Unit 21: Film Editing Techniques
Videos Used:
- Battleship Potemkin: The Complete Odessa Steps Sequence
- Way Down East - DW Griffith
- Parallel Editing in "The Silence of the Lambs"
- Rocky III Training montage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4soF2wigKSM
- Team America - spoof montage
Continuity and Non-continuity Editing
Editing is possibly the most important part of filmmaking, more than cinematography, or audio, scriptwriting or casting, the most important thing is how the creation is going to be put together, how the director would want the film to look and how to put certain ideas into the heads of the viewers. Continuity editing is the most common use of film editing in the entire history of cinema, this is the use of the using clips to give the illusion that they are happening and filmed continuously after one another, the purpose of this is to give the audience the illusion that each shot is filmed exactly after the last shot, therefore, it seems fluent and normal, like a normal conversation, however in most cases, these scenes uses single camera techniques and the camera would be flipped around to the other side to take another shot along the 180 degree line and there would be a lot of stops after one another, this is prone to a lot of errors in-between shots to try and get the best shot, such as the infamous prison scene from goodfellas, where in-between shots of the two adults talking we see the brightly colored children's building blocks in different arrangements after every shot, this can ruin immersion and snap the viewer back into reality once it has been noticed that it is obvious that each shot is filmed individually between shots.
Non- continuity editing is basically as it sounds, it is the use of using shots within scenes or the entire film but using them in non-chronological order, or if the story is told that way, this is more knowingly used in Tarantino films Reservoir Dogs & Pulp Fiction, as both films are told in a non-chronological order, the purpose of this is very interesting based on the narrative, although it does make the audience question the movie a lot more, this time thinking could be spend wisely being properly invested in the film, pulp fiction does this absolutely perfectly, mixing each scene up and eventually revealing all as the film goes along, ending the film just as the beginning sequence commences, completing a whole 360 in the storyline, there isn't any interesting twists, but it does intrigue the viewer how each character ended up in that situation that has been shown, and makes the audience want to watch on to see just how the film reveals the story, this is a lot more creative than the usual narrative, and could possibly be why pulp fiction is held as one of the most creative production pieces of modern cinema.
With you all now caught up on the meanings of the terms continuity and non - continuity. I will now analyze scenes from different films of different genres and compare and extract key information from them, based on their use of editing.
Battleship Potemkin: The Complete Odessa Steps Sequence
In this Scene, we see a montage of a horrific massacre by a army of soldiers, opening fire into a crowd of people, as they fall down and are trampled by those running away from the gunfire down the stairs, everyone is out for their own survival except for those who try to intervene the situation and try and show some humanity to those brutally murdering their people. This sequence and movie was directed by Sergei Eisenstein, one of the most famous within the silent film genre in the 1920's & 30's, and this scene is one of his greatest. He tweaks it with so much emotion, fear and excitement and mashes them together for the duration of the sequence. The constant mixing between long shots and close ups take you
into the event that we are watching and then takes you out of it with long wide shots of the stairs that are scattered with bodies, is sort of like we are being plunged under water and taken back up for air, it is very emotional through the whole sequence as we are forced to live through such a tragedy. We follow the experience of a young boy and his mother, as everyone flees down the stairs, we are forced to witness a small child get shot, trapped and then trampled by the crowds, we see multiple close ups of his mother standing watching as he is
The use of montage in the rocky series is one of the most iconic uses of montage and continuity editing in cinema history. Originally created for the film series by director John G. Avildsen, Rocky 3 was directed by lead actor Sylvester Stallone. The use of a montage is to
signify a passing of time using fast-paced editing to condense a lot of information into a short space of time, typically used in rocky to show the audience that the boxer is " Getting Stronger " and the audience doesn't feel like they have missed anything crucial, because the character has been shown training for the duration of the 3 minute scene, full of different angles and shots to show how intense the character has had to endure during training and this convinces the audience that the character has gotten to a certain point and a reach of their goal, potentially taking a huge jump in the characters story arc, reaching a point where the audience would believe that Rocky is ready for his fight due to the motivation of Apollo Creed and his wife Adrian. The most memorable and reoccuring moment of the scene is probably the shot in slow motion of the two boxers training, running on the beach. At the start we aren't totally convinced by Rocky's motivation, when he is running he doesn't look as motivated as he should be but as the montage cuts to Rocky fighting and pushing himself harder and harder, the cheesy music intensifies and we have more faith in Rocky as an audience wanting him to succeed, by the end, the beach is shown again, previously shown from his face uncomfortably running in a close up shot, but by the end he pushes himself more and more and beats Creed in the race, signifying the end of the montage and the music cuts out, this pumps the excitement and adrenaline into the fight, motivating us and ready to take on the final fight, despite us not being in the film. The use of this is so impactful and is used in every Rocky film since as its trademark.
