Editing Techniques

In editing there are different technique used to help piece the action together and tell the audience the story and plot line of the film. One of these techniques used is match on action this is a type of match cut. The match cut action connects two different views of the same action at the same moment in the same movement. This is done to make it seem that the motion continues uninterrupted, to make this work well the action should being in the first shot and end in the second shot.

Which can be seen in this clip

Shot reverse shot is a style of continuity editing. It is a technique where one character is shown looking at another character and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character. By doing this the characters are shown facing in opposite directions, the viewer then assumes that they are looking at each other. Doing this means that the editor can create the right shot for the actions happening, to help tell the story.

The 180 degree rule is used when filming and if it is broken then the editor has to flip the picture, so not to confuse the audience but sometimes this means that objects can be on the wrong side. The 180 degree is an imaginary line that is drawn across the screen. The camera operator needs to stay on one side of the line in which they are shooting the action from. Doing this means that the characters stay in the correct places and the locations, props and set behind them do not change. This means that the audience do not get confused and the action stays flowing.
This image shows clearly the rule.


In post-production mistakes can happen when shooting that are not seen when filming and it is up to the editor to change this and show the audience what they need to know and make the story flow. This is called continuity editing. It smooth over the mistakes made and establish logical between the different shots. Doing this makes the film narrative run correctly and the audience is about to understand the change in time and location. Using different techniques means that the directors, editor can create the right shot being able to tell the audience the correct information such as the relationship between the characters and making the plot and storyline clearer to the audience watching.