"Pacing and Rhythm in Editing"

Steve Hullfish at Pro Video Coalition speaks to importance of the rhythm of an edit and how the pacing of shots informs good editing.

Full article here.

“Cut Emotionally”

Here's an excerpt from the audio commentary from Criterion's new blu-ray release of the Lars von Trier film, Breaking The Waves.  The filmmakers discuss the decision to "'cut emotionally” rather than follow the usual rules of visual continuity."  

Pudovkin's 5 Editing Techniques

Here's a short piece by Evan Richards which demonstrates contemporary examples of Vsevolod Pudovkin's edit techniques .


Pudovkin's 5 Editing Techniques from Evan Richards on Vimeo.

Pudovkin’s 1954 book on cinema, Film Technique and Film Acting is available free from the indispensable Internet Archive.

Walter Murch: On Editing Rhythm

Tip of the hat to Art of the Guillotine.

The Average Shot Length of Famous European Filmmakers

Not sure what to make of this exactly.  These kind of "Inside Baseball" stats ignore so much more about how films are constructed or how stories are told, yet it's still fun to think about.

Full article here at VashiVisuals. 

Hitchcock On The Kuleshov Effect

The "Kuleshov Effect" was a 1918 film editing experiment conducted by Lev Kuleshov:  

During this time I created a montage experiment which became known abroad as the 'Kuleshov Effect'. I alternated the same shot of Mozzhukhin [a Tsarist matinee idol] with various other shots (a plate of soup, a girl, a child's coffin), and these shots acquired a different meaning. The discovery stunned me - so convinced was I of the enormous power of montage.

Alfred Hitchcock demonstrates in this excerpt from A Talk With Hitchcock.  You can find other excerpts of this video scattered across the Internet or cough up $8.50 for the complete 52 minute DVD.

Doc Editing Book - Now FREE!

That's right.

Karen Everett of New Doc Editing published an eBook a while back on documentary editing, Documentary Editing. Here's my review.



Now that book is free to download. Check it out.

While you're at it, please look at the services offered by New Doc Editing. Karen offers an array of services to documentary filmmakers. She's a supportive teacher and a gifted story consultant.

The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing

Here's the first 10 minutes from The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing. The film features interviews with many of Hollywood's leading editors and directors, as well as well-known sequences from a number of films.

[ Download ]

Listening to Walter Murch describe his approach to the craft within the confines of his pristine workspace is worth the price of admission.

And you can avoid the hassle of watching a degraded copy in segments on YouTube. The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing is available for purchase or you can rent it from Netflix.

"Sans-culotte Idealism"

Here's a clip I found at Art Of The Guillotine - a great blog devoted to film and video editing. This is a 15 minute interview (subtitled in English) with German filmmaker, Alexander Kluge.

Toward the end of the clip, Kluge discusses documentary storytelling and states: "I can't change people, and some are more tolerant than others. But its sans-culotte idealism to say, 'The viewer ought to be interested in reality.' He's not in search of truth, unless you promise him a treasure trove."

Pleasure before truth, I guess.

Walter Murch, A Lecture

While I refine a reliable work flow to edit AVCHD footage in Premiere Pro, check out this 2003 lecture by Oscar-winning film editor Walter Murch at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.






Part II of the lecture is here.

I'll share what I've learned editing AVCHD soon.

Orson Welles On Editing

Mr. Welles shares his views on film editing in this YouTube clip.





I came across this at this site, Art of the Guillotine.com

Learn To Edit

There are countless articles and tutorials on using video editing software. However, most don't address why cuts are made or how editing establishes pace and contributes to the structure of a story.

Here's a book by Ken Dancyger, The Technique of Film and Video Editing: History, Theory & Practice from Focal Press.


A preview is available on Google Books

Here's a short excerpt on editing for comedy:

"In terms of editing, the key is enough screen time to allow the performance to convince us of the credibility of the situation. The emphasis throughout the scene is on the character's reaction to the situation, allowing us to follow through the logic of the scene. In every case, editing is subordinate to setting and performance. Pace is not used for dramatic purposes. Here, too, performance is the key to pacing."

This short excerpt from Chaplin's Modern Times illustrates the point:





The book is full of useful information so check it out.