As this is a common theme in pop culture, many other movies have used montages in this style in their own productions to signify a passing of time, one of the most well known copies is in 2004's Team America World Police written and directed by the South Park Creators Trey Park and Matt Stone. As we already could guess, this movie is a parody of most cheesy 80's action films, using puppets as the main actors and using their voice over for the cast. The movie breaks the 4th wall during its montage, even mentioning that " Even Rocky Had A Montage!" and tells the audience through satire, the meaning of montages and what they are used for, stating that they are used to show a passing of time, whilst showing the crucial parts of the characters development, and even though it isn't entirely serious about this, it does really work as it shows just how affective a training montage, or even a montage in general can be, and i think that is really smart from the Director, addressing to the audience their intentions really gives the audience the knowledge and for those aware, a good look at the codes and conventions of a typical montage sequence. Throughout the scene, there are multiple edits with different slides such as split screens and different cut aways, they all look over the top and cheesy however they totally work as they fit in with the music, many parts of the montage can be compared to rocky, from the cheesy 80's music to the training scenes, which shows that during this quick progression in this passing of time, we see that both characters are physically improving not only physically, but they are now more mentally motivated to move onto their next task, and this is clear to see from the audience watching on.
With you all now caught up on the meanings of the terms continuity and non - continuity. I will now analyze scenes from different films of different genres and compare and extract key information from them, based on their use of editing.
Battleship Potemkin: The Complete Odessa Steps Sequence
In this Scene, we see a montage of a horrific massacre by a army of soldiers, opening fire into a crowd of people, as they fall down and are trampled by those running away from the gunfire down the stairs, everyone is out for their own survival except for those who try to intervene the situation and try and show some humanity to those brutally murdering their people. This sequence and movie was directed by Sergei Eisenstein, one of the most famous within the silent film genre in the 1920's & 30's, and this scene is one of his greatest. He tweaks it with so much emotion, fear and excitement and mashes them together for the duration of the sequence. The constant mixing between long shots and close ups take you
into the event that we are watching and then takes you out of it with long wide shots of the stairs that are scattered with bodies, is sort of like we are being plunged under water and taken back up for air, it is very emotional through the whole sequence as we are forced to live through such a tragedy. We follow the experience of a young boy and his mother, as everyone flees down the stairs, we are forced to witness a small child get shot, trapped and then trampled by the crowds, we see multiple close ups of his mother standing watching as he is
overwhelmed and then crushed to death, her face is close up to the camera, her background is blurred, all the audience is able to see is the horror of what she is witnessing, she cries as the music gets louder and louder to signify the the loud screaming and pain that is felt by many other victims there. The brutality of this really shows how tragic this massacre was and how it holds no mercy. She picks up her son and takes him up the stairs, changing the tempo as everybody is quickly fleeing down in very quick cuts, we see her slowly making her way up the stairs in different long shots, some behind her and some behind the soldiers, never is the camera directly in the middle of the two groups, symbolizing that we know that this not going to end well for the woman, where she is standing is no mans land, and she will be struck down without hesitation, and as result, this is exactly what happens.
