AS1: Task 12: Transitions and Effects

Transition and Effects

Style of Editing:

 The movement from one shot to the next is called a transition. Different transitions suggest different ideas to the audience. It is therefore really important to choose the right one.

Straight Cut:

 A straight cut is the most common and "invisible" form of transition. One shot moves instantaneously to the next without attracting the audience's attention. 

Straight cuts help to retain reality. They are used in continuity editing as they do not break the viewers suspension of disbelief.

Dissolves:

A dissolve fades one shot off the screen while another shot is fading in. The audience will be able to see both shots at the mid-point of the shots dissolves suggest that the shots are connected in some way. It might be two characters, places or objects. It might also suggest that some time has passed between the two shots.

Fades:

 A fade is a bit like a dissolve but instead of dissolving one shot into another. A fade is a gradual darkening or lightening of an image until the screen becomes black or white.

 A fade indicates the start or end of a particular section of time within the narrative.

 The fades used in this music video is seen when the video turn blank for a few seconds and it went back to them again. From duration 0.09 seconds.

Wipes:

 A wipe is quite an unusual transition. It is when one image is pushed off the screen by another.    Images can be pushed in any direction but it is more common for the image to be pushed off the left-hand side. This movement is more consistent with the sense of time moving forward.

 A wipe signals the audience that they are being shown different locations that are experiencing the same time. A visual equivalent of saying "meanwhile..."

Here is an example of a transitional wipes:

 Graphic Match:

  A graphic match is a very specialised type of transition. It is not something an editor ads between two shots but more a decision about which two shots to put next to each other.

 A graphic match is created when two shots similar in shape are placed next to each other. The graphic match tells the audience that there is very important link between whatever it is they are seeing in two shots.

Here is what a graphic match looks like in a film:

This is the graphic match that we see from Psycho. We can see that it matches the circular image of the plughole with the next image of Marion's eye.

Another example where graphic match is used is in the film called 'War of the World'.

The film 'War of the World' used graphic match twice. The graphic match in this film will be seen in the beginning. From the rain droplet on the leaf to the earth and from the sun to the red traffic light.

Another film who used graphic match is the famous film called 'Space Odyssey'. This film used graphic to show the past to future.

Manipulation of Diegetic Time and Space:

Diegetic= In the World of the text

Non-Diegetic= Outside the world i.e films, computer games

Non-diegetic:

- The characters can't hear their own music but the audience can.

- Some transitions can be included as a non-diegetic

- Subtitles and credits in the beginning

Diegetic:

- If characters playing music

- Off Screen 

 Editing "effects" are really important part of film making. They allow a filmmaker to very effectively manipulate of diegetic time and space. For example:

Wizard of Oz

•  To show that a time period has changed in a flashback/forward
•  To show a location is different
•  To show that time is moving quicker or slower than normal

 The wizard of Oz is an example of manipulating time and space because this movie effect goes from black and white colour effect to technicolor. (Technicolor was first used in 1960's).

 An effect can be something really simple such as using a colour or remove it. Or it could be altering the saturation of an image to either enhance the colour or remove it. Making an image black and white is often used for flashbacks. For example: Momento

 The movie 'Magic Mike' used time and space by changing the filter colour of one scene. (as seen from one figure above). They used yellow filter to show different times.

  There are many different effects that can be added in the post production stage (editing). One of the most common technique is alter the speed of the footage.

  A films which uses this technique is The Time Machine. The time traveler enters the time machine and the environment changes as he travels through time

  A more modern  version of this effect is seen in the third of the Harry Potter films. The sequence using layering and altering the speed of the image.

                                                         Harry Potter Time Turner scene

AS1: Task 11: Creating Pace with Cross Cutting

Creating Pace with Cross Cutting

 Editing is vital in creating a sense of pace within a sequence.

 Our Task:

Our task is to film and edit a short sequence in which two characters are approaching each other from different locations.

 We are to film in a small group and we are to assign the following roles:

• Director: Diana and Jasmine
• Camera Operator: Diana
• 2 X Actors: Bradley, Shivam, Samuel

 We are to use the pace of the editing to make it clear to the audience that they are about to meet. The pace of editing should be slower and the start when they are far apart and the pace should increase as they get closer.

  Using our editing skills we have included the use of pace within our video. We started our video in a normal speed and this speed continues until the characters are still at the classroom. From what I did, I had the video we had filmed to go from normal speed then increase speed quite a bit to show something's coming/ something's wrong then go back to normal pace again.

 In the scene when the two characters meet up outside the classroom, I had the speed quicken to show something went wrong. And another scene where i had the pace quicken was when i showed the 'drug' on the floor and then the teacher comes out right after the second it had appeared.

