or become poetic when attempting to describe the feeling and effect of actually flying.

  This book aspires to show the types of cuts that editors make and at the same time to describe what effervesces from those cuts — the marvelous, mysterious magic that continues to beguile audiences. If you are a moviegoer and always wanted to be able to spot a subliminal cut in a movie, detect a bad cut or greenscreen effect, or appreciate how an action scene’s fast pacing is created, you will learn to recognize these cuts, effects, and scenes and many more. If you’re a filmmaker — professional, student, or doing your own thing for YouTube, family, or friends — this book should inspire you to use and experiment with cuts you haven’t previously tried and help you better understand those you have made.

  For me, writing the book has deepened my knowledge, appreciation, and enjoyment of movies and of how editing makes its own magical reality from the filmed creations of the writer, director, cinematographer, and actor. To everyone who reads this book, I wish you the same experience: enjoy your flight!

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Writing a book is like making a movie: impossible to do by yourself. I am supremely thankful to:

  Mimosa Andre, Brennan Jackson, Katie McCord, and Sarah McCord for pointing the way to what gen YouTube is watching. Jay Scherberth, Glenn Farr, and Jan Ambler for astute editorial input. All the editors, directors, and filmmakers whose work fills the frames of this book.

  David Couper and George Rowbottom for insightful reading. Larry Gross for lending DVDs of movies I would never have otherwise seen or included.

  Marcy Rothenberg, Ilene Haber, and Mike Cuffe for the time.

  Gina Mansfield for being a joyful partner and expertly laying out the book.

  Ken Lee for imperturbably handling the myriad of large and small logistics as always.

  Michael Wiese for the inspired assignment and belief that went along with it.

  Sherry Green for everything — from the subliminal and daily to the mindful and ever-lasting.

  PERMISSIONS

  The author acknowledges the copyright owners of the following motion pictures from which single frames have been used in this book for purposes of commentary, criticism, and scholarship under the Fair Use Doctrine.

  Babel © 2006 Paramount/Vantage, All Rights Reserved.

  Brokeback Mountain © 2006 Universal Pictures, All Rights Reserved.

  Cars © 2006 Disney/Pixar, All Rights Reserved.

  Corpse Bride © 2005 Warner Bros., All Rights Reserved.

  Crash © 2006 Lions Gate Films, All Rights Reserved.

  Fahrenheit 911© 2006 Lions Gate Films, All Rights Reserved.

  Finding Neverland © 2006 Miramax, All Rights Reserved.

  Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire © 2005 Warner Bros., All Rights Reserved.

  Hero © 2002 Miramax, All Rights Reserved.

  Hot Fuzz © 2007 Rogue Pictures/Universal Pictures, All Rights Reserved.

  Into the Wild © 2006 Paramount/Vantage, All Rights Reserved.

  Kill Bill Vol.2 © 2004 Miramax, All Rights Reserved.

  Knocked Up © 2007 Universal Pictures, All Rights Reserved.

  La Vie en Rose © 2007 Picturehouse/New Line Cinema, All Rights Reserved.

  Lust, Caution © 2007 Focus Features/Universal Pictures, All Rights Reserved.

  Mamma Mia © 2008 Universal Pictures, All Rights Reserved.

  Man on Wire© 2008 Magnolia Home Entertainment, All Rights Reserved.

  Munich © 2005 Universal Pictures, All Rights Reserved.

  No Country for Old Men © 2007 Paramount/Vantage/Miramax,

  All Rights Reserved.

  Paprika © 2006 Madhouse/Paprika Film Partners/Sony Pictures

  Entertainment, All Rights Reserved.

  Pan’s Labyrinth © 2006 Picturehouse/New Line Cinema, All Rights Reserved.

  Pirates of the Caribbean, Dead Man’s Chest © 2006 Disney, All Rights Reserved.

  Ratatouille © 2007 Disney/Pixar, All Rights Reserved.

  Rope © 1948 United Artists/Universal Pictures, All Rights Reserved.

  Slumdog Millionaire © 2008 Fox Searchlight Pictures/Warner Bros.,

  All Rights Reserved.

  Spider-Man 2 © 2004 Marvel/Columbia Pictures, All Rights Reserved.

  The Aviator © 2004 Miramax, All Rights Reserved.

  The Bourne Ultimatum © 2007 Universal Pictures, All Rights Reserved.

  The Constant Gardener © 2005 Focus Features/Universal Pictures,

  All Rights Reserved.

  The Da Vinci Code © 2006 Imagine/Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures,

  All Rights Reserved.

  The Diving Bell and the Butterfly © 2007 Pathé/Miramax, All Rights Reserved.

  There Will Be Blood © 2006 Miramax, All Rights Reserved.

  Underworld Evolution © 2006 Screen Gems, All Rights Reserved.

  United 93 © 2006 Universal Pictures, All Rights Reserved.

  War of the Worlds © 2005 United International Pictures/Paramount,

  All Rights Reserved.

  INTRODUCTION

  Editing gives film its meaning and its effect.

