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.