Thursday, 12 September 2013

The cutting edge - the magic of movie making editing documentary.

Watching the Documentary The cutting edge - the magic of movie editing documentary

Using my own understanding of the documentary and my own research, I answered some questions that I thought would be helpful with my studies of editing.


the founding fathers of cinema:
-http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blmotionpictures.htm
I found out a frenchman louis lurmiere is often credited as inventing the first motion picture but then it was found out that they werent the first to project filmin 1891 the edison company successfully demonstrated the kinetoscope, which enabled one person at a time to view moving pictures. Later in 1896, edison showed him improved vitascope projecter and it was the first commercially,successful, projecter in the U.S. Also the first two people to capture a moving motion picture of a horse were Leland StanfordEadweard Muybridge.

Why Edwin S Porter was important:
Edwin was one of the first people to discover editing, he thought that cutting images and putting them together makes a story. He also thought that it was more intresting for an audence and relised that when putting shots together he found that he could make any story inresting with different shots.

Some of Edwin s porters films:
-The great train robbery (1903)
-Life of an american fireman (1903)
-Dream of a rarebit fiend (1906)

purpose of editing:
One of the main purposes of editing is that it creates a story, cutting and putting different frames and shots together. It also creates tension and different atmospheres for the audience which makes the film more interesting to watch. It can also speed up and slow down shots and scenes which also create effect and also fit in with telling a story. For example in rocky when he is in the boxing ring and his opponite is punching him the speed of the hits slows down so the audience can see every punch slow. This then creates the tension and gets the audience wondering what would happen next, then when rocky gets his sence and satrts hitting back the camra speed starts to speed up when hes punching his opponite this creates exitment in the audience.

 The first modern editor:
 -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._W._Griffith
D.W Griffiths (Born January 22 1875 - Died July 23 1948)

The names of some of his films:
-Orphans of the storm (1921)
-The birth of the nations (1915)

What he did that was special or different:
What made D.W Griffiths unique to many people in and out of the film industry was his new and special techniques he used in his films. The ones he used which were stange to many people was the close up. This is when the camera would zoom up on to the characters face showing facial expressions and emotions to the event and scene they are in. As said in the documentary (The cutting edge) people did not want to pay to see someone's 'ugly face' they wanted to see there whole body. When others saw his way of filming and editing many started to see the effects it had on the film altogether they started to notice that the little things like a close up brought different emotions for an audience to feel. Another difference that he brought to the filming industry was a flashback even this was seen as something that was different and strange,but it also was seen as something that brought new feelings and atmosphere to a film which was successful.

Invisible cut:
 http://mobi.creativecow.net/thread/27/855695
An invisable cut is a cut that is used in the middle of an action a character or object is doing. The invisable cut cuts to a differet shot of that characher or object but the audience does not notice because the action is the same. This is one of the most important cuts used in the film industry, this is because it helps shots become smooth and so the audience dosent reliase that there was any cut there. The action draws the attention away from the cut you still se it but you dont notice it. An example is if the main character is taking a bow from a long shot the camra then moves into a mediam long shot but the bow that the character is doing is still taking polace in both shots.

















An example of an invisible cut, the invisible cut is used I this piece to create the effect of him throwing the dart at himself the shot cuts the restarts with him in a different position to receive the dart. When watching you can not tell there is a cut, this makes the transition between the two shots smoother without the audience knowing that the cut has taken place which makes it a inviable cut.

Editing tecniques found in D.W.Giffiths films:
- http://history1900s.about.com/od/1900s/qt/trainrobbery.htm
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-cutting
One technique used in the great train robbery was crosscutting, crosscutting is when the film cuts into two different scenes that are happerning at the same time. With this, the scene becomes more exiting for an audiace to watch because it creates suspence when watching. You could be seeing more then one action scene at a time it also could create another story line which the audiace can keep up with. An example would be one of Giffiths films called A corner in wheat the film crosscuts the activites of a bussnessman and poor people waiting in line for bread. Another in The great train robbery and also the runway horse.

This example shows cross cutting it changes from one shot to another quickly this is to create tension between the two scenes, for example when there is a fire in the house it shows the action inside happening the camera will then cut to the action that is taking place outside like the fire men setting up the hose to put down the fire. These two shots could work together to create this tension and suspense for the audience to feel.








Another technique used is hand held footage. hand held footage is when the camera is placed in the characters point of view for example when someone is running of the character is filming an event which is used as the main character. hand held footage makes the film more intimate for an audience because you are put in there point of view and can experience the events that they are experiencing. An example of hand held footage in The great train robbery is when they ran across the creek and into the tress to fetch thee horses.


Another example of hand held footage is this, in this short film a camera is used to create suspense and terror when running over the rocks. using hand held footage makes the audience experience the event that the actor is experiencing. also gives the audience the emotions that the actor is feeling due to the camera being in the point of view of the main actor.





When watching this documentary i have learnt the very first happenings of editing starting from the first edtior to use and introduce a new way of making and watching films to create a story and to make it fun and interesting to watch. I have also found out more examples of editing and how they effect the audience and how they change he way shots are laid out. Also finding out different ways to create a film with different editing techniques to change the way a film is taken in and how it can make a audience feel different emotions due to the effects the film gives out.

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