  — Filmmaker V. I. Pudovkin in his book,

  Film Technique and Film Acting

  Whether performed in a drab, musty, studio editing room, a disco-lit editing bay, a cubicle, a closet, or a classy pad above the Pacific — and I’ve cut in them all — editing invariably takes place in a space shaded and lit so the filmed images can be most clearly seen.

  The editor’s job is to take the raw material — camera footage — and put it together to make the best piece possible, be it a comedy, drama, music video, documentary, or commercial. The editor accomplishes this by making cuts — placing one shot after another. Cut by cut, the movie builds, until, if well-edited, it becomes more than the sum of its cuts.

  Why does an editor make a cut? Simply stated; to drive the story forward and show the audience what it needs to know at each moment. With every cut, the editor determines what the audience learns next about the story, characters, or subject. No matter what the genre — drama, thriller, documentary, horror, biopic, action-adventure, samurai, anime, or comedy — the editor’s mission is the same. Every cut is a building block of the movie and bridges to the next cut. The editor, like an architect, designs each cut to support the entire film. With every cut, the audience learns, senses, thinks, or feels something different.

  This book shows the different types of cuts and how they affect the audience so that you can recognize them when you watch a movie or video — including one you’ve edited yourself — and judge their effectiveness. It describes each type of cut and illustrates it with frames from all genres of recent movies (except for Hitchcock’s Rope from 1948). The film frames — in pairs and groups — are arranged to read from left to right and from top to bottom. For a synopsis of each film portrayed in the book, turn to the page after the last chapter. Terms and concepts are defined as they arise, but if there’s a term you’re not clear on that isn’t defined, check the Glossary, located after the Synopsis of Films.

  Here’s a quick preview: We’ll start with basic cuts, then look at cuts that use effects such as dissolves, wipes, and greenscreen. Along the way we’ll discuss mismatches, jump cuts, and why cuts don’t work as well as smash cuts and subliminal cuts. We’ll then delve into editing for rhythm and pacing and finish by focusing on what’s behind the conventions — flashback, montage, parallel action, etc. — of edited scenes. So… lights down, roll film: Let’s see what’s created in the usually ever-so-humble editing room.

  chapter 1 BASIC

  CUTS

  The art of editing occurs when the combination of two or more shots takes meaning to the next level – excitement, insight, shock, or the epiphany of dis
covery.

  – Professor Ken Dancyger from his book

  The Technique of Film and Video Editing

  In this chapter we’ll cover common cuts that are seen in every movie. These cuts form the basic language of film editing; you will spot them in the rest of the book’s chapters. So what exactly is a cut? Read on.

  CUT

  The joining together of two different shots; or occasionally, two parts of the same shot.

  Every cut must be motivated; in other words, the editor must have a reason for making it. A cut builds story, idea, or emotion, changes the point of view, or keeps the pace going: In fact a cut may do some or all of these things.

  BASIC CUT: Two shots edited together.

  In Shot 1 islanders cross a bridge.

  In Shot 2 a sentry with a spear watches the bridge.

  Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

  REVERSE CUT

  A cut to the opposite (reverse) angle. The cut can be from the front of a character to the angle behind the character (Reverse 1) or vice versa. Or the cut can be from a character (or characters) to the character (or characters) they’re facing (Reverses 2-4).

  By showing how characters act, react, and interact, reverse cuts keep the audience involved in the action and dialogue. Reverse cuts also often demonstrate the dialectic dance of opposition as characters confront, confound, and cuddle each other.

  REVERSE 1: This reverse cuts from behind the boy as he aims for the tourist bus on the highway below to the front of the boy.

  Babel

  REVERSE 2: Walking the mall.

  Crash

  REVERSE 3: In the chapel, The Bride introduces her ex-lover (left) to her groom (right).

  Kill Bill: Vol. 2

  REVERSE 4: Watching a play.

  Finding Neverland

  POV (POINT OF VIEW)

  A reverse cut that corresponds to where a character is looking; a POV is a cut to what the character is seeing.

  POV 1: Miners lower a bucket into a well, hoping for oil. The second frame is the POV shot.

  There Will Be Blood

  A POV is a highly motivated cut; a character sees something and the audience wants to see it too. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly contains approximately 20% POV shots as Jean-Do, its main character, is immobilized by a stroke.

  POV 2 (selected cuts): Jean-Do emerges from a coma and sees medics. The first frame is the POV shot.

  The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

  POV 3: Spying the pirates down the beach.

  Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

  Matching the angle on a POV is critical to the audience’s accepting the connection between the character and what they are seeing.

  POV 4: Dying man and his eye-patched killer.

  Kill Bill: Vol. 2

  A mirror is a perfect device for slipping in a POV.

  POV 5: In his truck’s side view mirror, one cowboy eyes another.

  Brokeback Mountain

  POVs are often framed by an object such as a window, gun sight, a pair of binoculars, or windshield (POV 6-7) …

  POV 6: Scanning for rebels.

