Task Five – Continuity Editing

What is continuity editing 

Continuity editing is the main form of editing seen in films.  it was known as the popular classical Hollywood style of editing. It was introduced by American and European directors especially D.W. Griffith.  This is seen in his films the birth of a nation and intolerance.  It is a important part of a film because it  it make the film flow and make a sense of order and make the sense of time moving forward. Continuity editing uses certain technical features.  They are Match on action, eye-line match,  shot, reverse shot and 180 degree rule 

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Match on Action

Match on action is when two short are put together. They are show a character starting an action from one angle , then the section shot is the character completing the action from a different angle. This makes the audience see the whole action connecting the two scenes making them make sense. A film maker uses this to to connect two shots to make a complete shot so the story makes sense. If it is not used it would jump from one shot to a different shot, making it not make sense.

Eye-line  Match

Eye-line match is when also putting two shots together. The first shot is of a character looking at something. The second shot is of what the character is looking at. This makes the audience see what is happening making the audience understand what the character is looking at. A film maker would use it to create a sense of either excitement or tension depending what the scene is about. It also makes the audience feel part of the scene . So if it was in a horror film,  it would make the audience a sense of fear when they see what the character is looking at. If it is not used the audience might not be as interested or the audience  might not understand what is happening.   

Shot Reverse Shot

Shot reverse shot also links two shot together. The first shot introduces one character. The second shot introduces the second character. This makes the audience see all the characters introducing them all to the audience so they understand who is having a conversation.  A film maker would use it to introduce the characters . It is also used to interests the audience showing difference shots. If it was not used the audience would not know who is talking .

      

180 degree rule

The 180 degree rule is a rule that the two characters should stay in the same position . This is done by keeping the camera inside the same 180 degree area. This causes the characters stay in the same position.  A Film maker uses this to make the scene makes sense . So it dose not look like it is swapping confusing them . If it is not used it will confuse the audience. 

In my film I tried to used these features to make it a film following the rules of continuity.

 

In my film we used match on action, eye-line match,  shot, reverse shot ,180 degree rule and point of view.

I used a match on action when Kayley walk into the classroom , walk toward the desk then the next shot was her waking in front of the desk. It was effective in the scene because it shows where Kayley went through the class room making it make sense. But it could have been done better because it dose not really show it from a different angle so it was not really showing a completion of situation.

In my film we also used a eyeline match. The eye line match was used when Nicola was on the computer. The audience see Nicola looking at something, then the next shot is what she is looking at. It is used effectively because you get to see what she is looking at . Which means it makes sence to the audience.

In my film I use shot reverse shot. It is used when kayley and Nicola talking about their revenge. It is used to show kayley wanting to know the plan and Nicola telling her the plan. Irt us sued to show Nicola telling her and Kayley reaction to the plan. It is used effectively because it show the reaction of the characters and makes the audience want to know what is going to happen.

In my film we also used  180 degree rule. It is used when Nicola and Kayley are talking. It is used to make the scene make sense and wont confuse the audience making the film flow. It is used effectively because I keep the 180 degree rule with out breaking it. This means the audience dose not gets confused.

Point of view is not used in my film. It was not in  our film because I did not remember to used it in the film. If i used it would have used it to when Kayley was attacking  Nicola It would have been used to show the fear on nicola and the aggression of  Kayley.

Overall the film was quite successful in demonstrating continuity editing. My film include all the features  of continuity editing acept point of view. All of the features were done effectively and make it very emotive. 

AS1, T2, Developing Editing Techniques

In camera editing is an old technique before computer editing was created. In camera editing is when you record each shot in the order it will be in the film. It was used a lot in early cinema before spliceing was invented. One of the first people to use in camera editing was George Melies in 1896 in the vanishing lady.

We created the clip using in camera editing. The first clip was caught by having the camera tilted up. We started film the first shot  then stopped when it finished. We then changed position then started filming again to make it go to the next shot to make the shot look like a natural shot and to get it in the right shot so it is inline. Then for the next shot it was a close up of Nicola being tripped up. This was used to make it look more obvious what happened. Then we did a shot of her filming. In this shot we found one of our difficulties of filming. When you are filming you have to get the actor to act at the same time as the filming starts. If you do not you will notice a gap in the film with a delay in acting.  The next scene was a long shot show the characters walking down the stairs. This caused a problem. It was hard to get the actors in the shot together with out them being covered by the celling but still being able to see the stairs. The final scene also caused a problem because you had to fit the camera with all  three actors in the same room and fit them all in.

