Film Editing Read online

  The Bourne Ultimatum

  Sound plays a pervasive and critical role in Slumdog Millionaire, slam dunk 2008 Academy Award winner for editing, directing, best picture, and more. As the movie’s hero relives the sights and emotions of his brutal childhood and interrogation by the police, the sounds make the events all too real and cause the audience to recoil.

  SOUND CUT 2 (Selected shots): The sound of lightening takes the sleeping boy back to a riot and the malice of a Molotov cocktail thrower. We hear the smash of the bottle, the whoosh of the flames, and the screams of the boy’s mother as she burns up before his eyes and exhorts him to flee.

  Slumdog Millionaire

  WRAP UP

  Now that you’re familiar with basic cuts and cutting language, we’ll move on to the next chapter and cutpoints — places in shots where editors choose to make cuts. We’ll talk about how the audience reads these cuts and what makes cuts successful.

  Note: If you’re editing your own project, before reading on, you may want to review your work to see if you’ve used — or might want to use — any of the cuts described in this chapter. You can consider reviewing your work after each chapter.

  chapter 2 MATCH

  CUTS

  How do editors decide where — at which frame — to cut from one shot to another? They usually look for a match point, meaning a place in the first shot that is duplicated in some way in the second shot. There are many elements that need to match and usually are matched: screen direction, eyeline, camera angle and framing, props, sound, weather, wardrobe, hair, make-up, lighting, color, and action.

  Match cuts comprise the majority of cuts editors make. Why? Because match cuts push the story forward seamlessly, maintaining the continuity — physical relationships (characters, props, background, etc.) and narrative flow — of the action. Match cutting makes for such smooth cuts that the audience doesn’t notice them. This “invisible” editing, as it’s called, leaves the audience engrossed in the story and its characters — precisely the editor’s intention!

  When cuts don’t match and continuity is broken, the audience may become lost and lose interest in the movie, if only momentarily. Filmmakers want their work to be seen and bring a profit. They don’t want the editing (or anything else) to make the audience stray from the movie, decide they don’t like it, and tell others.

  Now that I’ve stressed the importance and frequency of match cuts, be assured that match cutting is not an editing rule. The rule is to serve the story and the subject. Many cuts that work do not match. In the next chapter we’ll discuss mismatches and look at examples from a few superbly edited movies.

  In this chapter we’ll go over the most critical elements that editors match cut.

  SCREEN DIRECTION MATCH

  Matching screen direction means matching how a character (or object) exits one shot and enters the next shot, reappearing where the audience expects to see them. Huh? Here’s an example: If a character moves right out of a shot, they need to enter the next shot from the left of the frame so they look like they’re continuing to move from left to right as depicted in the example below.

  SCREEN DIRECTION MATCH 1: Car takes off (frame 1), exits in a cloud of dust on the right (frame 2) and reappears on the left (frame 3).

  Cars

  Note: Frequently, the character will not appear for a few frames in either the outgoing shot — first side — or incoming shot — second side — of the cut. To best illustrate how screen direction is matched, our examples will show characters and objects in frame on each side of the cut.

  SCREEN DIRECTION MATCH 2: Paprika, the young heroine of this anime movie, slyly demonstrates screen direction by chasing a human robot toward a movie screen.

  Paprika

  SCREEN DIRECTION MATCH 3: In city clothes, J. M. Barrie exits left followed by a friend (frame 1). He enters right as a pirate (frame 2), changing time, place and costume in one match cut.

  Finding Neverland

  EYELINE MATCH

  Matching the lines of vision between characters’ eyes.

  If eyelines don’t match, viewers take a different meaning from a cut, so it had better be what the editor intended. Usually nonmatching eyelines mean the characters are avoiding or disregarding each other for one reason or another.

  EYELINE MATCH 1: Two counter-terrorists converse. It isn’t always necessary to match eyelines on phone calls, but it helps.

  Munich

  EYELINE MATCH 2: Even cars’ eyelines match.

  Cars

  These three cuts are from a scene in Babel between a married couple. The nonmatching eyelines in Cuts 1 and 2 demonstrate how they have become disconnected after the death of their baby. The matching eyelines in Cut 3 show them beginning to grapple with their pain and each other.

  ANGLE MATCH

  Matching shots with similar angles such as long shots, medium shots, close-ups, etc.

  When two characters (or objects) are interacting, especially in dialogue scenes, the editor will often match angles, especially as the scene reaches its climax. This keeps the story taut and the characters closely connected.

  Pictured below are two dialogue scenes with typical angle matches. Notice how the eyelines are maintained here too.

  ANGLE MATCH 1: A pair of matching over-the-shoulder shots.

  No Country for Old Men

  ANGLE MATCH 2: Matching the father’s POV of his daughter.

  Crash

  ANGLE MATCH 3: Skewed angles at the beginning of this movie warn that smething’s off kilter.

  The Constant Gardener

  ANGLE MATCH 4: A pair of tilted angles accentuates danger and chaos as a minion of villain Lord Voldemort menaces Harry.