Plot:

The idea for this sequence is that there's two friends who are into 'drugs' and they go to school with it. Bradley and Samuel came in late to their lesson and they were to explain themselves to their teacher, Shivam. In class, they were talking about what they were going to do later on and one of them, Samuel, decided to head out first but to be able to get out of the class he will need the permission from his teacher. On his way out, he went and gave Bradley a signal to show that he needs to follow him. Few minutes after, Bradley asked his teacher, Shivam, if he can go to the toilet but his actually going to follow Samuel. 

When they were out of class, they drop the 'drug' without noticing and when the teacher came out of the classroom, he picked up the 'drug' and heard his students, Bradley and Samuel, talking about it and they were in trouble.

  

AS1: Task 10: Understanding Pace

Understanding Pace

Speed Editing:

In a film each scene may last a matter of seconds, or it could continue for minutes but the length of each sequence establishes the pace of the film moving the action along.  The speed of editing will help to determine the mood of what is taking place on the screen.

Speed of Editing- Creating Pace:

  If the audience is to feel anxiety and suspense the editing will be quick - the scenes/shots changing frequently. 

This is an example in an action sequence:

                                                         The Bourne Ultimatum

  The Bourne Ultimatum is an example of a fast pace because it shows lots of different scenes that  last either a matter or seconds or continue for a minutes. You can see that this scene goes really quick from scene to another.

Speed of Editing- Creating Pace:

 If a relaxed mood is desired, the scenes last longer and change less frequently.

Here is an example in a romantic comedy.

 In contrast, The Notebook is different to The Bourne Ultimatum since The Notebook is much slower and last longer since the director of that film would like to have their audience to feel relaxed. And by doing that, they are to make the scene slower and last more than a minute.

Speed of Editing:

 Nevertheless a film need not have any editing. The film Russian Ark was filmed in one take using a steadicam and a digital camera. This required split-second timing and organisation.

Steadicam- A lightweight mounting for a film camera which keeps it steady for filming when handheld or moving.

          

                                    

 The Russian Ark didn't have any editing in use since they film it using the steadicam and a digital camera. This is a continuos movie. Every character(s) are to stay in the exact same place while being film otherwise they will have to start from the very beginning.

Speed of Editing:

 A trailer for a film needs to pack in detail from throughout the film. Therefore the editing will be very fast. 

 

 The Catching Fire is an example of a film that has a very fast  pace because the trailer of Catching Fire contains lots of editing which is why there are lots of different scenes in a few minutes. They have compressed the film to turn it into a trailer.

Speed of Editing:

 Try and view the extract from Pyscho where Marion (Janet Leigh) has checked into the Bates Motel and is about to take a shower..

 The Pyscho film had lots of editing before and during the attacks. Around 11-12 edits are done before the attack happen and about 17-20+ edits are done during the attacks. However, during the attack it didn't show the face of the killer and we didn't see where the woman was being stabbed.

Speed of Editing:

 Scenes at the beginning of a film- as it begins to tell its story- must be long enough for us to be able to understand where we are and what is going on. It also slow to introduce the main character(s). As the film progresses scenes may become shorter as the editing cuts between telling two or more story lines at the same time.

Cross Cutting:

 To cross-cut is to edit together two sequences that the audience need to know are connected in some way. Something is happening at the same time in different locations. A character reliving a memory

Developing Drama:

 Cross cutting can be used to very effectively develop a sense of drama. In the film called 'Scream' the death of Casey in the opening of scene was made more dramatic by the cross cutting to her parents approaching and almost making it home in time to save her.

  The cross cut in this scene is when Casey's parents are inside the house and it jumps to the scene where Casey was continually being stabbed while her parents were looking for her. 

Cross Cutting: 

 In the Film called "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly"  we can see how the cross-cut comes in. The film had started really slow until the scene when 3 characters are in their position. It still continue with a slow pace until the scene whey they were showing the gun slowly.  As time goes by, the pace speeds up until we can only see their eyes creating eye-on match

                                                  The Good, The bad and The Ugly

AS1: Task 9: Non-continuity

Non-Continuity Editing

 Non-Continuity Editing:

- Continuity is broken and construction is more apparent. Meaning often created through juxtaposition and metaphor shot inserts.

- Non-Continuity Editing is a style of film making that was made popular throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Filmmakers such as Jean Luc Godard ad Francois created a new style called "French New Wave". 

The French New Wave films used a carefree editing style and did not conform to the traditional editing etiquette of Hollywood films.

The French New Wave editing often drew attention to itself by its lack of continuity, its self-reflexive nature (reminding the audience that they were watching a film). They often used material not often related to any narrative which kept the audience surprised and intrigued.

Jump Cut:

- A jump cut is mainly used in films or television. It is an abrupt transition form one scene to another.

