Chapter 6: Editing

Chapter Overview

If the shot is the basic unit of film language, editing is its grammar: for some filmmakers, it is the most important shaper of film form. Editing derives its power from the natural human tendency to interpret visual information in context. When two images (two shots, for example) are placed in close proximity to each other, we interpret them differently than we would have if we saw only one or the other image in isolation. Understanding the effects of editing on meaning, and having the vocabulary needed to describe the methods employed to achieve those effects, is the point of Chapter Six.

At its most fundamental level, editing is the process of managing the transitions (called cuts) from one shot to another. Those transitions can be managed to produce a sense of continuity or of discontinuity. It’s important to understand the difference between these two goals, and to note that individual films can contain examples of both continuity and discontinuity editing.

Editing that strives for continuity must carefully manage spatial and temporal relationships between shots to ensure that viewers understand the movement of figures in the frame and the progression of narrative information. 

One of the most fundamental conventions of continuity editing is the use of a master (or establishing) shot to establish for viewers the overall layout of a space in which a scene takes place. This shot, when followed by shots that are in closer implied proximity to subjects, makes it easy for viewers to understand relative positions of people and objects throughout a scene.

There are many types of editing transitions that are named and defined in Chapter Six. You should memorize these key terms and concepts so that you have the relevant jargon immediately at hand whenever you are asked to describe a scene in class or in a paper.