  Pan’s Labyrinth

  POV 7: Driving into chaos.

  War of the Worlds

  …even a monocular or a colander will do (POV 8-9).

  POV 8: One-eyed Moody puts the eye on Harry and Ron.

  Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

  POV 9: Little Chef (the rat) watches the action from inside a colander.

  Ratatouille

  REACTION

  A cut to a participant reacting to something that has just happened.

  Editing in a reaction or series of reactions can be extremely powerful as reactions show human emotion and thought, and key viewers’ emotional response: Should they hold their breath, laugh, cry, worry, or get angry?

  REACTION 1 (selected cuts): Reacting to rivals plunging into the drink.

  Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

  Frequently, it’s more important for the audience to see people reacting rather than see what’s happening.

  REACTION 2 (selected reactions): The World Trade Center falls.

  Director Michael Moore chose to show New Yorkers reacting instead of the towers collapsing.

  Fahrenheit 911

  REACTION 3:

  In the middle frame, the leader of the Israeli anti-terrorist squad listens to his team during their lighthearted “get acquainted” lunch. As the movie’s main character and conscience, he observes and reacts in this and many other scenes in the movie.

  Munich

  Cutting in a series of reactions can also intensify the drama.

  REACTION 4: A child is reprimanded; his parents and prospective in-laws react.

  Corpse Bride

  REACTION 5: Who’s the bride’s daddy? The three candidates react along with the mother in this climactic wedding scene.

  Mamma Mia

  Lastly, cutting to a reaction can eliminate dialogue or narration.

  REACTION 6: Jean-Do (left) fears what his children will think seeing him for the first time after his stroke. We see the answer in their reactions – faces and thoughts – expressed in the English subtitles.

  The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

  INSERT AND CUTAWAY

  These terms are used interchangeably to describe a cut to a small, significant detail of a scene. A classic example is a cut to a letter or some form of writing, as exemplified in Cutaway 1. Note: These terms are also used freely as nouns and verbs.

  CUTAWAY 1: This cutaway to a postcard (middle frame) forms the crucial response that re-unites the society-crossed lovers.

  Brokeback Mountain

  Primarily, inserts/cutaways serve to convey necessary information to the audience (Cutaways 2 and 3).

  CUTAWAY 2: Checking the tracking device.

  No Country for Old Men

  CUTAWAY 3: Reading a clue.

  The Da Vinci Code

  Commonly, they act as introductions to scenes (Cutaway 4) or segues between scenes (Cutaway 5), forwarding the flow of information — usually scene location or time — and the action.

  CUTAWAY 4: The insert of the title on the door shot (middle frame), efficiently moves the story from the exterior establishing shot (top frame) to right inside the meeting (bottom frame).

  The Bourne Ultimatum

  CUTAWAY 5: A clever, literal cutaway! A shot of J. M. Barrie and wife at his play’s opening night is followed by a cutaway to his maid cutting out the poor review.

  Finding Neverland

  CUTAWAY 6: Cutting away to the mother and child bridges dialogue between the pair of two-shots of the couple on the couch.

  Fahrenheit 911

  Editors routinely cut away to shorten time or bridge between two mismatched shots. In dialogue scenes, especially in documentaries, reaction shots are often inserted to skip over unwanted dialogue and advance the action.

  Lastly, cutaways can cleverly comment on the action as this scene from The Da Vinci Code illustrates.

  CUTAWAY 7: Pursued by a killer, a museum curator makes a desperate run for his life, passing paintings which reflect his distress and doom.

  The Da Vinci Code

  SOUND CUT

  In addition to story and performance, there are two things editors always consider when cutting:

  Picture – framing, lighting, movement, angle

  Sound – dialogue, narration, sound effects, and music

  Sound contributes to a movie in numerous ways — emotion, rhythm, tone, realism — to name but a few, and is integral to the audience’s acceptance and enjoyment of the film. Since our focus is on cuts and because sound is difficult to see, especially on the page, we’ll concentrate on how sound influences the cut.

  Sound is one of the main motivators of cuts. For instance, an editor may cut to the words a person is speaking before cutting to the speaker. Why? Usually to show the listening character reacting to the words and to keep the story
zipping along. If every piece of a dialogue starts and finishes on the person delivering it, the pace of the show lags and the audience simply tunes out.

  Walter Murch, picture and sound editor of numerous movies and Academy Award winner for Apocalypse Now and The English Patient, asserts, “Whatever virtues sound brings to the film are largely perceived and appreciated by the audience in visual terms — the better the sound, the better the image.”

  In this opening scene from The Bourne Ultimatum, winner of the Academy Award for editing in 2007, we see how an offscreen sound — sound we don’t see the source of on screen — makes a character react and motivates a cut.

  SOUND CUT 1a: The thriller begins with edgy music as a tense Bourne heads to the Moscow train station.

  SOUND CUT 1b: Part way into this cut an offscreen sound motivates his head turn. Who’s there?

  SOUND CUT 1c: We glimpse the source of the sound — a police car approaching from the distance.