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Reading 4

hat is editing?

Editing is arranging shots to tell a story in a meaningful, clear, and emotional way. It’s not just putting clips together — it’s rewriting the story a third time (after writing and directing). A good edit guides the audience through the story, controls rhythm, and shapes emotion.

✂ Why do we edit?

  • To keep continuity and tell a clear story

  • To combine shots in a way that creates new meaning

  • To guide emotions and point-of-view

  • To keep the audience from getting bored

  • To control rhythm and pacing

  • To surprise or fool the audience (especially in horror/thrillers)

🧑‍💼 What does the editor do?

  • Shapes rhythm like a musician

  • Works with the director to adjust timing and emotion

  • Helps the story flow visually and emotionally

  • Makes performance and story stronger through shot selection

  • Controls how time and space are perceived

🧩 What are the six stages of editing?

  1. Logging – Watching and taking notes on footage

  2. First Assembly – Rough version of the whole story using the footage

  3. Rough Cut – Editor’s first pass, checking structure and continuity

  4. First Cut – Agreed-upon early version, ready for revision

  5. Fine Cut – Small adjustments for rhythm and emotion

  6. Final Cut – Locked version with sound, music, and effects added

🛠 Basic editing tools and ideas:

  • The Cut – Switching from one shot to another

  • Post-production – Editing + sound, effects, music, color, etc.

  • Continuity Editing – Keeping shots consistent so scenes make sense

  • Transitions – Cuts, fades, dissolves

🎞 Key Editing Techniques & Terms:

  • Match-on-Action – Cut between two shots that show the same movement

  • Eyeline Match – Matching where characters look to maintain spatial logic

  • 180-Degree Rule – Keep the camera on one side of an imaginary line

  • J & L Cuts – Cutting audio before/after the image changes for smoothness

  • Jump Cuts – Skipping forward in the same shot (can be used stylistically)

  • Invisible Cuts – Seamless edits to feel like one shot (e.g., Birdman, 1917)

🎼 Walter Murch’s Rule of Six (editing priorities):

  1. Emotion – Most important: how does the cut make the audience feel?

  2. Story – Does it move the story forward?

  3. Rhythm – Is the timing right?

  4. Eye-trace – Does the audience know where to look?

  5. 2D Space (Planarity) – Does it follow the axis/180° rule?

  6. 3D Space – Does the cut make spatial sense?

✨ Other Concepts:

  • Ellipsis – Skipping time the audience can easily fill in

  • Cross-Cutting – Cutting between scenes in different locations to build tension (e.g. The Godfather christening scene)

  • Montage – A series of related shots to build theme or emotion (like your 1-min film!)