This is what a jump cut looks like in a cartoon version:

 This cartoon shows a man walking through the rain and  each slide shows different place of where the man is standing. From the beginning, middle and end we have seen the use of jump cut from this cartoon version of jump cut.

A Bout de Souffle (Breathless)- Jean-Luc Godard - Jump cut:

 

Jump cut from this scene (in the left) to the scene with the mirror (in the right)

• The gap in action (when Seberg picked up the mirror) is emphasised by the use of a jump cut.

 Jump Cut is used to:

• Startle the viewer
• Draw attention to something 
• Speeds up the action
• Create Urgency

Here is the video clip of A Bout de Souffle (Breathless) showing the use of jump cuts.

                                                      A Bout de Souffle (Breathless)

  There had been around 11 jump cuts used in this film and that it shows that it's effective to use to jump cuts especially when your showing someone travelling. It is better to use jump cuts rather than a continuity editing because it will make your film longer if you use continuity editing.

Another example of a film where they have used the jump cut in the film called "E.T". The jump cut in this film is when they illustrate the shock on Elliot's face.

Here is the video clip of the film called "E.T" showing the use of jump cuts.

                                                             Extra Terrestrial (E.T)

The jump cut in this scene is when they were being chased and they've shown Elliot's face. Instead of just zooming in to Elliot's face, they use jump cuts to make it more effective.

Breaking the 180 Degree Rule:

Breaking the 180 degree rule is part of a non-continuity editing. They have ignored the 180 Degree Rule and there are still lots of modern film makers who use this technique. They use this technique when they want to create a startling  effect to the audience. Since the audience are mature enough they would figure that something is happening at that scene of the film because something went wrong. And by making the audience/viewer feel that, they are to break the 180 Degree Rule.

If you cross or break the 180 Degree Rule then the characters will appear to swap positions on the screen- this often used to convey something is going wrong.

 Here is an exmaple of a film where they have break the 180 Degree Rule:

 You can see from this scene that the man in suit was first positioned at the left and will then appear on the right after a few seconds because they have break the 180 Degree Rule.  This is effective especially for horror films because this could be the signal that somethings going to happen.

 Breaking the 180 Degree Rule is not only used in horror films but also in action films such the Hunger Games.

The bed was at the right now its in the left side of the film.

    

AS1: Task 8: Continuity Editing Techniques

Continuity Editing:                                                                   

'Continuity Editing' is what became knows as the popular 'classical Hollywood'  style of editing.
This was  developed by early European and American directors, in particular D.W. Griffith in his films such as The Birth of a Nation.

The classical style ensures temporal (time) and spatial (space) continuity as a way of advancing narrative, using such technique as the 180 degree rule, Match on Action, and Shot, Reverse Shot.

Our Task:

Our task is to film a short sequence that demonstrates our understanding of the key conventions of continuity editing.

We are to work in a small group for this task. We are to assign the following roles:

Directors
Camera Operators
2 X Actors

Our sequence must take place in school and should have at least two characters. We are to demonstrate the following conventions:

Match on Action
Eye-line Match
Shot, Reverse Shot
180 degree rule
Point of View



Match In Action:

 In the film that we have produced we have included Match in action in our film. We had myself to open the door from the outside of the room and the next scene shows me going through the door to the inside of the room. This shows a continuity within the film.

 If I had started opening the door from the outside of the room and the next scene shows me just opening the door from the outside of the room, that wouldn't be a match in action technique as it doesn't show any continuity from the last scene.

Eye-Line Match:

 We have used eye-line match technique in this film. We had Allegria to text her friend Diana ( that's me) and to show this, we had recorded her looking down her phone where as the next scene shows her messaging  me with the phone and the text showing. 

 If we had filmed Allegria looking down at her phone and the next scene is just from a different angle  of her phone showing, it wouldn't be an eye-line match example as it doesn't fully show what's Allegria's looking at.

Shot, Reverse Shot:

 We have included the use of shot, reverse shot technique in our film. We all know that shot, reverse shot is done by showing the person talking and the camera was positioned at the back of one of the two people while one of that person's back is being shown in the camera. And to reverse it, we are to do it the same with the other person.

 This is how we did our shot, reverse shot. We had filmed one of the person talking and the camera was positioned at the shoulder side of one of the person. And for the reverse shot, we did the exact technique we did with the other person.

 If we had filmed this scene in where the camera was positioned at the side of both characters, this wouldn't be called a shot, reverse shot as you are only moving the camera from left to right to show which person is speaking.

180 Degree Rule:

 We have also used the 180 degree rule in our film. We all know that the 180 degree rule is really important especially when producing a film because if you make a mistake and you've use the 180 degree rule wrong, it would look like as if scene had been reflection or re-positioned. Therefore, being careful when using the 180 degree rule is important.

