Editing Techniques-Television Production

SHOT - A continuous, non-stop running of the camera.

Editing the video tape is done electronically or digitally. It is digital camera has been used for shooting or if the video scope shots have been transferred to a hards disc the editing will be done digitally.

Editing Techniques: The best way to learn editing is to have the experience of editing quality footage.  The best way to learn how to shoot video is to edit bad footage.   The process should be repeated on simple projects so the student masters both talents.

There is a language to film or video just as there is to spoken or written languages. The human mind demands that shots be presented in a logical sequence. However, the human mind of the viewer does not analyze the sequence for time. 

JUMP CUTS:Jump cuts result when two sequential shots do not make logical sense. For example, one shot shows a person standing and the next shot show the same person seated or in a different location. Except on MTV, you will never see a jump cut in a commercial film or video except for some unique artistic effect. When the mind tries to make sense of a jump cut, the viewers' train of thought is disrupted and the illusion of reality is destroyed. 
          Jump cut.  Rapid switch  from one scene to another which may be used deliberately to make a dramatic point.  Sometimes boldly used to begin or end action.  Alternatively, it may be result of poor pictorial continuity, perhaps from deleting a section. 

Eliminating Jump Cuts :The goal of any editor is to produce a video without any jump cuts. To achieve this goal, the videographer must have shot footage that provides the editor with a series of shots he can work with. The best technique to learn how to shoot for postproduction is to learn how to edit in the camera. Once you master this skill, there is little need for low budget postproduction. Several cinematic techniques are used in all films to make the material flow logically and to solve the jump cut problem. 

Cutaway Shots: Separate two shots with a shot of something completely different. During a church wedding service, a person is walking down the isle. If the camera is stopped when they are partway down the isle and then restarted as they reach the front, the result will be a jump cut. Solve the jump cut by taking a cutaway shot of a stained glass window, people in the pews, flowers or other decoration.   The mind assumes that the person moved the whole way down the isle while the viewer was watching the other shot.

Reaction Shots :Similar to the cutaway shot but contains a subject that relates to the sequence of shots. In the above example, a shot of people watching the person walking down the isle would be a reaction shot.

Walk In/Out Transitions :The jump cuts result when the same subject is in different positions in two adjoining shots. Avoided the jump cut by allowing the subject to walk out of the first shot. Then they can appear in the next shot in a slightly different place. If the space or time separating the two shots is larger, start the camera before the subject enters the shot to allow them to walk in to the field of view.

Cut-on-Action :The ultimate transition is to have matching shots where the action is continuous between two shots. Cut the shot at a point in the action and begin the next shot on the same action. Then the movement will appear to flow across the transition. Accomplish the cut-on-action by having the person repeat the action for the two shots. A close up shot of the person entering a door followed by a wide shot taken from the rear of the room. If the subject is performing a repetitive action, you can take a close up of one cycle of the action followed by a wide shot from a different angle. A person shooting baskets, diving into a pool, hammering a nail or even eating dinner are candidates for cut-on-actions.

Dissolve :The editor's mantra is "If you can't solve it, dissolve it!" The dissolve allows a transition between two shots that involves extremes in time and place. For example, a shot of Lincoln leaving Springfield would dissolve into a shot of his arrival at the capital in Washington. Unfortunately, it takes three VCRs and an edit-controller or a computer editing system to achieve this effect.

Cut. Sudden change of shot from  one viewpoint or location to another. On television cuts occur on average about every 7 or 8 seconds. Cutting may:

• change the scene; compress time; vary the point of view; or
• build up an image or idea.

There is always a reason for a cut, and you should ask yourself what the reason is. Less sudden transitions are achieved with the fade, dissolve, and wipe

Matched cut. In a 'matched cut' a familiar relationship between the shots may make the change seem smooth:

• continuity of direction;completed action;a similar centre of attention in the frame; a one-step change of shot size (e.g. long to medium);
• a change of angle (conventionally at least 30 degrees).

*The cut is usually made on an action .for example, a person begins to turn towards a door in one shot; the next shot, taken from the doorway, catches him completing the turn. Because the viewer's eye is absorbed by the action he is unlikely to notice the movement of the cut itself.

Motivated cut.  Cut made just at the point where what has occurred makes the viewer immediately want to see something which is not currently. A typical feature is the shot/reverse shot technique (cuts coinciding with changes of speaker). Editing and camera work appear to be determined by the action. It is intimately associated with the 'privileged point of view'.

Cutting rate. Frequent cuts may be used as deliberate interruptions to shock, surprise or emphasize.

Cutting rhythm. A cutting rhythm may be progressively shortened to increase tension. Cutting rhythm may create an exciting, lyrical or staccato effect in the viewer.

Cross-cut. A cut from one line of action to another. Also applied as an adjectuve to sequences which use such cuts.

Cutaway/cutaway shot (CA). A bridging, intercut shot between two shots of the same subject. It represents a secondary activity occurring at the same time as the main action. It may be preceded by a definite look or glance out of frame by a participant, or it may show something of which those in the preceding shot are unaware. (See narrative style: parallel development) It may be used to avoid the technical ugliness of a 'jump cut' where there would be uncomfortable jumps in time, place or viewpoint. It is often used to shortcut the passing of time.

Reaction shot. Any shot, usually a cutaway, in which a participant reacts to action which has just occurred.

Insert/insert shot. A bridging close-up shot inserted into the larger context, offering an essential detail of the scene (or a reshooting of the action with a different shot size or angle.)