Potentially the most iconic part of this sequence is the babys pram falling down the stairs. Near the middle of the stairs, we see a young mother with her child in a pram, she is helpless, panicking looking for someone to help her and her child to get down the stairs, but as i said before, everyone is out for themselves, soon after she is shot, and her lifeless body pushes her baby's pram down the flight of stairs. The panic is heightened as it builds up more and more speed, cutting quicker between the pram, and two onlookers from further away, watching as the pram decends, a young man in a hidden position and an old woman, I am unaware of their ties to the baby, but for moralitys sake, i think they are just horrified at what they are seeing. The camera closes up on the wheels of the pram to the face of the woman back and forth before it gets quicker before eventually, the pram tips, potentially killing the child and the woman getting shot in the face, the woman is in shot for alot longer before the scene cuts out and ends, finishing one of the most tragic scenes in Movie history. This scene has inspired many other films such as in the Untouchables where a shootout happens on a stairset and the baby is caught in the middle of it all, and this is parodied by The Naked Gun. I believe the baby represents how vulnerable the people in these scenes are, that even in cinema to this day, a hero always saves the day and would save the baby like in the untouchables but in those times, they were used to mass genocides and massacres so to kill a baby was not only to increase emotion, but it was really a common occurance back then. This scene has used a mix of continuity editing with parallel Editing
as itis one event but it focuses on many people at different times during their experience with the massacre.
Parallel Editing in " Way Down East"
Way Down East was a Film Production recorded in the very early 1900's, way before Battleship Potemkin. Directed by D.W.Griffith, the scene in particular investigates parallel editing, a technique of continuity editing,
focusing on a man trying to save a woman trapped unconscious on an iceberg about to drop down a waterfall where she will be killed. I am unaware what this film is about or what attachment the two characters have, but we see that the man is very frightened at the sight of her about to plummet to her death, so he desides to jump from ice berg to ice berg to pick her up and take her to safety just before she fell, to increase the anxiety and excitement for the character as it was just by the skin of their teeth that he picked her up and saved her life. The whole scene focuses on three things, The mans attempts to get over to the waterfall, the woman helplessly lies on an iceberg to her demise, and the currents picking up with the icebergs moving faster and faster. The constant edits of both the man and the woman struggling helplessly trying to beg for help, really shows the level of risk that this man is taking and how much is willing to sacrifice for her, including his life. I can suspect that the two know eachother in some way. Due to the close ups to medium shots of each other, we can see that time is running out for the woman, and the man potentially if he gets there in time.
This use of Parallel editing was one of the first of its kind, as this type of production was never really explored in this much depth, watching this scene back really makes you think how limited technology was back then and how this scene was filmed back in 1908, it truely is amazing how far we have come and even how something like this was shot back then when health and safety was just brushed off the shoulder. This really shows the genius of Griffith's directorial ideas, he really was one of the founding fathers of film. Now, the use of parallel editing is the use of two or more scenes and switching them around so that they follow the same story or timing of events, even though they dont focus on the same person, just like we saw in Battleship Potemkin, and this is used in this case, to focus on the emotions of both characters and they arent aware of eachothers thoughts until the very end when he saves her.
Parallel Editing in " The Silence Of The Lambs "
The Silence of The Lambs is my favourite movie of all time, and looking back on what makes it so great, it is clear to see why. From having such memorable and complex characters to the fantastic story, but i think it mainly comes down to Jonathan Demmes use of cinematography and Editing. In this scene in particular, we have watched the whole film about these the main character Clarice and the police force trying to investigate a murder and a disapearance of a woman. Just as we believe that the police force and swat team are about to arrest the Serial Killer Buffalo Bill, we see that they are at the wrong house and Clarice is the one dealing with bill. What is so amazing about this scene is the pacing just going from one scene to the other without us even realising until we have the whole scene switched up on us, with the use of parallel editing. Just like in Way Down East, we are following a story happening at the exact same time but following two peoples point of view, Clarice's and the police, after we see that she is with Bill, we fear for the characters safety, this change in momentum of this small twist brings the sequence to a halt and brings a whole lot of dramatic tension to the film, as we know that this man is the evil killer that they are after, but Clarice is unaware until she enters his home. This use of parallel editing that links the two together, is executed perfectly, the continuity match up very well and we are easily following the story without having the chore of thinking that we are missing key information.
In the beginning of the scene we are introduced to the FBI and Buffalo Bill, both in exciting positions to the audience, we are led to believe that the police are about to take down Bill and the Film would come to an end, an underwhelming end, but an ending nevertheless, we see the police strategically planning their entrance and Buffalo Bill trying to get his beloved dog back from his kidnap victim, she has him held hostage, threatening to kill the one life he truly cares about, this sends him crazy as the editing momentum goes quicker and quicker to build a level of tension in the scene. As the decoy rings the bell, an alarm dings in the basement twice matching in continuity to the man ringing the bell, we are led to believe that this is Bills home and he will be taken down. Bill answers the door, we expect it to be the decoy, but who else opens the door, but Clarice. The police enter the house and find nothing, the FBI then panic as they discover that Clarice in danger, hinting at the chance they could be on their way to aid Clarice, but as the dialogue goes on we discover that it may be too late and that Clarice may be at risk.
