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In nature we never see anything isolated, but everything in connection with something else which is before it, beside it, under it, and over it. GOETHE

At the most basic level, Editing means simply assembling individual shots taken by a video camera to make up scenes, sequences, groups of sequences in order to tell a tale. At its first stages the pieced together version is called an Assembly. As this is further refined it is called a first cut, then, many refinements later, a final cut.

The basic level, however, doesn't nearly tell the whole story, for it is precisely the juxtaposition of shots, which gives motion pictures their unique power of visually communicating to the viewer. Editing, therefore, makes a fundamental contribution to the construction of meaning which the whole film generates. You must remember the basic elements of Videography before you can work on editing what you have captured, which are:

Editing in film basically means putting joining individual pieces of film to make up scenes, sequences, groups of sequences, and finally the entire film. Shot is a single piece of film of any length or duration which is exposed by the camera being turned on, then off, a single time only. Neither the type of action which a shot may cover, nor the nature of the camera movement which may be executed during the shot (if any), alter the definition. A scene on the other hand, is a self-contained, continuous series of shots which define a specific dramatic and/or narrative moment. In some instances an entire scene may be contained within a single shot if it is an appropriately long take. Sequence is another related term which basically is a self-contained group of sequential scenes. The grouping should coalesce around a specific set of dramatic and narrative imperatives. These three elements are the basis of editing. Using shots we make scenes and sequences which make up the entire film.

Editing, therefore, makes a fundamental contribution to the construction of meaning which the whole film text generates.

There are three stages in editing-

• Assembly Cut or Editor's Cut - as the name suggests the arranged or piece together version of the film is known as assembly cut. It comes a week a two after principal photography finishes. Editor's cut is roughly longer than final cut.
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• Rough Cut or Director's Cut - includes sound effects, music and dubbing. It is a refinement of the assembly cut and is not the final product
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• Final Cut- this is the final version of the film which is given in for release. It includes special effects, subtitles (if required), credits and transitions. It is the absolute final take i.e. the version of the film meant for release.

EDITING THEORIES

CLASSICAL CONTINUITY EDITING

D.W. Griffith was one of the followers of this method of editing and he proposed that through expanding and contracting the space of varying shots created subjective time, which was more dramatic than actual. The best technique to make use of the space in hand is to go from an establishing shot to a mid shot and then to a close up. Birth of a Nation (1915) by Griffith codified classical editing techniques.

Elements of classic editing include:

Change set-ups: editing together two or more shots from different camera placements. For example, changing from a frontal shot to a 45 degree shot or vice-versa of a couple sitting together and talking would come under this category.

Eye-line match: cut from a character looking at something to a shot of what the character is looking at. This kind of cut is most frequently used in films. For example, a person looking far left in a frame, and then the next shot is that of a television set, indicating that the person is watching TV.

Matching action: editing together two or more shots of a single action, minimizing the shock of the cut. By having an actor begin an action in one shot and carry it through to completion in the next, the director creates a visual bridge which distracts from noticing the cut. This can be best understood by watching a video that demonstrates the same.

Crosscutting: cutting back and forth between two separate locations, usually implying the scenes take place simultaneously. For instance, in D. W. Griffith's A Corner in Wheat, the film cross-cuts between the activities of rich businessmen and poor people waiting in line for bread. This is most likely meant to show the contrast between the lifestyles of the poor and rich.

Parallel editing: same as crosscutting although scenes are not happening simultaneously but are linked by theme. The film, The Hours for example stands on parallel editing as it chronicles a day in the life of three different women living in three different years. The film cuts from one year to another. Godfather 2, is yet another example of parallel editing.

LEV KULESHOV

Kuleshov expanded on Griffith's theory and said that close ups can be used for more than just intensifications of longer shots, rather it can be used for juxtapositions. He believed that editing was simply juxtaposition of one shot to another. He has experimented with many films and gave birth to a effect where a close up of a person followed by various shots of objects or people which allowed viewers to interpret the relation between the imagery in their own way. In a short film made by Kuleshov with Ivan Mozzhukin (the silent actor), the latter's close-up is a followed by a shot of bowl of soup, shot of woman in a coffin and a shot of a child playing. Audiences saw Mozzhukin as "hungry," "sorrowful" and "fatherly." The main purpose of these experiments by Kuleshov was to show that the juxtaposition of images invites the viewer to give meaning to the interrelationship of images

SERGEI EISENSTEIN / SOVIET MONTAGE THEORY

Eisenstein believed that the use of too many close ups didn't provide the audience with enough information to make free associations. He proposed that when two shots i.e. A and B are put together in juxtaposition the result that you get is not of A+B, rather it is a new entity altogether i.e. C. To make it a little less like a mathematical formulae, when unrelated or interrelated shots are put together rapidly one after the other in juxtaposition, then they give birth to a new meaning to the shots. This is known as the Montage theory. Montage is a French word literally meaning "editing", "putting together" or "assembling shots"; refers to a filming technique, editing style, or form of movie collage consisting of a series of short shots or images that are rapidly put together into a coherent sequence to create a composite picture, or to suggest meaning or a larger idea.

The example of this can be seen in the famous Odessa Steps scene in the film Battleship Potemkin by Eisenstein where hundreds of shots, some on screen for no longer than a second or two, communicate an overwhelming sense of violence and terror while depicting no direct violence in any one image.

So basically, soviet montage theory develops the proposition that it is through editing that film finds its greatest-and most unique-powers of expression. This premise is based on the

dialectical relationship between two shots, "A" and "B", in a cut. By putting shot "A" in juxtaposition (and in opposition) to shot "B" the result is not a sum of the two, but a newidea which might be called "C". Obviously, there has to be significant involvement on the part of the audience to make the dialectical relationship effective. Thus simply put, this brief

definition does not convey either the theoretical and artistic force nor the profound influence which the theory had on subsequent film making. Clearly, though, these theories, and the practice in film making to which they gave rise and through which they were developed and refined, stand at the diametric opposite from continuity editing.

ANDRE BAZIN

Bazin thought that because photography produces an image with a minimum of human interference, it has an inherent realism that editing can defuse. Bazin also believed that reality was indefinite and that minimal editing preserved these ambiguities. Bazin warns against misinterpreting the neutrality of a work of art as an absence of art. Bazin, however, acknowledged that the basic artistic processes of selection, organization and interpretation distorted reality. He would argue that the simultaneous presence of two elements within a shot could create an emotional impact as great or greater than montage. Bazin's theories about editing interfering with inherent realism turned filmmakers back to mise-en-scene ( everything that appears on screen and their arrangement) and moving the camera or reframing to introduce a new image. Reframing can also appear less intrusive than an edit or cut. Reframing can be done by Panning, craning, tilting and tracking. Bazin admired Citizen Kane for its mise-en-scene, which reduced the edits within a scene and made use of the frame in ways that did not depend heavily on the close ups.

NEW WAVE

Filmmakers like Goddard and Truffaut believed in using whatever techniques they needed and, thus, returned filmmaking to more expressionistic edits. The backbone of this new movement in cinema was that the director is the author of a movie and therefore s/he can use whatever methods and editing style to add a personal statement to a film. This movement rejected the classical theories of filmmaking .