History of editing
Edwin Porter:
Editing has been around for a very long time. It has helped to develop the films that we have in front of us today. Editing has played a huge part in the production of film for a number of years now. It is now an integral part of post production. However editing wasn't initially always around. In 1895, the Lumiere Brothers created the first ever film. This film was called 'L'Arrive d'un train a La Ciotat'. This film had no edits and it was recorded and produced completely raw. However in 1903, A man named Edwin Porter came to the editing world with many ideas. He became the first person to use Cut editing. One of his most films was 'The Great Train Robbery'. In this film he cut two different scenes together and put them together to create a cut scene. Back then majority of editors were women. This is because editing was seen as a job that offered cheap labour which meant that the pay wasn't very good. As men were seen as the main breadwinners for families, they would have to find jobs that pay better so that they could provide for their families.
D.W Griffiths
Editing began to develop under Edwin Porter. More editors began come into the editing world with ideas which they thought would have a positive impact on the editing world. In 1915, A man called D.W Griffiths came to the editing world with fresh ideas and plans on how he could make editing better. One of the many things that he bought to the editing world is that he was the very first person to use a variety of different shot types. D.W Griffiths became the first ever person to use the close up. This was a shot which showed the subjects body from shoulders upwards. A close up helped to show the facial expressions of certain characters. This would help to show the emotion of characters to the audience. One of the films that he made was the ' The Birth Of A Nation'. This film used a variety of different shot types. This film remains one of the most iconic and successful films today. Finally D.W Griffiths believed that characters would be able to give off hidden messages to the audience by using different shot types.
Sergei Eisenstein:
Although editing had began to develop in and around the 1940-50's, the audience that would watch films would have a basic expectation on what they thought would happen. They believed that movies were too predictable and that there would always be the same outcome. However overtime editors began to become smarter with their idea which meant that there was a huge amount of unacceptability in films. During the Russian revolution, there was a huge amount of hate occurring. This is where propaganda came into editing. In 1925, a Russian man named Sergei Eisenstein came to the editing world with ideas and personal experiences to offer. He was there during the Russian revolution which meant that he was able to edit with the experiences that he received during it. The first ever film which he created was called ' Battleship Potemkin' This was a film that was about the revolution. One of the effects that this film had on the audience was that it allowed them too personally identify with the film. This would mean that audience members were able to understand the film more because they will feel as if they were part of it. One of the editing techniques that he introduced the editing world was fast Parallel editing. Parallel editing allowed the audience to see what was happening in different locations whilst still keeping their focus on the original shot. He also used a variety of different shot types to show the audience what the revolution was like.
Alfred Hitchcock:
Alfred Hitchcock was another pioneer of editing. In 1960, he created a film called Physco. In this film there was a very brutal shower scene which took a whole week to complete. One of the editing techniques that Hitchcock introduced the editing world was fast cut-editing. He used this technique to bring together 78 pieces of film. There were 70 different camera set ups during the filming of this scene. The fast cut-editing helped editors to show dialogue between two characters with anything actually being said.
Jean-Luc Godard:
Jean-Luc Godard was another pioneer of editing. He was a French editor/director. He wanted to completely change the rules of editing. He was the leader of the French new wave. He broke the rules that was set by Hollywood to make their own style of film. One of things that Jean was the first person to use was jump cuts. The effect that his style had on the audience is that it would allow them to only see the exciting parts of a film.
Editing has come an extremely long way since it first began over 100 years ago. Back then women would have to glue scenes together to create a strip. However in the mid 90' due to many advances in technology, computers began to become much smarter. This meant that editors wouldn't have to edit by using their hands any more. In the 2000's a software called Final Cut Pro was introduced. This software allowed editors to do everything on computers. This software had things such as different sounds,transitions, slow motion which would help to create a film. This software would allow editors to upload all their footage and manually put their scenes in order.
I believe that editing is the most important factor in the production of a film. I believe that without editing it is impossible to make a film look as good as it does with editing. With all the effects that go into editing, films look much better. Editing has a huge appeal to the audience as well. This is because without editing, in films there would be scenes which have mistakes and this will then make it difficult for the audience to understand.
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