To compare Parallel editing between The Silence Of The Lambs and Way Down East, first we have to find out how they both work out, in both films we are both following two people, Clarice and the FBI agent in The Silence Of The Lambs and the man and the woman in Way Down East. Both are in dangerous situations that could result in death and both flow perfectly, in Way Down East, we are thrown directly into the scene and throughout the entirety, we feel nervous whereas in The Silence Of The Lambs, we are confident that the situation is under control until the tables have turned and we have the lower ground once again. At least we have happy ending to the scene in Way Down East, with the man carrying her away but it is the complete opposite in the silence of the lambs as we end the scene fearing for her safety, beautifully portraying both scene flawlessly.
Use Of Montage In Rocky & Copycats
Potentially the most iconic part of this sequence is the babys pram falling down the stairs. Near the middle of the stairs, we see a young mother with her child in a pram, she is helpless, panicking looking for someone to help her and her child to get down the stairs, but as i said before, everyone is out for themselves, soon after she is shot, and her lifeless body pushes her baby's pram down the flight of stairs. The panic is heightened as it builds up more and more speed, cutting quicker between the pram, and two onlookers from further away, watching as the pram decends, a young man in a hidden position and an old woman, I am unaware of their ties to the baby, but for moralitys sake, i think they are just horrified at what they are seeing. The camera closes up on the wheels of the pram to the face of the woman back and forth before it gets quicker before eventually, the pram tips, potentially killing the child and the woman getting shot in the face, the woman is in shot for alot longer before the scene cuts out and ends, finishing one of the most tragic scenes in Movie history. This scene has inspired many other films such as in the Untouchables where a shootout happens on a stairset and the baby is caught in the middle of it all, and this is parodied by The Naked Gun. I believe the baby represents how vulnerable the people in these scenes are, that even in cinema to this day, a hero always saves the day and would save the baby like in the untouchables but in those times, they were used to mass genocides and massacres so to kill a baby was not only to increase emotion, but it was really a common occurance back then. This scene has used a mix of continuity editing with parallel Editingas itis one event but it focuses on many people at different times during their experience with the massacre.
Parallel Editing in " Way Down East"
Way Down East was a Film Production recorded in the very early 1900's, way before Battleship Potemkin. Directed by D.W.Griffith, the scene in particular investigates parallel editing, a technique of continuity editing,focusing on a man trying to save a woman trapped unconscious on an iceberg about to drop down a waterfall where she will be killed. I am unaware what this film is about or what attachment the two characters have, but we see that the man is very frightened at the sight of her about to plummet to her death, so he desides to jump from ice berg to ice berg to pick her up and take her to safety just before she fell, to increase the anxiety and excitement for the character as it was just by the skin of their teeth that he picked her up and saved her life. The whole scene focuses on three things, The mans attempts to get over to the waterfall, the woman helplessly lies on an iceberg to her demise, and the currents picking up with the icebergs moving faster and faster. The constant edits of both the man and the woman struggling helplessly trying to beg for help, really shows the level of risk that this man is taking and how much is willing to sacrifice for her, including his life. I can suspect that the two know eachother in some way. Due to the close ups to medium shots of each other, we can see that time is running out for the woman, and the man potentially if he gets there in time.
This use of Parallel editing was one of the first of its kind, as this type of production was never really explored in this much depth, watching this scene back really makes you think how limited technology was back then and how this scene was filmed back in 1908, it truely is amazing how far we have come and even how something like this was shot back then when health and safety was just brushed off the shoulder. This really shows the genius of Griffith's directorial ideas, he really was one of the founding fathers of film. Now, the use of parallel editing is the use of two or more scenes and switching them around so that they follow the same story or timing of events, even though they dont focus on the same person, just like we saw in Battleship Potemkin, and this is used in this case, to focus on the emotions of both characters and they arent aware of eachothers thoughts until the very end when he saves her.