  Harry Potter and the

  Goblet of Fire

  FRAMING MATCH

  Matching the space around the characters — how they are positioned and framed.

  Normally, framing matches involve matching angles of shots: wide shots, medium shots, close-ups, etc.

  FRAMING MATCH 1: These wide, over-the-shoulder shots form a match cut that incorporates the scene’s atmosphere and location while keeping the focus on the sheriff and his deputy.

  No Country for

  Old Men

  FRAMING MATCH 2: In this pair of raking shots, Howard Hughes pitches his first film to a dismissive studio executive.

  The Aviator

  FRAMING MATCH 3: Notice the large amount of off-center, matched space on this cut between J. M. Barrie and his wife at a dinner party.

  Finding Neverland

  SHAPE MATCH

  Matching similarly shaped objects or forms.

  While not necessary for continuity, a shape match is a fun cut to spot in a flick or to make yourself when editing. shape matches can also predict or comment on the action and are often used to span time and/or place.

  SHAPE MATCH 1: Victor Van Dort (left) eyeballs his future in the eye socket of a skull.

  Corpse Bride

  SHAPE MATCH 2: A cloud produced by headlights in town at night matches a cloud created naturally on the veldt during the day.

  The Constant Gardener

  SHAPE MATCH 3: Circular shapes are the most common type of shape match.

  Pan’s Labyrintha

  SHAPE MATCH 4: The spread of a seer’s crab claws matches the spread of islands the pirates seek.

  Pirates of the

  Caribbean:

  Dead Man’s Chest

  SHAPE MATCH 5: A train snakes through countryside, then cars wind through city streets as Bourne closes in on his contact.

  The Bourne Ultimatum

  LIGHTING AND COLOR MATCH

  Matching color and lighting between cuts.

  Seems simple, but due to having to film at different times in varying weather, lighting and color regularly don’t match upon arrival in the cutting room. This is why every show budgets for color correction. This involves making sure the color and lighting match from cut to cut and within each scene. Color correction takes pl
ace in a computer or film lab once the show is locked (the editing is finished and approved). If color and lighting are not matched, the audience may conclude that time has passed or a location has changed. The result: Misinterpretation of key information and the interruption of the seamlessly edited story.

  LIGHTING MATCH 1: Matching day lighting on the set.

  Spider-Man 2

  LIGHTING MATCH 2: Matching night lighting at the campfire.

  Brokeback Mountain

  COLOR MATCH 1: The main character backpacks through the golden hue of sunset on the plains.

  Into the Wild

  COLOR MATCH 2: Vampires battle werewolves in a subterranean world of blue in this movie.

  Underworld Evolution

  COLOR MATCH 3: Red dominates this scene where Howard Hughes shuts out a friend (right) during a mental breakdown.

  The Aviator

  ACTION MATCH (A.K.A. MOTION OR MOVEMENT MATCH)

  Matching the action (movement or motion) of characters or objects in one shot to the action in the next shot where the action continues or completes.

  ACTION MATCH 1: Normally, an action match on a door opening takes a character from inside to outside (or vice versa) or from one room to another. This exceptional door opening match cuts between two scenes and two characters: It shows one character leaving a store during the day and another character exiting a different store at night.

  Crash

  The action may be as mundane as a character turning their head or entering a door or as fantastic as a starship hurtling through space, it doesn’t matter: Action matches are among the most common yet dynamic of all cuts.

  Why do action matches work so well? Because viewers’ eyes follow motion, no matter how slight or grandiose, and miss the cut, once again making for seamless editing. The action match also moves the story forward, literally. Equally importantly, action match cuts maintain a scene’s pacing, be it fast, medium, or slow. (More on pacing in Chapter 6: Cutting for Rhythm, Pacing, and Time.)

  ACTION MATCH 2: The sight and sound of cascading water advances the flow of the story.

  Pan’s Labyrinth

  ACTION MATCH 3: This action match creates the pivotal moment of the movie when Victor slips the ring onto the corpse bride’s finger, mistaking it for a twig.

  Corpse Bride

  Action match cuts can take the story from one scene, place, time, or world to another.

  ACTION MATCH 4: A cut on action joins these two scenes where one man exits down a hotel staircase with a suitcase (left) and another man enters a kitchen with a brisket (right).

  Munich

  ACTION MATCH 5: J. M. Barrie dances into a fantasy world in this whirling action match between scenes.

  Finding Neverland

  ACTION MATCH 6: A pair of matching zoom-in shots perfectly fits the story as the girl enters the labyrinth.

  Pan’s Labyrinth

  Action matches also occur when an editor cuts from one moving camera shot to another moving camera shot. The camera movement — pan, track, zoom, etc. — repeats in the next shot.

  ACTION MATCH 7: A car race — shown in a series of panning, zooming, and tilting shots and accompanied by a pop song — kick starts this movie. To illustrate the movement of the camera, the first and last frames of two shots are pictured.

  Shot 1 pans right, across the stadium and stops on the blimp. Shot 2 tilts up, bringing the sign and the crowd on the ground closer.

