Editing in trailers

Broadly we have learnt - Continuity = engages audience

emotionally eg camera placement in subway in This Is England involves us in scene with Woody from a perspective we associate with Shaun

Montage = compression of events eg b and w stills of Shaun’s initiation ritual

Graphic relations between Shot A and Shot B

Rhythmic relations between Shot A and Shot B

Spatial relations between Shot A and Shot B

Temporal relations between Shot A and Shot B

Dimensions of Film Editing

Continuity Editing

Graphic continuity Smoothly continuous from shot to shot Figures are balanced and symmetrically

composed in frame Overall lighting tonality remains constant Action occupies central zone of the frame

Rhythmic continuity Dependent on camera distance of the shot

Long shots last longer than medium shots that last longer than close-up shots

Spatial Continuity Editing

180 degree rule Ensures that relative

positions in the frame remain consistent

Ensures consistent eyelines (i.e., gaze vectors)

Ensures consistent screen direction (i.e., direction of character movement within the frame)

Use of 180 Degree Rule

Establishing shot to establish axis of action Sequence of shot/reverse shots

Focuses our attention on character reactions Eyeline match reinforces spatial continuity

(Kuleshov Effect) Match on action reinforces spatial continuity Following 180 degree rule allows “cheat cuts” Continuity of action can override violations of

180 degree rule

Temporal Continuity Editing

Temporal order Forwardly sequential except for

occasional use of flashbacks signaled by a dissolve or cut

Temporal duration (seldom expanded) Usually in a scene plot duration equals

story duration Punctuation (dissolves, wipes, fades),

empty frames, and cutaways can elide time in shot and scene transitions

Montage sequences can compress time

Metric Montage       a series of images flashed on the screen

at more or less equally spaced intervals      establishes a rhythm to the structure

of your production      accelerated metric montage = when

the shots become progressively shorter –   to give the sense of a quickening

pace

Todorov – Conventional linear narrative

Equilibrium - Disturbance - New equilibrium

Eg Film - Happy with Skins/ Enter Combo/ Shaun grows up

Does the trailer show all of these stages?

Montage and its uses

Montage Theory – key pointsShot context affects shot meaning

The shot before affects the shot afterShot context affects shot meaning

The shot after affects the shot beforeShot order affects shot meaning

The Kuleshov experiment

“Kuleshov and I made an interesting experiment. We took from some film or other several close-ups of the well-known Russian actor Mosjukhin. We chose close-ups which were static and which did not express any feeling at all—quiet close-ups. We joined these close-ups, which were all similar with other bits of film in three different combinations. In the first combination the close-up of Mosjukhin was immediately followed by a shot of a plate of soup standing on a table. It was obvious and certain that Mosjukhin was looking at this soup. In the second combination the face of Mosjukhin was joined to shots showing a coffin in which lay a dead woman. In the third the close-up was followed by a shot of a little girl playing with a funny toy bear. When we showed the three combinations to an audience which had not been let into the secret the result was terrific. The public raved about the acting of the artist. They pointed out the heavy pensiveness of his mood over the forgotten soup, were touched and moved by the deep sorrow with which he looked on the dead woman, and admired the light, happy smile with which he surveyed the girl at play. But we knew that in all cases the face was exactly the same.”

Video clip

Editing for Discontinuity     Viewers can adjust to discontinuity

editing within a particular media system.      Viewers can eventually come to

recognize discontinuity editing in a number of films, thus making it appear more conventional.

     Discontinuity editing can (and often does) result in narrative ambiguity.

–   Many viewers of narrative films do not appreciate cinematic ambiguity.

     However, mainstream audiences have become quite familiar with discontinuity editing in non-narrative media productions.

–   commercials –   music videos –   avant-garde productions –   movie trailers (previews

Why is ambiguity important

Barthes enigma code It structures the plot by asking a series of major

and minor questions which keep the viewer’s interest in the plot and governs the sense of mystery and suspense. There may be false leads and delays to answering the major enigmas, though the ending usually provides closure and answers to at least some of the questions.

Eg major will Shaun opt for Woody or Combo? Minor – will he stay with Smell? Your trailer can create such enigmas through use

of montage/ discontinuity

Conclusions

Creation of narrative ambiguity via discontinuty editing creates enigmas which the audience pay to discover the answer to

Eg Will Shaun be a racist? Some continuity in scenes (highlights)

suggest the narrative order of events Eg Woody “Here’s someone I’d like you to

meet…”introduces Combo to gang and marks them as significant/ key scenes