The Purpose of Editing

Editing is a part of post-production that involves putting together raw footage of various shots to create a sequence or scene. This can be a lengthy process depending on the project and viewers may often not notice the editors work if they are too engaged in the final product.

Editing can be the most important part of production for certain projects. This is because it allows the filmmakers to edit out irrelevant portions of film. This is usually a lot more entertaining for the audience as it allows them to watch the film with better narration from the filmmakers.

During editing, the editor may come across scenes that have performances from the cast or crew that are lacking, scenes may also have been poorly shot. The art of editing allows the filmmakers to bring the final product to the audience, without the audience knowing about any of the imperfections.

While editing, the editor puts together various shots to produce a sequence, these sequences will then be put together in order to create a film. The beauty of editing is that it allows the filmmakers to narrate the film in any order they please, the filmmakers may want a shot from the start of the film to be at the end of the film which can be done easily through the use of editing, one notable example of where the narrative has been told in a different manner is Christopher Nolan’s Memento.

Usually shots will vary in length, post production editing allows the filmmakers to work these varied lengths into a sequence without taking away from the overall feel of the film itself. Having numerous shots in quick succession, for example would give an intense vibe and build up suspense.

Due to the advancements in technology, editing has become more than just putting together various shots. It also involves the editor applying filters or other enhancements to the clips during post production, the editor may also create transitions between clips.

A transition is a technique used in which scenes or shots are combined. Usually a film will use transitions in order to convey a mood or tone to the audience. The most basic type of transition is the cut, which is when two shots are placed together and played one after the other. When watching a film it is when one image on screen is replaced with another, the following image may have be in form of a camera angle change.

A contrast cut is used to juxtapose two varying subjects. An example would be somebody dreaming of a beautiful field of flowers, and then the image on screen would quickly change showing that same person inside of a burning building. The varying subjects of peace and beauty to chaos are intensified through the sudden transition. The same effect would not be able to be achieved if there was a gradual transition in between the flowers and the burning building.

An L cut involves the cut in the audio and the video being at different times. For example, the audience may hear a character’s voice before seeing them on film.

Above are some examples and the description of various transitions. This will help understand what types of transitions there are and why some of them are used. 

Below is a link to the end scene for The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (play from 3 minutes, 30 seconds into the video). It is a perfect example of how important editing is for film. It builds up suspense by having straight cuts to the three characters in the films, the shots then speed up which makes the viewer more engaged. The music helps build up the intensity of the scene, which could not have been added if it were not for editing. The shots start of being quite distant from the character but then begin to get closer, the change from a medium-close up to an extreme close up can have an important effect on the scene and what the viewer is going to assume as the scene is getting more personal.