 In our film we used the 180 degree rule by moving the camera just around the 180 degree line. If we had went over the 180 degree line even just by few degrees like 182/3 degree, your scene where you had person A at the left will now appear at the right side as you have went over the 180 degree rule.

Conclusion:

 We had carried each different technique well as with the match-on action, we were able to show the scene where I was opening the door and it shows the bit where the handle was shown clearly and the scene after that shows the time when I went through the door from the outside and it had shown a continuity within the film.

 In eye-line match, we had clearly showed what Allegria was looking at and that she was looking directly on to her phone since the scene after that shows the actual phone in where she is messaging me so we can meet up.

 With the shot, reverse shot, we managed to show each person speaking by taking a shot of them from the back of one of the character. We had the camera positioned at the right back side of that person so that the other person is being shown in shoulder with the person she is talking to.

AS1: Task 7: Continuity Editing

Continuity Editing

Continuity Editing:

 Continuity editing is what had became known as the popular 'classical Hollywood' style of editing.

This is developed by early European and American directors, in particular D.W. Griffith in his films such as The Birth of a Nation.

The classical style ensures temporal (time) and spatial (space) continuity as a way of advancing narrative, using such techniques as the 180 degree rule, Match on Action, and Shot, Reverse Shot.

Continuity Editing us important because it helps retain a sense of realistic chronology and generates the feeling that time is moving forward.

This doesn't mean that you can;t use a flashbacks or flash forwards, as long as the narrative will still be seen to be processing forward in an expected or realistic way.

Key Continuity Techniques:

Eye-line match

this technique links two shots together. This is where we see a character looking at something off screen and then we cut a shot of what they are looking at.  This will then allow the audience to experience an event in the film just as the character is experiencing it.

This is what an eye-line match look like:

 This is an example of an eye-line match because it shows what the character is looking at and it shows a link between two images. The position of the camera is important especially when creating an eye-line match like the example shown above.

To create a perfect eye-line match, you are to make sure that the position of the camera is correct because it will then create a link between your two images. If your camera was positioned in the wrong way , for example of the guy above (Ben-Hur) if the guy was looking at the right and the camera was positioned at the left side of the woman, it won't create a link. Therefore, the position of the camera is important when creating an eye-line match.

Match on Action

This technique links two shots together. This is where we see a character start an action in one shot, the camera then cuts to a different angle and we see the character finish the action in the second shot. This technique ensures that the action seems like one natural and realistic movement even when the actor may have really performed it twice.

This is an example of a Match on action:

 This is an example of a Match on action because it shows a person going in/out of a room and it shows the point where the person holds out the door and the other image shows the time where she had came through the door. 

Shot, Reverse

Shot, Reverse is a technique links to two shots together. The first shot reveals one character and then the second shot reveals the second character. This allows the audience to connect the two characters and realise that they are interacting with each other. 

This is an example of a Shot, Reverse Shot:

 This is an example of a shot, reverse shot because it shows a scene about two person talking to each other with a close shot. The first images shown above, the man is in shoulder line with the lady he is talking too and to reverse it, the second images then shows the man who is also in shoulder line with the lady. 

The 180 Degree Rule

The 180 degree rule is a basic guideline that stares that two characters (or other elements) in the same scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other. If the camera passes over the imaginary axis connecting the two subjects, it is called crossing the line.

This what a 180 degree rule look like:

In the 180 degree rule when filming the camera should always stay on one side of the infirmary line. If you cross the line characters will appear to swap positions on the screen.

Its is important to not break the 180 degree rule because if the the 180 degree rule wasn't obeyed then the person who first appeared at the right side will then appear in the left if the camera go over the 180 degree rule.

This is what it looks like when we go over 180 degree rule:

 The guy at the right hand side of the image above is not positioned at the left hand side of the images. 

 Using all of this technique is really important when making a film because all of this techniques eye-line match, match on action and 180 degree rule will make your film look continuos, seem real and perfect. Without any use of one of these techniques this make can make your film go wrong. If you didn't use an eye-line match, when person A was talking to person B, it will look like as if person A wasn't looking at person B even though they were talking to each other.

If a film maker forgot to use match-on action, for example person C is coming out of the door, it will look like as if person C went the wrong side because of no match on action use. 

AS1: Task 5: Creating a Montage

   Montage

 Montage: 

 Is a technique used when editing, selecting and piecing together different sections of films to create a continuous whole. A montage is "a single pictorial composition made by juxtaposing or superimposing many pictures or designs". In film making they use this technique to compress time and to convey a lot of information in a relatively short period.

Now that we have learnt about montage and have a bit more understanding about it we are to film and edit our own montages.

