Glossary Of Editing Techniques

Glossary of editing terms techniques:

EDITING

Editing describes the relationship between shots and the process by which they are combined.  It is essential to the creation of narrative space and to the establishment of narrative time.  The relationship between shots may be graphic, rhythmic, spatial and/or temporal.

Graphic match:

Graphic matches, or match cuts, are useful in relating two otherwise disconnected scenes, or in helping to establish a relationship between two scenes.  By ending one shot with a frame containing the same compositional elements (shape, color, size, etc.) as the beginning frame of the next shot, a connection is drawn between the two shots with a smooth transition.

Rhythmic relationships:

Rhythm editing describes an assembling of shots and/or sequences according to a rhythmic pattern of some kind, usually dictated by music.  It can be narrative, as in the clip from Woody Allen’s Bananas below, or, a music video type collage, as in the second clip from Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette.  In either case, dialogue is suppressed and the musical relationship between shots takes center stage.

Spatial Relationship:

The Establishing Shot or sequence serves to situate the audience within a particular environment or setting and/ or to introduce an important character or characters.  The establishing shot is usually the first or the first few shots in a sequence, and as such, it must be very efficient in portraying the context. Typically, establishing shots are Extreme Long Shots or Long Shots, followed by progressively closer framing.

Shot/ Reverse shot:

Shot/Reverse Shot is an editing technique that defined as multiple shots edited together in a way that alternates characters, typically to show both sides of a conversation situation. There are multiple ways this can be accomplished, with common examples being over the shoulder shots, angled shots, left/right alternating shots, and often a combination of the three.

Eye-line Match:

In an eye-line match, a shot of a character looking at something cuts to another shot showing exactly what the character sees.  Essentially, the camera temporarily becomes the character’s eyes with this editing technique.  In many cases, when the sequence cuts to the eye-line, camera movement is used to imply movement of the character’s eyes.  For example, a pan from left to right would imply that the character is moving his/her eyes or head from left to right.  Because the audience sees exactly what the character sees in an eye-line match, this technique is used to connect the audience with that character, seeing as we practically become that character for a moment.  Each of the following sequences is from No Country for Old Men.

Cut-in and Cut-away:

Cut-out or away is the reverse, bringing the viewer from a close view to a more distant one. The sequence opens with an extreme long shot of the area’s landscape, a high-angled tracking shot (probably via helicopter) –giving us a wide panoramic view of the area.  A cut suddenly transports the viewer somewhere within the landscape to a medium shot of character lying on the floor in his room.

Jump-Cut:

A jump a jump cut is an example of the elliptical style of editing where one shot seems to be abruptly interrupted? Typically the background will change while the individuals stay the same, or vice versa. Jump-cuts stray from the more contemporary style of continuity editing where the plot flows seamlessly to a more ambiguous story line.

Fade –in:

In this sequence from Sukiyaki Western Django, the calligraphic message provides an example of the fade-in. The style used in “Sukiyaki Western Django” is reminiscent of filmmakers such as Kurosawa, who used this archaic writing technique to embed a sort of traditionalism into his media.


Analysis of Editing Techniques In Snatch Opening Titles 
The way Snatch create tension is partly due to the quick editing technique in scenes such as fighting scene. It is important that especially in fighting scene you use past pace editing this is because if you use fast editing it will create the whole idea of the fighting and will make the viewer feel as if they are in the fight themselves. Quick editing is just one way of grabbing the attention of the viewer and keeping the viewer interested. But all the different types of editing I've mentioned above will create the perfect movie. And all these techniques are included in Snatch. An example of quick editing straight away is in the titles when the diamond being passed this sets the whole moral of the story it tells the viewer that this movie is going to be full of action and also could indicate to the viewer the genre of the movie.