HRD Montage

Montage is where a sequence of different shots are edited together to create different effects, for example to save time and show the movement of time, space and information. There are many different types of montage, through the soviet montage theory which was developed with the help of Eisenstein whose explanation has been widely accepted as the most accurate.
"montage is an idea that arises from the collision of independent thoughts, wherein each sequential element is perceived not next to the other, but on top of the other" – Sergio Eisenstein

What I think the first part of this means is that the motion of different shots being put together though not necessarily directly related to one another is the vast amount of ideas of multiple people creating in effect something that conveys a message to the audience, for example a use of montage that is common is for example in the film Rocky where we see Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) training, the beginning of the training is hard while towards the end of the montage he becomes the best, while also taking out a large amount of time it would have taken to show that if not for montage, another would be where two characters for example who are in love having the time of their life and are happy, sometimes this is followed directly by a tragedy or something that halts the happiness they have.

The second part of this quote I think means that within the montage each sequence the one which comes after the other is meant to mean that each shot after each other elevates the meaning of the entire montage, for example the beginning shot is to state what is going to happen for example a boy not being able to ride a bike, while the next him attempting to. This can be used in something called intellectual montage, where too unrelated shots can be symbolic to each other.

Other types of montage are metric (the more traditionally used version), rhythmic, tonal, overtonal and intellectual. In the video it shows and example of montage and adds music to it to fit in with the story.

HRD The History of Editing

As mentioned earlier in this post the Lumiere Brothers were the first editors, making the earliest of films. Although there were no cuts in these films as they did not know how, so these films came out as static one shot pieces. Here is a video showing some examples of their films, as you can see these films are just one shot and one camera angle.

Edwin Porter then became a renowned editor working for Thomas Edison’s company directing the famous film The Great Train Robbery. He was famous for his use of cuts in his films, this was a new technique and after the release of The Great Train Robbery gained momentum in use.

As you can see there is a vast amount of cuts in this film, although the camera angle is always that of a long shot.

D.W Griffith was known as the first editor, he was an essential in the development of the film industry. He introduced what we call the narrative of the film and also the close up shot, the narrative in my opinion being his most important contribution, because without this films would be harder to understand. Without giving a backstory, or an explanation of what is going on films would be confusing for the audience for example a film that uses a narrative is Star Wars  with the explanation at the beginning setting the scene and explaining what is happening at that moment in the Star Wars timeline. Charlie Chaplin described D.W Griffith as the father of us all (from a film point of view) in that without him film would not be what it is today. With many famous directors speaking of their respect for him ranging from Orson Welles and Alfred Hitchcock.

It is also surmised that he was the first to understand that different camera techniques allowed the film maker to use an expressive language, what I think this means is that it allowed the director to express their meaning through the camera techniques, for example a close up shot of a certain character to show their importance within the story. And Griffiths attention to camera placement and lighting developed and heightened the mood and also the tension. This is called positioning the audience, what this means is that the director does things in a certain way to make the audience feel how the director wants them to feel, using different techniques to manipulate the audiences feelings.

In film flashbacks are sometimes used to go back to a certain point in the film or to show something that happened further in the past of the films timeline, if used correctly flashbacks can be used in a complex and professional way, D.W Griffith was the first to use this technique. He used it in his film Intolerance.

The creator of the flashback technique in cinema was D.W. Griffith. One of the earliest examples is a single shot of a mother rocking a cradle, repeated many times representing the passing of generations, in his film Intolerance (1916).

Parallel action is where two scenes are taking place at the same time, an example of that is this scene from the Silence of the Lambs. It shows that parallel action can be used to confuse the audience into thinking something is happening when in actual fact it isn’t and it is something else entirely.


Alfred Hitchcock has been described as the master of suspense, whos films have stood the test of time to become instant classics films such as Psycho and Vertigo, the main technique he is remembered for is one that mimics some ones gaze.  He made sure that the shots he did in film conveyed the message he wanted to get a cross in a sense controlling and manipulating people’s feelings to become fearful, anxious or empathic feelings.
Others

-          Eisenstein

-          Jean Luc Godard

-          George Lucas

-          Tarantino

HRD Following the Action

This is a type of camera edit which can have many different ways to do it, for example a hand held camera style, point of view, or setting up different cameras to have a different angle at them. I have multiple examples of this,  Cloverfield being one, a scene from The Dark Knight and also a point of view from a motorbike.

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HRD Jump Cuts

Jump cuts is a type of edit in which it is the same scene, where there is a cut where the camera is at a slightly different angle, or possibly even an entirely different scene. What this can do for the audience is shock them, the sudden transition of the scene can also confuse them depending on what is happening. The video below is an example of jump cuts. The way this is good to show is that the jump cuts in this are quite hard to notice, and very subtle in my opinion which is quite unusual to me as jump cuts are usually quite obvious.

HRD In-Camera Editing

In camera-editing is the technique of shooting scenes in the order that they are going to be seen in the cinema, this takes planning as usually multiple takes are done out of sequence. And also because of the linear motion, meaning that if these scenes are not done correctly or done in the way they are meant this can be disastrous for the entire film/end product.

BD Editing Rhythm

A steady editing rhythm of equal length shots maintains the flow of a storyline. This maintains continuity as it is kept steady. If the rhythm is faster, then shorter shots are used which can create tension and suspense because of the pace of the shots. An irregular rhythm can create an element of uncertainty within a scene.   Each series of shots, while having its own rhythm, also contributes to the overall pace of a film. Its important not to distract the audience too much or they will lose track of whats going on, so if you maintain the right rhythm and use it correctly only where needed then there will be no distractions. It helps build up to something such an event that is going to take place.

In this video we see a man playing ping pong, and the editing rhythm of this is really really quick. From watching this i felt the sense of competition because of the fast paced editing. It uses a lot of cuts to different shots and different angles, but we understand what they are trying to create through the editing.

HRD Providing and Withholding Information

This technique is used as a way to make the audience curious and intrigued. For example in the film Ocean’s Eleven the audience is presented the information that they are about to be arrested and have failed in their robbery of the casino, when in reality they faked the entire thing and walk out with the money. This is an example of providing and withholding information, it provides false information that they failed but withholds the information that the real robbery just included faking the robbery by doing a duplicate video to be shown and then walking in as the police and taking it all. It can be used for any number of reasons the main reason being to confuse and distract the viewer to the truth of what is happening in the film misleading them.