In Cinema, Editing Is Also Called “The Invisible Art.”

In cinema, editing is also called “the invisible art.” For our purposes, think of “the gutter” as “the edit.” The edit is at the very heart of cinema! According to Soviet “Montage is an idea that montage theory, to edit arises from the collision of between two different shots independent thoughts.” creates a collision of ideas. Soviet Montage Theory (1920s) Another Resilient Ancient P.O.V. Montage is French for “assembly.” The montage technique is one that implies no real temporal continuity whatsoever. Montage is achieved with a collection of symbolically related images, cut together in a way that suggests psychological relationships rather a temporal continuum. Methods of montage Methods of montage Metric - where the editing follows a specific number of frames (based purely on the physical nature of time), cutting to the next shot no matter what is happening within the image. This montage is used to elicit the most basal and emotional of reactions in the audience. Metric montage example from Eisenstein's October. Rhythmic - includes cutting based on continuity, creating visual continuity from edit to edit. Rhythmic montage example from Il Buono, il Brutto, il Cattivo where the protagonist and the two antagonists face off in a three-way duel Another rhythmic montage example from The Battleship Potemkin's "Odessa steps" sequence. Tonal - a tonal montage uses the emotional meaning of the shots -- not just manipulating the temporal length of the cuts or its rhythmical characteristics -- to elicit a reaction from the audience even more complex than from the metric or rhythmic montage. For example, a sleeping baby would emote calmness and relaxation. Tonal example from Eisenstein's The Battleship Potemkin. This is the clip following the death of the revolutionary sailor Vakulinchuk, a martyr for sailors and workers. Overtonal/Associational - the overtonal montage is the cumulation of metric, rhythmic, and tonal montage to synthesize its effect on the audience for an even more abstract and complicated effect. Overtonal example from Pudovkin's Mother. In this clip, the men are workers walking towards a confrontation at their factory, and later in the movie, the protagonist uses ice as a means of escape. Intellectual - uses shots which, combined, elicit an intellectual meaning. ~ Intellectual montage examples from Eisenstein's October and Strike. In Strike, a shot of striking workers being attacked cut with a shot of a bull being slaughtered creates a film metaphor suggesting that the workers are being treated like cattle. This meaning does not exist in the individual shots; it only arises when they are juxtaposed. ~ In The Godfather, during Michael's nephew's baptism, the priest performs the sacrament of baptism while we see killings ordered by Michael take place elsewhere. The murders thus "baptize" Michael into a life of crime. ~ At the end of Apocalypse Now the execution of Colonel Kurtz is juxtaposed with the villagers' ritual slaughter of a water buffalo..... Source: Wikipedia American/Hollywood Continuity Editing “Cut to the Chase!” Something to remember: Movies can be broken down into acts, which can be divided into scenes, which are sequences made up of shots. American (Hollywood Classical) continuity editing tries to maintain temporal continuity and spatial continuity in a scene. To preserve temporal continuity, avoid using ellipsis [what Scott McCloud calls “closure”], keep using continuous diegetic sound [i.e., recorded dialogue and room noises, not added music score], and make sure flow of action matches between shots [matched action]. The simplest way to maintain temporal continuity is to shoot and use all action involved in the story's supposed duration whether it be pertinent or not. It would also be necessary to shoot the whole film in one take in order to keep from having to edit together different shots, causing the viewer's temporal disorientation. However, in a story which is to occupy many hours, days, or years, a viewer would have to spend too long watching the film. Thus, ellipsis proves necessary to get to the point, remove the bad or slow bits, cut to the big moments. Sometimes, it is a simple edit. Other times we see a montage, a sequence to condense space, time, and information. American montage, unlike Soviet montage, is usually used to suggest the passage of time, rather than to create symbolic meaning. American cinema exhibits discontinuous editing in order to psychologically (emotionally) affect the audience. This kind of editing does not involve visual metaphors. Although individual American films can be analyzed as containers of iconography and analogies in part or whole, they rarely display symbolic editing. Why? Some scholars believe Classical Hollywood style came as a result of the bottom line, making movies easier for audience to understand and thereby making more money Sources: Wikipedia Bordwell, Staiger, Thomson. Classical Hollywood Style. .

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