The film had both good and bad points. The film was good because it had little mistakes. We were doing in camera editing so it was easy to make mistakes. Our film had little noticeable mistakes because our actors were well prepared  so the film looked more professional. Also the camera was always in the right position . In the film there is nothing in the way of the camera so all the shots are clear you can always see whats happening.  The problem with my film is that it was hard to get the camera in the right position to get all the shot in. I got it all in but it to a lot of work to fit it in. Also it was hard to fit the camera and three actors on the flight of stairs. The finale problem was the camera was shackey. Even though it was on a tripod it still had a lot of scenes where the camera was shacking.


There are pros and cons to in camera editing. The pros of in camera editing is that it dose not need much editing . So it is not that time consuming in the editing . Also it is cheeper because you only have to film. You only need to film the shots with camera so you do not need much expensive equipment. Also the film it formed quick so you don't need to spend a lot of money of food and rooms for actors.. The cons to in camera editing is that you can only film each shot once so their could be mistakes that you can't change. Also it is a very basic film because  there are little effect and only a few things could be done.  

Montarge

There are three types of montage. They are

• French montage
• Soviet montage of 1920's 
• Hollywood montage

The French montage

The word montage is French . The word montage has the meaning (assembly or instillation). This form of montage is simply just editing in film. So it is when a film is put together and effects added.

The Soviet montage of the 1920's

Soviet montage was created in the 1920's. It was used to covey a message and used for propaganda to indoctrinate people. Soviet montage is when film makers juxtaposing shots together .  These were shots that had little to do with each other. The shots were put together to make a new meaning. This meaning was not in the two shots alone.
There were two main soviet film directors:

• Lev Kuleshov
• Sergel Elsestiein

Lev Kuleshov

Lev Kuleshovone was one of the first film directors to come up with the montage with putting the two different shots together. he believed that film making is like building a building brick by brick. You build a wall by each brick building up, you make a film by building shots up until l it is finished. He created an experiment to prove his theory.  He used a old film clip of ahead shot of a Russian actor and different shot were put over the top of it. He showed this to audiences and they made a meaning from the two shots. He got awarded for his work. He summarised that when two shots are  put together audiences will come up with there own meaning,

Sergel Elsestiein

Sergel Elsestiein realised when you put two unrelated shots this  would cause an association  between the two. He showed this in his film strike.

  The film is about the strike in Russia and how the people were treated. The two shots are reinaction if the strike and a cow being slaughtered . he workers are being represented by the cow because the worker were treated like an animal. Then the cow getting slagutered was used to represent the workers getting kill by the more powerful people.






Hollywood montage

Hollywood montage is when a short sequence in a film. The sequence it is used to shorten as long period to fi shorten it. It is used when a charecter is making a improvement in something. An example of this is in Rocky

This scene  is showing the fighter Rocky training for his battle. He at first was not as strong for his fight , then he gets better. A long time frame is shorten to make this scene  shorter. This is also used to show all the training he goes through to make it seem more intense









I made two of my own montage scenes. They are a soviet montage and a hollywood montage



Soviet montage

The intention behind the montage was showing two friends they are having a conversation they seem happy , this is shown by the first image, but then the female character is annoyed shown but the second set of images. The montage meets its meaning because the montage is showing the inner feelings off the charterers. The main scene is showing the story , the images are showing the inner emotions. The montage is used to show a contrast to what is happening compared to inner emotions. The montage is successful because it  dose show the a contrast and makes the audience understand what is happening. But the story would not make sense if the montage was not there. Also there are not many different meanings you can get because what you get in the scene is not that different from the images.


Hollywood montage  

The intention of our montage is to show a normal day at school. The montage is used to show the day the whole day in a short period of time but still show everything that happens.  The montage makes the meaning of the film because it show the day of school and shows the transition from each scene to make it make sense . The film is successful because it shows the whole day of school and the transition through out the day. Also it make the audience feel part of the story. But the story would need a bit of explanation to fully say what was happening. Also the montage does not flow properly because there are some jumps with no expatiation why the character got to the places.

AS1:T1: Editing in Early Cinema

Editing in early cinema was very basic. The biggest changes of editing in early cinema came between 1890 - 1907. 

Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison was the first person to do film editing. He was an inventor in the who came with with many changes in the film industry. Edison run a film lab which was where all his film discoveries were made. He was competing against  a lot of other inventors to see who will create the first film and projector to play it on. He became the first person to create a film. It was on a long real  footage  which when all put together it will create a film .  He called it  The 35MM film strip. This would eventually become industry. He also created a projector to run the film on for more people to see. Edison's inventions were important because they were the first version of film that was recorded. It was also the first time something was made to run this film. This is the pathway for all the other film editors of the future .   