 Our Task:

 We are to create a montage that is no longer than a one minute film. This montage can either be a French Cinema, Soviet Cinema or Hollywood Cinema Montage.


 This is my edited film montage starring; Allegria Luyindula, Jasmine King, Bradley Scamell and Diana Adriano.

 We have produced a Hollywood Cinema style Montage. This is because it would be easier to create a a short film  montage like 'Rocky' because it is quite simple and can easily be done with editing than the soviet cinema style montage in where we would need to create a montage that will bring relationship/link between the two as it would have the same meaning.

 The montage that we have produced is a bit confusing since it have different topic each time there's a new scene comes up. However, we can still reflect to the fact that this what usually happens at school. 

 The first scene is where the students are on their way to their class as the bell had rang and are rushing to get to their lesson. The second scene is where the teacher comes out of her classroom to get something for her class. The third scene is then about students playing around the school field and this is set at the front field. And the last scene is when two students are talking to each other and one keep looking at the time since she is aware that it's nearly time to go home therefore they said their goodbyes at the end in where two of them went to different directions.

AS1: Task 5: Montage

Montage

Montage:

 Is a technique used when editing, selecting and piecing together different sections of films to create a continuous whole. A montage is "a single pictorial composition made by juxtaposing or superimposing many pictures or designs". In film making they use this technique to compress time and to convey a lot of information in a relatively short period.

Methods of Montage:

The term montage has slightly different meaning when referred to in the following three contexts:

>French Films:

>Hollywood Cinema:

>Early Soviet film making:

Hollywood Style Montage:

An example of a Hollywood style montage is the Rocky movie.

The reason why film maker uses montage in their film is to compress time.

The French Montage:

In the french films, practice, 'montage' simply has its literal French meaning. Montage is French for 'assembly'. Therefore, in French film is the term simply identifies the process of editing.

Soviet Montage:

In the early soviet film making in the 1920's, 'montage' had a different meaning. The film makers started using juxtaposing (placing two deliberately contrasting images next to each other) shots to create a new meaning that did not exist in either shot alone.

The idea of this came from the young Soviet film maker Lev Kuleshov. Kuleshov experimented with films around 1920. He took an old film clip of a head shot of a rolled Russian actor and inter-cut the shot with different images.

This is what Kuleshov experimented. He combined two different images to create a third meaning. In each images he used one photo that is the same throughout the whole of the experiment. His experiment shows that the expression of the man on the photo changes every time it appeared, depending of what he was 'looking at'. On this pictures  (shown above) can be the plate of soup, the girl in the coffin or the woman on the divan and this could show and expression of hunger, grief or desire, respectively.

Another person who experimented with this is Charlie Chaplin. He used two different images that has the same meaning.

For example, he used a picture of sheep and a picture of workers going through the stairs off to work. 

The images has the same meaning as the sheep are being controlled by the sheep dog and its owner. Whereas, the workers are off to work that they don't really like but they are to go there for a living.

Strike by Eisenstein

Scenes from  'Strike'

                                                                Strike! by Eisenstein

 A shots of a butcher slaughtering cattle is used to suggest the Russian Troops were mistreating the striking workers. The similarities between the dead cow and the soldiers marching is that when the cow is being slaughter by the butcher same time the soldiers are moving as they are about to die.

AS1: Task 4: From Analogue to Digital Editing

From Analogue to Digital Editing

Analogue editing:

 Analogue editing is done by cutting together a piece of celluloid film then putting it back together. At the past, films are made up of images that is printed onto the acetate  negatives. These are then 'spliced' together to form a reel film. These are then feed through a project or out a constant speed of 24 frames a second which will then make the pictures of your film appear to be moving.

Moviola:

Moviola was invented in 1924 by Iwan Serrorier. It was the first device that had allowed a film editor to view the film while it was being edited. It was also the first machine that was used for feature length motion picture editing.




Video Editing:

Back at the past when digital technologies wasn't available yet at that time, people use magnetic tape to store information. If today they use SD cards to store information from our devices, at that time they use video tapes. Traditionally, video editing was the common used when editing films before computer editing came out and developed. They use this process of editing segments to tapes using a device that mechanically puts pieces of video tape together. To edit, the film has to be edited in the correct order and this is called linear editing.

Digital Editing:

 Digital Editing is the form of electronic media in where data is stored in digital (as appeared to analogue) form. This is the use of computers to order and manipulate this digital data. There are also many different ways of editing programs. The most common program used are:

> Adobe  Premiere Pro
                                                 

  

Pros:                                                                                       Cons

•  Vastly improved usability                                   * Expensive, unless you own a recent previous                                                                                  version 
• New effects capabilities including                       *GPU acceleration still mostly limited to adjustment layers                                                    professional graphics
• SpeedGrade now part of Production Bundle

> Avid

> Final Cut Pro

Pros:                                                                             Cos:

•  This program contains powerful                                   It's only available for the most recent version     tools such as the magnetic timeline                   of Apple's OS X operating system.

