The technique of film editing (1958)

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reason why one should not cut from practically anything to anything else : indeed, one suspects that Eisenstein, for example, arrived at some of his most telling juxtapositions in the cutting room. In sound films this freedom to rearrange and experiment with the material in the cutting room has been considerably reduced : partly because synchronised sound " anchors " the visuals ; partly because production costs of sound shooting are so high that it is normally impracticable to shoot a large footage which may not in the end be used. Dialogue often carries essential plot-information which cannot be given anywhere except in one specific context, and the image going with it is therefore " anchored " from the moment it is shot. This does not mean — as some writers have suggested— that editing patterns in the sound film need be any less complex or expressive than they were in the silent days. What it does mean is that the final order of shots in sequences employing actual sound needs to be planned at an earlier stage in production. In this sense the responsibility for the editing has shifted from the editor to the writer. Selection of Camera Set-ups : Emphasis The principle of using long, medium and close shots for various degrees of emphasis has remained substantially the same since Griffith first applied it. In contemporary films the writer will usually indicate the kind of camera set-up he thinks most suitable, and even if he does not, the director should have a fairly clear idea as to which set-ups will be used in the assembled continuity. When a scene requires a number of different camera set-ups, the whole scene is frequently shot from each separate position and subsequently assembled by the editor as he sees most fit. This, however, is not ideal policy : however much cover has been taken, a scene shot by a director who is uncertain as to how it will be edited is not likely to have the precision of effect which can be achieved by planned shooting. Timing In a silent film the state of tension of a passage was largely conveyed through the rate of cutting. Griffith constantly varied the pace of his films to convey (and control) the changing of dramatic tension ; and the climax was almost always a rapidly cross-cut sequence, usually a chase. Eisenstein evolved an extremely elaborate theory of timing which can perhaps be best appreciated in the sharp 47