The Lumiere Brothers

The Lumiere Brothers made huge changes to film. They were the first people to make a film. They worked with Thomas Edison to create the first film .  The film was called Sortie d’usine which was made in 1895. The film was of workers leaving factories after a long day of work .   All the early films showed everyday tasks but it still amused the people of the time. It was an important step in the birth of film making because it was the first film ever to be recorded . No one ever before had made a film. This would lead to new advances in films by making longer films and better effects.

G.A. Smith 

G.A. Smith was the first person include a story and editing in his film. The first films had no story or no editing. The films only lasted the for as long as there was film in the camera, so the films were ofter short. The first film to have a story is Miller and the sweep in 1897.  The film was the first one to include a full narrative.The difference between this film and other films of the time is that this was the first film with a story. The story was a basic film of the time with a Even though it was such a basic story this was a big leap for the time and amazes people everywhere. Also it was the first film editing was included . It was important  change in film because it brought story to film . This lead to films in the future being longer with a stories becoming longer and more imaginative. Also this lead to more different editing techniques in later the film.  


George Melies

George Melies cause an advance in editing. Melies was a magician. He saw films by the Lumirere Brothers. He realised that he can use these the effects of filming in his magic act as a novelty. He bought a camera , wrote scripts made sets and discovered he could use basic camera tricks to make his film. This was a breakthrough because it was the first time people done in camera editing. This caused later films to include a lot better editing on film.





Edwin S Porter

Edwin S Porter cause advance  in editing. Porter was an electrician. He then worked for Thomas Edison in in his film lab  in the late 1890's.They worked together to make longer films. An example of this was a life of an american fireman in 1903. The film was one of the first with action  suspense and even close up shot , which was a first for the time. Porter was the first person to discover the importance of  motion picture. This is seen  in the great train robbery in 1903. In this film he included the effect of colouring in slides individually to put colour into the film. These discoveries were a breakthrough for the time because no one else had ever thought of using splicing to show a full story containing different scenes. These key innervations led to latter films having narrative and better effects. 

Charles Pathe

Charles Pathe caused advances in editing for the story, he was a film maker in the early 20th century. He was the first film maker to include parallel editing. parallel editing is when two scenes are playing at the same time and are being cut in-between one another, this can be seen in his 1907 film ''Le cheval Emballe''. He also included the effect of a rewind in a shot to show the look of the horse running backwards. 






D.W.Griffith 

D.W.Griffith was the final person to cause advances in editing in the early 20th century. He was a U.S film director, he was also the first person to introduce cross cutting into his film. He did this to show action in different locations. This could be seen in his film ''Birth of a Nation'' in 1915. Griffiths work seen as one of the greatest breakthroughs in early film editing and he influenced many early film makers understanding editing



    





Sortie d’usine
The films were short, had a lot of  static and was in one locked down position showing only that one shot of the building. 




The miller and sweep 1897 it was a still shot with two people fighting. 




Then in 1899 G.A. Smith made the kiss in the tunnel.The film started with the camera on the front of a train which was called a phantom ride which a lot films where that doing then . But he discovered he could cut the film and stick a different  strip of film on it. Smith realised that when the camera goes into the dark the transition of film would not be seen.  the film then cuts to inside the train . This was the first time films had different place in a film instead of one fixed one. Then the film has a  story of a man and women kissing . 

 In 1886 he made the film the vanishing lady. He did one of his magic tricks where he make a woman disappear. He started by putting a cloth over a woman then stopped the camera. He made her leave the shot the started the camera again with her not in the shot  then made made her reappear using the same technique. 





 An example of this was a life of an american fireman in 1903. . The film was one of the first with action  suspense and even close up shot  which was a first for the time.  It is a story of a fire and fireman trying to put it out. It is the first film to show a closeup shot.

The great train robbery 1903 was the first with a full long narrative. It is  also  the first that used splicing to put  together two shots to create a contextual relationship in the viewers mind. 












Le cheval Emballe in 1907 is the first to use parallel editing to show two different shots in the same scene. It is about a horse that run away from it is master and was knocking everyone over . It was also one of the first to use a reverse shot.  












Birth of a nation was made in the 1915.  It was one of the first to show cross cutting. This film is seen as one of the most important in early cinema.