Digital Editing uses bits and bytes ( strings of 1's and 0's ) to record, transmit and reply images, instead of chemicals on film. The whole process is electronic  so there is no printing or 'splicing' involved.

Digital Editing soon overtook video editing as it is much quicker and therefore cheaper. The biggest pro is that you can edit digitally in any order.

In the early days of electronic video production, linear (tape-to-tape) editing was the only way to edit video tapes. Then, in the 1990s, non-linear editing computers became available and opened a whole new world of editing power and flexibility.

Non-linear editing was not welcomed by everyone and by many editors resisted the new wave. In addition, early digital video was plagued with performance issues and uncertainty. However, the advantages of non-linear video eventually became so overwhelming that they could not be ignored anymore.

Linear Editing advantages:

• It is simple and inexpensive. There are very few complications with formats, hardware conflicts, etc.
• For some jobs linear editing is better. For example, if you want to add two sections of video together, it is quicker to edit tape-to-tape than capture and edit on a hard drive.

Non-linear Editing:

 Editing in any order is called non-linear editing. If in linear editing you have to edit in the correct order, with non-linear editing you can edit a sequence from the end of the film even before you just have started editing the first scene. The process uses electronic files so it makes it as easy as cutting and pasting text in a word document.

  Working on a non-linear editing system is like working with a word processor. Using a computer screen and a mouse you can randomly cut and past segments and move them around until you are satisfied with the result.

Splice:

 To join together or unite (two ropes or parts of a rope) by the interweaving of strands. Or to unite (film, magnetic tape, or the like) by butting and cementing. Splice in noun is the joining of film, electromagnetic tape, or the like.
 

AS1 Task 2/3: In camera editing- Developments in Editing

In Camera Editing:

In camera editing is a technique of video production, in which the camera operator shoots the shots in the exact order that they will be viewed in.

It was a technique used to a great del` in the early days of film making before 'splicing' (the art of cutting/reconnecting film strip) became easier.

The film is 'edited' by simply switching on and off the camera.

One of the most famous in-camera editors was George Melies who is rumoured that he had discovered the art of stop motion  purely by accident when a camera of his broke down for a brief second.

George Melies was the first person who have discovered the 'in-camera' editing.  He showed that we can also create a bit of magic in our films but this is very tricky. We are too make sure that the shots are accurate to make it look continuously. 

Our Task:

We are to produced a one minute long sequence that we will be editing 'in camera'.

The sequence should be set in a school and have two characters. Your sequence can include dialogue or can be a silent.

We are to work in small group for the entire of this task. We are to assign the following rules.

- Director

- Camera Operator

- 2x Actors

For what we have done:

For our Director we had Jasmine King to direct us when we can start filming, acting and when we have to stop acting and filming. Our camera operator is Allegria Luyindula who have  done the filming. And for our  two actors we had Aaliyah and I to do the acting.

This is our first exercise with 'in-camera. We are to practice using this technique until we get used to using the 'in-camera'. 

These are some of the pictures that we had taken while we were filming. 

This is our finished exercise video done by our team.

Story line:

 A girl name Rose (that's me) were meant to have her detention with her English teacher Ms Ally after school because her teacher thought that she was the one making a lot of noises in class even though it wasn't her but the girl sitting next to her.

When it's time for her detention, she was late to come to her English Teacher, Ms Ally. She was 15 minutes late as she was in the clinic because all day she wasn't feeling well. She has to rushed to her English teacher's classroom as she's aware that Ms Ally doesn't like students that turn up late especially at detention class.

When she arrived at the classroom, she saw her English Teacher, Ms Ally doesn't look happy. When her teacher asked why she was late she didn't tell Ms Ally that she she wasn't feeling well nor it wasn't her who was making a lot of noise at that time.

 Evaluation based on using in-camera editing:

Using in-camera editing  for filming is not very easy as this is not a digital type camera. With in-camera editing you have to shot a scene after the another.

I figured out that it is  not easy nor hard neither to film with in-camera editing as there are things with in-camera editing that you can't do with digital camera and same thing goes for digital camera. With digital camera you can't hand edit it unlike what people used to do  like George Melies  back at the time when in-camera editing is popular.

In-camera editing is really easy to use since it's quick and you won't have much problem using it unlike the digital camera that we now. This is because with digital camera, you have to first learn how to use it, you have to insert an SD card and many more. Whereas, with in-camera editing all you have to do is film then afterwards plugged in a cable that connects to your device and on to  the in-camera. Easy.

