Editing- A Breakdown

Editing and Representation
Editing is primarily related to narrative, so how does match-on action have anything to do with character or representation?   The role of editing in representation is open to interpretation and is greatly dependent on context.

Action Match
When following a single character, this is a purely technical device to hide the cut.   However, when an action match is used for intercutting, such as between two very different people, it can heighten parallels/ contrasts between two characters, offering an opportunity for juxtaposition


Eyeline Match
Eyeline match usually provides insight to a character's private thoughts

We see Leia looking at the stormtroopers and the stormtroopers noticing Leia

Final Shot
In any scene, see which character or characters are shown in the final shot of the sequence as this is often the character which the audience is expected to identify with


Intercutting: Juxtaposition
Although typically a narrative device, intercutting can set up juxtaposition between parallel storylines, exaggerating the impact or meaning by highlighting a point of difference


Intercutting: Tension
When intercutting is used to draw two storylines together, this can be structured to create tension, and therefore heighten the audience's identification with a particular character

See 1:51- 2:40. We cut between the tiger's pursuit of Cutter and Abby's running with the rifle in action code and prompts the question: will she get there in time?

Jump Cuts
There are rarely used in TV or film; when they are, they tend to suggest either a)chaos, b)self-conscious ellipsis (drawing attention to the rapid pace of the action) or c) a director who likes to break the rules
SEE CLIP ABOVE
When Cutter prepares to slide down the zip-wire, we see jump cuts which could show both his hesitation and his speediness and decisiveness to zip wire down the line

Motivation
A motivated edit is any transition forced on the editor by the development of the action, narrative or character. Whenever shot (a) refers to the existence of an event outside the frame, and we then cut to (b) which shows that event, that’s a motivated edit. We can sometimes judge a character’s worth or importance by the number of cuts they motivate.
e.g. in Primeval, Cutter runs away from the tiger, drawing it away from Abby.
His constant motion motivates many of the cuts in this sequence, again reinforcing his status as the protagonist, if not the Proppian hero.

Pace of Editing
This can imply character qualities, especially if only one or two characters are in the sequence. A fast pace might suggest energy or panic (depending on context) while infrequent cuts (long takes) might suggest calm, a casual attitude, or provide documentary-style realism. Similar effects can be achieved with speed ramping and slow-motion.

Prevalence
How much screen time does a character get? The more time we see them on the screen, the more important their role. This can develop during a scene to change character's status.

Selection
As film-makers yourselves, it can sometimes be interesting to ask what information has been included or omitted in an edit.

Shot/Reverse Shots
S/RS indicates the relationship between two characters: it signifies and sometimes exaggerates their closeness or their opposition (depending on the context). The amount of time given to a character’s reaction shots can convey their status in the scene. For example, if two characters are in S/RS conversation, do they get equal screen time, or do we spend more time looking at one character, speaking and reacting? Equally (though this is also a function of camera, are the two characters framed equally?


Reaction Shots


Assistant Principle Examiner Comments
One approach to both sound and editing is to look at the way in which technical elements are used to create perspective or viewpoint within a sequence - a key element of the process of representation that goes beyond the identification of 'character traits'.

By understanding, for example, how screen time, p.o.v. or reaction shots are distributed, even weaker students can see how hierarchies are established, leading to certain representations being privileged where others are marginalised.

Stronger students are able to develop this further by discussing how the audience is positioned in relation to the representations on offer - the best answers in the June session of G322 offered some great discussion of the way in which editing frequently shifted the viewer's relationship to dominant views of gender in different scenes.

Another important factor is the way that the editing of the sequence grants or witholds narrative information from the audience in order to encourage identification or rejection of particular characters/representations. Fans of 1970s screen theory will recognise the essence of Colin McCabe's work on hierarchy of discourses in classic realist texts in this approach - obviously massively watered down! There are good chapters on this in Television Culture (John Fiske) and Television Studies (Bernadette Casey) if you want to mug up.