Fade, dissolve (mix). Both fades and dissolves are gradual transitions between shots. In a fade the picture gradually appears from (fades in) or disappears to (fades out) a blank screen. A slow fade-in is a quiet introduction to a scene; a slow fade-out is a peaceful ending. Time lapses are often suggested by a slow fade-out and fade-in. A dissolve (or mix) involves fading out one picture while fading up another on top of it. The impression is of an image merging into and then becoming another. A slow mix usually suggests differences in time and place. Defocus or ripple dissolves are sometimes used to indicate flashbacks in time.

Superimpositions. Two of more images placed directly over each other (e.g. and eye and a camera lens to create a visual metaphor).

Wipe. An optical effect marking a transition between two shots. It appears to supplant an image by wiping it off the screen (as a line or in some complex pattern, such as by appearing to turn a page). The wipe is a technique which draws attention to itself and acts as a clear marker of change.

Inset. An inset is a special visual effect whereby a reduced shot is superimposed on the main shot. Often used to reveal a close-up detail of the main shot.

Split screen. The division of the screen into parts which can show the viewer several images at the same time (sometimes the same action from slightly different perspectives, sometimes similar actions at different times). This can convey the excitement and frenzy of certain activities, but it can also overload the viewer.

Stock shot. Footage already available and used for another purpose than the one for which it was originally filmed.

Invisible editing: See narrative style: continuity editing.

Manipulating Time

Screen time: a period of time represented by events within a film (e.g. a day, a week).

Subjective time. The time experienced or felt by a character in a film, as revealed through camera movement and editing. (e.g. when a frightened person's flight from danger is prolonged).

Compressed  time. The compression of time between sequences or scenes, and within scenes. This is the most frequent manipulation of time in films: it is achieved with cuts or dissolves. In a dramatic narrative, if climbing a staircase is not a significant part of the plot, a shot of a character starting up the stairs may then cut to him entering a room. The logic of the situation and our past experience of medium tells us that the room is somewhere at the top of the stairs. Long journeys can be compressed into seconds. Time may also be compressed between cutaways in parallel editing. More subtle compression can occur after reaction shots or close-ups have intervened. The use of dissolves was once a cue for the passage of a relatively long period of time.

Long take. A single shot  (or take, or run of the camera) which lasts for a relatively lengthy period of time. The long take has an 'authentic' feel since it is not inherently dramatic.

Simultaneous  time. Events in different places can be presented as occurring at the same moment, by parallel editing or cross-cutting, by multiple images or split-screen. The conventional clue to indicate that events or shots are taking place at the same time is that there is no progression of shots: shots are either inserted into the main action or alternated with each other until the strands are somehow united.

Slow  motion. Action which takes place on the screen at a slower rate than the rate at which the action took place before the camera. This is used: a) to make a fast action visible; b) to make a familiar action strange; c) to emphasise a dramatic moment. It can have a lyric and romantic quality or it can amplify violence.

Accelerated motion (undercranking) . This is used: a) to make a slow action visible; b) to make a familiar action funny; c) to increase the thrill of speed.

Reverse motion. Reproducing action backwards, for comic, magical or explanatory effect.

Replay. An action sequence repeated, often in slow motion, commonly featured in the filming of sport to review a significant event.

Freeze-frame. This gives the image the appearance of a still photograph. Clearly not a naturalistic device.

Flashback. A break in the chronology of a narrative in which events from the past are disclosed to the viewer. Formerly indicated conventionally with defocus or ripple dissolves.

Flashforward. Much less common than the flashback. Not normally associated with a particular character. Associated with objective treatments.

Extended or expanded time/overlapping action. The expansion of time can be accomplished by intercutting a series of shots, or by filming the action from different angles and editing them together. Part of an action may be repeated from another viewpoint, e.g. a character is shown from the inside of a building opening a door and the next shot, from the outside, shows him opening it again. Used nakedly this device disrupts the audience's sense of real time. The technique may be used unobtrusively to stretch time, perhaps to exaggerate, for dramatic effect, the time taken to walk down a corridor. Sometimes combined with slow motion.

Ambiguous time. Within the context of a well-defined time-scheme sequences may occur which are ambiguous in time. This is most frequently comunicated through dissolves and superimpositions.

Universal time. This is deliberately created to suggest universal relevance. Ideas rather than examples are emphasised. Context may be disrupted by frequent cuts and by the extensive use of close-ups and other shots which do not reveal a specific background.

The cameraman uses several shots to narrate his story visually.  Among these are the long shot, the mid-long shot, the medium shot, close up and very close shot.

The zoom lens that the cameraman uses enables him to take either a long shot or a very close shot without moving the camera, but only by manipulating the lens.  The zoom lens are rarely used in TV news coverage.  They are not as communication as the other shots are, and are useful only for focusing on man’s face or figures or on documents.  They are also difficult to edit because the process is time-consuming.

The pan shot moves horizontally on a fixed axis instead of just the lens.  The camera moves to the left or the right as required for a pan shot.

The tilt shot covers the scene up or down.  The pan shot and the tilt shot are used while shooting conferences, meetings or rallies.  They are used generally when the news value of a picture is most important. not its quality. They are generally avoided since they cause problems in editing, ,as in the case of the zoom shot.  As newscasts are bound by deadlines, the editor cannot spend too much time in editing zooms, pans and tilts, without causing visual jumps.

Editing the videotape is done electronically or digitally.  If a digital camera has been used for the shooting, or if the videoscope shots have been transferred to a hard disc, the editing will be done digitally, i.e. non-linear, not electronically.  Only videotape shots are edited electronically.