However, this is not the only case with  using in-camera editing. As with my own experience using this in-camera editing even though i'm not really the one handling the camera since i was one of the actors, with what i can see from the camera operator, it is sometimes hard to use in-camera editing since it doesn't have a delete button in where we can easily just click that delete button and the scene that we don't like or the scene that we messed up will be gone as quick as flash of light. This is not the case with in-camera editing. With in-camera editing we can't delete anything but we can go over the scenes that we already have and film with it. Basically, we just have to rewind back and start filming again on the scene just before we have made a mistake. Furthermore, with in-camera editing, it takes quite a bit of time to perfect it since we have to make sure that it is taken on the right angle so that it looks continuous.


This is overall what i think about the good and bad things about using in-camera editing. As my first attempt of using this i think that it is very good and useful to use. As i get use to it more i hope that me and my group will soon get the hang of using it.

Thank you for reading my blog. Hope you like it and enjoy it and hopefully you understand quite a bit more about in-camera editing. Thank you.

                                                             Me and my great team

Selfie, Selfie while filming. Say 'Cheese'!!!

AS1: Task 1- Editing in Early Cinema

Thomas Alva Edison

Thomas Edison and the Lumiere Brothers:

Known for inventing the light bulb, Edison had worked with the Lumiere Brothers to produce the very first short film that was ever made on 1895.

The first ever short film that was made is called 'Sortie d'usine'

                                                                       Sortie d'usine

This is a 46 second long movie. It was first shown on 28 December 1895 at the Grand Cafe on the Boulevard des Capusines in Paris.
 At this time, there was no editing,  no story, no sound effects just the piano being played, and no camera movement (as you can see from the video).
This film was made in 35 mm format and at a speed of 16 frames per second. At that rate, the 17 meters of film length provided a duration of 46 seconds.

G.A Smith

G.A Smith 

The Miller and the Sweep is a  1898 British short black and white silent comedy film made by G.A Smith.
This film has a story behind it unlike 'Sortie d'usine'. Smith figured out that making films is not just about filming people coming out from a factory but can also have a story plot and set in different location.

Improvements:
 In 1898, this had improved just by three years.
This film is meant to be a comedy. Back at this time, people who have watched this had gone crazy. They faint, they collapsed because this is the first time they ever saw a moving people from a sheet of paper.From the work done by G.A Smith, the film called 'The Miller and the Sweep' have had a story. However, there's still no editing  nor camera movement being made.

                                                             The Miller and the Sweep

Story line
 The story of 'The Miller and the Sweep' is featuring a miller carrying a bag of flour and had a fight with the chimney sweep carrying a a bag of soot in front of a windmill, before the crowd follows them and chase them away (as you can see from the video).

                                                                  Kiss in the Tunnel

                 

Another film that was produced by G.A Smith is the 'Kiss in the Tunnel (1898). Just like the other film G.A Smith produced, this is also a British short silent comedy film.

There's three sections made in this film. The first section is when the train is going in the tunnel and as it goes through the tunnel, that's when the section sections comes in. It jumps in the scene of two people kissing. This 'kiss scene' didn't really happened inside the train. This was filmed in s studio at that time and they just edited it to make it seems like it really is happening inside the train. Last but not the least, comes in the third section. The third section is when the train goes out of the tunnel and that's when the film ended. 

Few Facts:

When this film was shown, lots of woman had fainted as this was the first ever film that was made that includes a kissing scene.

Another facts is that the camera is attached to the train so that we can see that the train is going through and coming out of the tunnel.

George Melies

George Melies

George Melies was a magician who have seen the film that was made by the Lumiere Brothers. With this, he then acquired  a camera, built a studio and he was also the first person who have exploited the basic camera tricks (such as Filters and formatting) that we know so well today.

Many had said that he also discovered the 'art of stop motion' by making the camera broke down for a brief second and start filming again. We can see this from the film that he had produced.

'The Vanishing Lady'

The Vanishing Lady was a French short silent trick film directed by George Melies.

                                                                  The Vanishing Lady
   Melies made 'The Vanishing Lady' using the technique known as in camera editing.

Synopsis: 

A magician walks into the stage and took a newspaper and lay it down on the floor (to show that there's no door underneath nor a whole) and took a chair and placed it on top of the newspaper. He then called his assistant in and asked to sit down on the chair. The magician then placed a blanket over his assistant. And for a brief seconds, the assistant had disappeared. After the assistant had disappeared he then placed the blanket over the chair to make the assistant come back but a skeleton appeared. On his 2nd attempt of bringing the assistant back, the assistant then appeared.

