Week 8 - The Grammar of the Edit

Editing a sentence:

• Understanding the grammar of film requires a similar understanding to literature and language.
• Spelling, word order, phrase structure, tense.
• A sentence must function in a similar way to film.

We looked at and compared a student film and part of a professional film.

'To be Skinny' - student film

 In To be Skinny there were a lot of unnecessary cuts and the camera was very shaky. It did not follow the 180/45 degree rule so it left the audience confused at times. You could also hear the sound of the camera and the lighting kept changing, which put the audience off. One second it would be light, the next it would be dark.

'Miss Bala' - professional film

In Miss Bala you could tell it was a professional film. It used a continual shot as it had no reason to cut or change shot, the audience got all the information they needed from the camera moving. The audience were never confused.

Rhythm of the Edit:

Pacing/ rhythm is determind by :

• The length of a particular scene
• The length of an individual shot
• Fluency/smoothness/ stillness/ shakiness of a shot
•  How sound clips are used in a scene/shot
• The difference in angles from shot to shot
• The content of a shot
• How soon an editor decides to cut from shot to the next

 Clip from 'In the Mood for Love'

We looked at In the Mood for Love. This clip shows how the music used matches the scene and the flow of the scene perfectly. It sets the rhythm of the scene. The music is slow and the people are in slow motion, when they are at normal speed the music changes to the speed.

Selecting a shot -
When selecting a shot you need to look at:

• Focus
• Audio quality
• Exposure and colour temperature
• Framing and composition
• Screen direction
• 180 degree rule
• 30/45 degree rule
• Matching angles
• Matching eye-line
• Continuity of action
• Continuity of dialogue
• Pereformance

Knowing what a good and bad shot looks like will help me with my project/ tasks, making sure i get the best grade possible.

Cutting between shots -

• Cut - Straight cut from on cut to the next
• Dissolve - A gradual change from one shot to the next
• Wipe - A line moving from one side of the screen to the other, bringing with it a new clip
• Fade - A gradual change from solid black to an image or vice versa

Stages of the Edit -