  Cars

  IDEA MATCH (A.K.A. CONCEPT CUT OR RELATIONAL MATCH)

  Two shots edited together that create an idea, insight emotion, or character trait. The sum of the edit is more than the two shots in themselves.

  IDEA MATCH 1: Howard Hughes explores his lover’s back in the same meticulous manner he uses to inspect the body of his latest plane prototype.

  The Aviator

  An idea match can span place, time, character, or subject to forge a connection or motivate a change. Familiar examples would be a clock running down to signify a character’s death or a band of soldiers rallying after glimpsing their country’s flag.

  An idea match can also make a subtle comment, foreshadow events, or plant ideas.

  IDEA MATCH 2: The gun play of two siblings resulting in an accidental shooting in Morocco (left) cuts to the lighthearted play of two siblings in suburban California (right).

  Babel

  IDEA MATCH 3: Neville, Hermione, and Harry head downstairs during a rainstorm as the figure in the stained glass appears to weep, foreshadowing a fellow student’s death, in the movie’s climactic scene.

  Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

  SOUND MATCH

  Matching two similar sounds. The sounds can be voices, sound effects, natural sounds, rhythm or musical passages.

  SOUND MATCH: The sound of the welder soldering (top left) cuts to the sound of the dentist drilling (below).

  Man on Wire

  Like shape matches, sound matches customarily cross time and/or place and are a delight — or sometimes a fright — to encounter. The two related sounds can insinuate a different meaning or spin the story in a different direction. Often the first sound — an innocent, everyday sound — is intensified, changed, or distorted by the second sound. For example: The pop-pop-pop of children playing war cuts to the real thing; the quiet chinking of car chains in the snow becomes the harsh staccato of bottles moving through a processing plant; or the patter of rain gradually morphs to the patter of applause. In Apocalypse Now Francis Ford Coppola cut from the whirr of ceiling fan blades to the roar of helicopter blades.

  Matching sound across a cut can connect the two shots in an unexpected way and make the audience laugh, wince, or seize up with fear. Viewers appreciate sound matches and may never think of certain sounds the same way again.

  ROPE MATCH

  Matching two different takes of the same camera angle.

  This elusive match cut pays homage to director Alfred Hitchcock, whose 1948 movie,Rope, depended on them. To understand the concept and how Hitchcock employed it, a couple of definitions are in order:

  Master shot, a.k.a. master — Shot that encompasses all the action in a scene, from beginning to end. Although a master often starts framed close on a small object and can move as needed to capture the action, it mostly stays wide to frame all the action.

  Coverage — All angles filmed in addition to the master: close-ups, medium shots, POV shots, etc. Coverage provides editing choices and allows the editor to cut freely between masters.

  Hitchcock took on the job of directing Rope as a “stunt” in his words. The stunt was to mimic the original British stage play by filming the movie version on one set in real time. Limited by the ten-minute length of a 35mm camera roll, the 81-minute film is actually composed of ten reels, ten masters, ten cuts, one establishing shot of Manhattan, and no coverage.

  The cutting was premeditated by Hitchcock and executed in the camera. In an interview with director Francois Truffaut in 1966, Hitchcock recalled, “The mobility of the camera and the movement of the players closely followed my usual cutting practice. In other words, I maintained the rule of varying the size of the image in relation to its emotional importance within a given episode.”

  Rope matches are impossible to detect if done properly; I know, as I’ve made them. Since the cuts in Rope are well documented and easy to detect once you get the hang of them, we’ll take our example from Rope. Hitchcock’s editor invariably added a few black frames to soften the match between masters, but a rope cut can work without black frames if the camera work is consistent. To demonstrate this, I’ve deleted the black frames.

  Rope most often uses a character’s back to end one master shot and cut to another, as seen here.

  ROPE MATCH cut: SHOT 1. (frames 1-3) Shot 1 has the character cross the room (frames 1-2) and pause with his back to the audience (frame 3) to end the shot and initiate the cut.

  ROPE MATCH CUT: SHOT 2. (frames 4-6) Shot 2 starts where Shot 1 ended: with the character�
�s back to the audience (frame 4). Shot 2 then continues as the character exits frame and reveals another conversation (frames 5-6).

  Rope

  WRAP UP

  Match cuts, continuity, and invisible editing: Now that they make sense, let’s look at some cuts that are anything but invisible! These rebel cuts break continuity and can jump out at you — they’re rogues! But do they work? Turn to the next chapter to see, and, if you’re a filmmaker, to determine how you might use them when editing your own film.

  chapter 3 ROGUE CUTS:

  MISMATCHES, JUMP CUTS, CROSSING THE LINE, AND BAD CUTS

  Editors regularly cut shots together that were filmed in different locations at different times by different crews. Mismatches happen. Not because the editor isn’t paying attention to which hand holds the knife from one cut to another but because the editor is paying attention to where the story is going and where the audience’s focal point will be. Yes, the editor is a magician of sorts, finessing mismatches and other non-continuity cuts to keep the audience’s attention and the story clocking along. As director/editor Edward Dmytryk wrote in his book On Film Editing, “Film is the art of illusion, and the most unlikely things can be made to seem real.”