Parallel Editing in " The Silence Of The Lambs "
The Silence of The Lambs is my favourite movie of all time, and looking back on what makes it so great, it is clear to see why. From having such memorable and complex characters to the fantastic story, but i think it mainly comes down to Jonathan Demmes use of cinematography and Editing. In this scene in particular, we have watched the whole film about these the main character Clarice and the police force trying to investigate a murder and a disapearance of a woman. Just as we believe that the police force and swat team are about to arrest the Serial Killer Buffalo Bill, we see that they are at the wrong house and Clarice is the one dealing with bill. What is so amazing about this scene is the pacing just going from one scene to the other without us even realising until we have the whole scene switched up on us, with the use of parallel editing. Just like in Way Down East, we are following a story happening at the exact same time but following two peoples point of view, Clarice's and the police, after we see that she is with Bill, we fear for the characters safety, this change in momentum of this small twist brings the sequence to a halt and brings a whole lot of dramatic tension to the film, as we know that this man is the evil killer that they are after, but Clarice is unaware until she enters his home. This use of parallel editing that links the two together, is executed perfectly, the continuity match up very well and we are easily following the story without having the chore of thinking that we are missing key information.
In the beginning of the scene we are introduced to the FBI and Buffalo Bill, both in exciting positions to the audience, we are led to believe that the police are about to take down Bill and the Film would come to an end, an underwhelming end, but an ending nevertheless, we see the police strategically planning their entrance and Buffalo Bill trying to get his beloved dog back from his kidnap victim, she has him held hostage, threatening to kill the one life he truly cares about, this sends him crazy as the editing momentum goes quicker and quicker to build a level of tension in the scene. As the decoy rings the bell, an alarm dings in the basement twice matching in continuity to the man ringing the bell, we are led to believe that this is Bills home and he will be taken down. Bill answers the door, we expect it to be the decoy, but who else opens the door, but Clarice. The police enter the house and find nothing, the FBI then panic as they discover that Clarice in danger, hinting at the chance they could be on their way to aid Clarice, but as the dialogue goes on we discover that it may be too late and that Clarice may be at risk.
To compare Parallel editing between The Silence Of The Lambs and Way Down East, first we have to find out how they both work out, in both films we are both following two people, Clarice and the FBI agent in The Silence Of The Lambs and the man and the woman in Way Down East. Both are in dangerous situations that could result in death and both flow perfectly, in Way Down East, we are thrown directly into the scene and throughout the entirety, we feel nervous whereas in The Silence Of The Lambs, we are confident that the situation is under control until the tables have turned and we have the lower ground once again. At least we have happy ending to the scene in Way Down East, with the man carrying her away but it is the complete opposite in the silence of the lambs as we end the scene fearing for her safety, beautifully portraying both scene flawlessly.
Use Of Montage In Rocky & Copycats
The use of montage in the rocky series is one of the most iconic uses of montage and continuity editing in cinema history. Originally created for the film series by director John G. Avildsen, Rocky 3 was directed by lead actor Sylvester Stallone. The use of a montage is to
As this is a common theme in pop culture, many other movies have used montages in this style in their own productions to signify a passing of time, one of the most well known copies is in 2004's Team America World Police written and directed by the South Park Creators Trey Park and Matt Stone. As we already could guess, this movie is a parody of most cheesy 80's action films, using puppets as the main actors and using their voice over for the cast. The movie breaks the 4th wall during its montage, even mentioning that " Even Rocky Had A Montage!" and tells the audience through satire, the meaning of montages and what they are used for, stating that they are used to show a passing of time, whilst showing the crucial parts of the characters development, and even though it isn't entirely serious about this, it does really work as it shows just how affective a training montage, or even a montage in general can be, and i think that is really smart from the Director, addressing to the audience their intentions really gives the audience the knowledge and for those aware, a good look at the codes and conventions of a typical montage sequence. Throughout the scene, there are multiple edits with different slides such as split screens and different cut aways, they all look over the top and cheesy however they totally work as they fit in with the music, many parts of the montage can be compared to rocky, from the cheesy 80's music to the training scenes, which shows that during this quick progression in this passing of time, we see that both characters are physically improving not only physically, but they are now more mentally motivated to move onto their next task, and this is clear to see from the audience watching on.
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