Editing…

The magic of editing… Only a few have the magic touch, to create something out of nothing. And believe me, that is not us. My partner and I’s ability to edit is slim to none. Our knowledge of certain editing programs is negligible. And our understanding of how to properly edit is non-existent. Therefore, we were given a quick lesson about what editing was. We were informed that editing is the “art of assembling shots together to tell a visual story of a film.” In other words, editing is putting clips together to create one big clip. My partner and I already knew this, however, what we didn’t know is that there are different ways in which one can transition from clip to clip. Each transition having a different effect on the scene you are creating.

In order to practice our editing skills, we were assigned a task to complete certain requirements. Therefore my group and ! decided to create an action sequence for it would help us in creating our film opening. Whilst editing the action sequence we had to keep in mind certain techniques. The techniques included expansion of time, cross-cutting, and action match. Expansion of time is exactly what the name entitles. It is making an action or event longer through the use of different shots and angles. This can be seen in our short video when both “chairmen” are charging at one another. Another editing technique was cross-cutting. Cross-cutting or parallel editing is the technique which alternates between two or more scenes that often occur at the same time but in different locations. This can be seen when both men are staring each other down, as well as when they begin charging at one another. The final technique which we were required to use was an action match. Action matching is an editing technique that cuts two alternate views of the same action together at the same moment in the action in order to make it seem uninterrupted. This can be seen when the two “chairmen” collide and hit one another, as well as when both are charging at one another.