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dual preference. Nevertheless, the reason why we preferred the cut at a moment of rest should now emerge.
The editor should, as we have already said, always strive to preserve the rhythm of the actors' performances. If he introduces cuts in the middle of the actors' movements, he is imposing visual interruptions which do not coincide with the rhythm of the acting. Let us look again at the example we have used before. The movement of the actor leaning forward and picking up his glass of wine takes place in two stages : a forward movement and a backward movement. At the end and beginning of each, there is a moment of rest. Now if the cut coincides with a moment of rest, it is reinforcing the rhythm of the actor's performance. If, on the other hand, it occurs during a movement, then it is imposing an externally contrived rhythm on the action.
It is difficult to say precisely why this cutting to the rhythm of the action is so important. Part of the reason is possibly that the cuts are made smoother by being, as it were, visually motivated. But whatever the reason, the practical effect is usually perfectly clear. A carelessly edited sequence, in which the cuts break up the rhythm of the action within the shots, has an untidy, unprofessional appearance which is only too easily recognisable.
The danger of imposing a false rhythm on the action arises also in another way. We have already noted, in the chapter on dialogue scenes, that it is sometimes possible to cut down the intervals between consecutive lines of dialogue and thereby increase the pace of the presentation. This, however, is a rather dangerous practice. The good actor, with a highly developed sense of timing, uses the pauses between lines for a specific reason, and to tamper with his interpretation is often to reduce its effect. What is true of dialogue scenes is equally true of any other scene. The director controls the playing of a scene on the floor at such a pace and with such variations in tempo as he feels to be most appropriate. It is really here that the essential rhythm of the action should be determined. The editor can give it a certain polish, can refine the continuity so as to bring out the highlights, yet the rhythm of the playing, that is to say the rhythm of the actions within the shots, will assert itself. There can be little point in cutting out a few frames here and there to accelerate a sequence, if the scene itself is played at a slow tempo.
It is important that we should not give the impression that the creation of an appropriate rhythm is merely a negative concern, something that will come of its own accord provided the actors'
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