R.Frizzell Productions.
Key Techniques in Editing
On this website you can find out the many different techniques used in television. These techniques include Continuity editing, Establashing shot, 180° rule, Shot/reverse shot, Eyeline match/reaction shot, Match on Action shot, point of view shot, Two shot, Cutaway and Montage.
Continuity editing is a system of rules that are followed so often that are followed so often that the audience no longer notice them/. where everything runs in a constistent and orderly mannor, for example; in one frame of a movie, a child could be crouching under a table and then in the next scene they would then be in a different position but still under the table. This leaves the audience confused as to why the shots have changed because the child should be in the same position in the next shot. Usually an example of this can be found in Star wars movies when they are fighting each other, in one scene they are fighting but in the next scene they are running fast to make it look like they are still fighting but infact the scene has changed shot without the audience knowing.
The Establishing shot is a shot that sets the scene, for example we decided that we wanted to film in an old abandoned hospital. To show the audience that we were in the hospital we would take an astablishing shot outside of the hospital first, this lets the audience know where the scene is set.
The 180° rule is basically an over the shoulder shot where two characters should be having the same left and right relationship with eachother. The shot creates special awareness so that it tells the audience where they are. An example of this is in the well known Harry Potter films. For this example its in the film "Harry Potter and the deathly hallows part 2." The scene im using as an example is where Harry and Lord Voldemort are talking to each other and they have done the shot so you can see Harry's facial reaction whilst He's talking to Voldemort.
The Shot/Reverse shot is a technique where the camera moves around the set where the audience think that the cast is moving but in reality its the cameras moving around the cast. This shot is used alot in T.V especially in soaps. Although its used in T.V its also used in films such as Spiderman and The hunger games.
The Eyeline match/ Reaction shot is where there is one shot where there is one shot and somebody in that shot is turning around and in tha shot it changes. The finished shots would be 2 different shots with the same person turning around. An example of this would be in the Men in black films, especially in the first one. The scene that has this shot is when agents J and K are turning around back to back and then the scene switches over to them in the same position but K is facing the cameras instead of J, like the first scene currently was.
The match on action shot is used for continuity editing which portrays carachters in the scene doing two different shots but then showing it on the screen as one. This is shown so well that it creates a match on action shot. This distracts the viewer from noticing any edits that have been made in the scene and also just shows the same action in one scene rather than two. A great example of this is usually in soaps like Eastenders, Emmerdale and Corronation street.
The Point of view shot is where the viewer feels like they are in the scene they are watching. This scene is most likely to be used in horror films as the tention brings out the fear in the viewer which makes them think they are in the scene. Another example of this is that the Point of View shot is mainly used in Games for Xbox, Playstaton systems and Nintendos ect. A specific game would be Call of Duty Blackops where they character is walking around with a gun and the person playing the game actually feels like its real life.
The cutaway is a shot that interupts a long scene by showing an image of something else and then going onto another scene without the viewer really noticing. After the cutaway has gone to another scene it then follows through to go back to that first scene. This is used in preety much all sorts of media, a great example of this is in the news. The reporter starts off by reading out the news and then there is a cutaway shot of the story shes reading about and then it goes back to the reporter.
The Montage is an editing technique that collects different images and puts them together really fast to make the audience belive something thats not really there. Its used as Propaganda in alot of the media.