How its done:
 The way this it was done was making sure that the camera is being rolled the right speed other wise the film could either go really fast or really slow. From what Melies had done, he asked his assistant to sit on the chair and to make her disappear the magician didn't move an inch while the assistant is getting out of the cover. We can see the in camera editing from the video shown above. We can see this in camera editing three times. The first was one when the assistant disappeared; second was when the skeleton appeared (we can see from this scene that there was a use of in camera editing as the hand of the magician moved a bit since he couldn't stay in that position as long as the camera's back on the roll of filming); the third was when the assistant finally appeared back on the chair.

 Back at the time this film was shown, many people was shocked, fainted, in tears and had also collapsed as this was the first ever film that was made using in camera editing and was also the first ever film with magic included.

Edwin S Porter


Two of Porter's film are 'The Life of an American Fireman' and 'The Great Train Robbery' that are
 both produced in 1903.

'The Life on an American Fireman'

One of the film Porter has produced is 'The life of an American Fireman' in 1903. This was shot late 1902 but was shown in 1903. It depicts the rescue of a woman and child from a burning building.

                                                        The Life of an American Fireman

This was the first ever made film that has a plot, action, and even a close-up of the hand pulling the fire alarm and has also a camera moving and also had use of editing. Also, this has used a parallel editing in where we get to see what's happening inside the building and also what's happening at the outside.

'The Great Train Robbery'

 The Great Train Robbery' is also produced by Edwin S Porter and is also made in 1903. This is an American silent short Western film.

                                                              The Great Train Robbery

Porter uses an unconventional techniques including composite editing, on-location shooting and a frequent camera movement. This film is the earliest that had use the technique of cross cutting in which two scenes are shown but at different location.

In the video, you will see a shot where there's a bit of colored scene added at the explosion. The way they did is by hand painting it (tinting). Porter had also  uses a parallel editing as at the beginning of the film, we can see the scene of the robbers robbing the office of the train and the scene of the train coming. Porter had put the two scenes in one section to make it seem realistic. And also, watch the door closely, you can see that it's not a proper door that we use as when one of the robbers closes the door, the door was left ajar. This had happened quite often from this film.

Charles Pathe

Charles Pathe

  Pathe was a major French pioneer of the film and recording industries.
  He made a film called 'The horse that Bolted' in 1907. He introduces the first example of a parallel editing that is seen in his film 'The Horse that Bolted'. This is an example of a parallel editing because there's been a cutting between two story lines: The Horse and the deliveryman.

                                                                The Horse that Bolted
Story Line:
 A deliveryman delivered a basket to a family and he left the horse outside. While the deliveryman was out delivering the package, the horse outside then started eating what's in the outside of the shop they stopped in. When the deliveryman came back he saw the horse eating almost everything and quickly run away but the owner of the shop saw that there's nothing left on the bag and so the owner started chasing the deliveryman and the horse. While they were running away, they hit other people who was on the road and so they also chased them. People who were chasing them keep increasing until the horse ended up going back home.
                           
                                           
D.W. Griffith 

D.W. Griffith

Griffith was an American film director who is mostly known for making the film 'Birth of a Nation' in 1915.

He was the first of the early directors how have use the editing techniques in the production of 'feature' length film.

Just like Porter and Pathe, Griffith also developed the art of story telling through editing. He uses cross-cutting to show the parallel action that is happening in different locations in the film 'Birth of a Nation'.

'Birth of a Nation'

 The 'Birth of a Nation' is  1915 American silent epic drama directed by D.W. Griffith.

                                                           Birth of a Nation (3 hours long)

                                           Birth of a Nation (towards the end; 7 mins long)

The 'Birth of a Nation' is a 3 hours long film. The filming had began in 1914 and pioneered such as camera techniques as the use of panoramic long shots, still shots, night photography (refers to photograph taken outdoors between dusk and dawn) and parallel editing.

Summary

 From the very first film that was published in 1895 until 1907, the film industry had somehow been developed and improve as time past by.

From the film 'Sortie d'usine' by the Lumiere Brothers in 1895 where the first film that was ever made was a short black and white silent documentary film with no camera movement, there's now been a film that has a story with it 'The Miller and the Sweep' in 1898. It's true that this film was still in black and white; no camera movement; no editing; no sound coming from the actual film just the piano being played and there's no plot. However, this was a comedy film unlike 'Sortie d'usine' in 1895.  G.A Smith (the producer of The Miller and the Sweep) figured that we can add comedy in films and that's what he did he made 'The Miller and the Sweep'.

That wasn't the only improvements there had been throughout the history of film industry. In the same year the 'Miller and the Sweep' was produced, the 'Kiss in the Tunnel' by G.A Smith was made in 1898. The improvements that was made in this film was that there's now been used of camera editing. The view of the train going in inside the tunnel; the view of two people inside the train and the view of the train coming out of the tunnel.