The technique of film editing (1958)

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arise out of a continuity of action, but out of a continuity and development of ideas. It may, for instance, be desirable to illustrate a general principle by a series of physically unconnected examples. In a case of this sort, there can be little visual continuity from shot to shot and the normal considerations of continuous action editing will become irrelevant. The editor can do no more than produce the least objectionable visual continuity and time the commentary in such a way as to make the cutting appear smooth. But the problem is not as great as it sounds, because, if the ideas follow each other in a logical progression, the development of the argument will draw attention away from any slight imperfections in the mechanical continuity of the images. If the script has been thoroughly worked out before shooting, and the director has shot the material intelligently, the editor's task is the comparatively simple one of timing the shots. On some occasions, the editor may suggest simple alterations to the intended continuity — if, for instance, shots which were to follow each other are discordant in tone, or the action of one shot directs the eye away from the point of interest in the next ; more frequently, it may happen that an unexpected visual inference is created by a particular shot juxtaposition and it may then become capable of a wrong interpretation. (An effect akin to this was demonstrated on one occasion while showing Hydraulics to a school class. One of the first questions asked after the showing was, " What keeps an aeroplane in the air ? " The introduction of a shot of aircraft in flight, to make a point in the argument, had somehow turned several of the viewers' attention away from the hydraulics principle on to something with which the film was not concerned.) Obviously, in a case of this kind, the editing must be reconsidered. Although it is true that the motion picture can be used to relate a set of normally unrelated phenomena to illustrate a central theme, the greatest care must be taken in the editing not to let any one of the single phenomena become so important as to take away the attention from the whole principle. Since the ideas presented in teaching films are often extremely complex, and since it is in the nature of these films not to rely on any visual continuity, it is almost always necessary to add a commentary. The commentary is written at the script stage and finally amended to fit in with the timing of the visuals. It is the editor's task to fit the words of the commentary to the images in such a way that they reach the audience at exactly the right moment. As we shall see in the example quoted below, the correct 179