Editing essay
Edwin S Porter was famous for deciding to cut a scene in a film which had never been done before in a film. Edwin changed that as years ago people would just film until it ran out without any idea when to finish. He was also a writer and director however it was his editing technique that really changed the game for films. He also was the first director to have a film have a narrative process from scene to scene. D.W. Griffith was the next major editor in the film industry who advanced the ideas of Porter and created many attributes of film we use today, such as the close up, which at the time was regarded as hugely controversial as many people complained that you have to be able to see the whole actor's body. Similar to Porter he was a writer and director where he showed his techniques, which was how he invented the close up because he was also the man behind the camera for the film, "The Orphan of the Storm". Another skill he used was cross-cutting which is used almost every film since he started it, however the first film to use cross-cutting which was "life of an american fireman" which had a scene where firemen came to save a woman in a building and it cuts between the two locations. This was a hugely effective technique in film as it allowed the scene to create tension and drama as you don't know if the woman will make it out alive. The techniques that they both developed help tell a film's story and if it wasn't for the technique of cutting a film, it would not have been made. Then the techniques made by D.W.Griffith helped put a film together for example if we did not have close ups, emotional scenes that have been made would not nearly the same effect and could ruin a scene if not used. Another technique that is hugely important is cross-cutting which helps put scenes in a story together. A key film that Edwin S Porter was the Great Train Robbery. It was the first film to have a narrative and a technique used was using a variety of different shots. There are many people in the film industry who have been influenced by Edwin and Griffiths such as John Ford, Alfred Hitchcock[22] Orson Welles, Lev Kuleshov,[23] Jean Renoir,[24] Cecil B. DeMille,[25] King Vidor,[26] Victor Fleming,[27] Raoul Walsh,[28] Carl Theodor Dreyer,[29] Sergei Eisenstein[30] and Stanley Kubrick. They also respect his work and even Orson wells said the only part of Hollywood he hated was the way Griffith was treated in Hollywood. Another Hollywood legend called Charlie Chaplin named Griffith "The teacher of us all", who also had influenced many people as well so Griffith is a person who was part of creating the conventions of film which are techniques we still us today. Edwin S porter was the man who influenced film making the most as he was the one to introduce some of the most vital techniques in film which are building blocks of films, which then were advanced by Griffith who added a vast amount of techniques which are also fundamental to films today.
Walter Murch is famous editor and sound designer. He has also been part of some of the most popular and well regarded films of all time. He has made pieces of material to help study and give knowledge to new editors who want to be part of films. A technique that Walter Murch developed was a rule of six which is lists as emotion, which my Murch is vital and says that you must have emotion and without it your movie is in trouble. The next one is story and it should be dynamic and motion behind it. The next rule is Rythm is something that is unaware to the audience however if it is done badly it will be clear to the audience. The next one is eye trace which is that a cut must not disorient the viewer, to the extent that their eyes cannot comprehend the action. The next is two dimensional plane on screen this is following the 180 degree rule which prevents the audience from being confused as to which direction the character is walking. Last is the rule of three dimensional space, this is to help create clarity of space. Walter Murch has worked on a huge amount of key films. A key film that really showed his techniques was the cold mountain which was the first time a film had used off the shelf computer programmes to edit a film especially for a film that had a fairly big budget. Walter Murch has influenced a huge amount of people who work in the film industry as he has worked on films such as The Godfather 1,2 and the apocalypse now which are regarded some of the best films of all time. Many editors and directors are influenced by these films and have used the techniques of them, from the directing to the cinematography, to the editing.
I looked at the opening scene of Apocalypse Now which was directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Typically a scene with the exploding trees would be expected to be in the climax but instead is the opening shot of the film. The scene features super Impositions which is when an action or process is imposed. It also has a use of slow motion helicopters to give the impression of a flashback and manage to give a visual of both the main character and what is in his mind at the same time. There is isn't a change in diegetic time as it just has a flashback while it has martin sheen in real time sleeping, this is part of the effect of it. Alot of narrative is explained it such little time which is by the effective use of editing as it has the story shown visually and adding mystery and character development to Martin Sheen. There is a combination of shots while it is the same shot of the main character which helps add narrative to the opening scene, also in any opening scene it can help the film if the story is explained.
Overall editing is a huge part of film and is what actually helped make film into what it is now. Also without Edwin s porter film could have never made the leap as he was the first person to decide to cut film and DW Griffith changed editing and his techniques are still used today. However a huge amount of people have helped be part of the film industry as we know it and film should always change and progress as having it be similar will be the end of film as people will lose interest. Editing is one of the most crucial parts to make a great film and without great editing the film can get lost. However a bad film cannot get fully saved by a great editor. As the director is even more important than the editor and will often work with the editor in the post production process.
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