Week 7 - The 6 Elements of the Edit

To create the perfect edit you should consider the following elements:

Motivation - Ask yourself why are you cutting. Is there a reason to cut? It is important to know when to cut and when not to cut.

Information - A good reason to cut is if there is information the audience needs to know. If there is no new information there is no reason to cut.

Shot Composition - Is it good enough to use at a professional level? If the camera is shaky, has poor focus and the shot just doesn't look right, then it shouldn't be used. Using it will make you piece look poor quality.

Sound - Robert Bresson says 'A sound must never come to the help of an image, nor an image to the help of sound'
It is argued that it is worse to have bad sound than a bad image. You shouldn't have sound for the sake of having sound, sometimes you don't need it or you need sound without an image. You don't need to hear everything you see. 

Camera Angle -

180 degree rule -

180 degree line where is it? For most films if the camera crosses the 180 degree line it can make the audience confused and disoriented.

45 degree rule -

If the angles are too small then there is not enough of a change of shot. Or if they are too big it can confuse the audience and look like a jump cut.

Continuity -

• Are there any errors in shots? (things changing when they aren't supposed to)
• To make the world believable, everything must exist coherently.
• Content - whats in the shot, is it the same?
• Movement - direction of movement, is it the same or continuous?
• Position - where is everything placed.
• Sound - if a sound changes during a cut it carries a different meaning.

Knowing all of this i have a better understanding of  basic editing and cutting. This will help me when doing my final projects/ tasks.