Basics Flashcards
What is an assembly cut?
The first draft of a film’s edit, where all the footage is organized in the order it will appear in the final film
What is Walter Murch’s rule of six?
Murch’s six rules on editing consist of Emotion, Story, Rhythm, Eye trace, Two- dimensional Plane of Screen, and Three-dimensional Space of Action
What is cross cutting?
The switching back and forth between scenes, often giving the impression that the action occurring in different locations is unfolding at the same moment
What is an example of cross cutting?
Cross-cutting is often used during phone-conversation sequences so that viewers see both characters’ facial expressions in response to what is said.
What is destructive editing or a destructive assembly?
Destructive editing, also known as linear editing, is a film editing technique that involves cutting physical film in sequence, shot by shot. The editor chooses cut points as they go, irreparably altering the film with each transition.
Why was the 1930s the golden age of Hollywood?
During the 1930s, the entire film industry transformed and “Hollywood” became synonymous with big studio pictures and became the standard for movies around the world.
How many films were released in 1939 and what kind of impact did it have on ticket sales?
1939 : It was the greatest year in Hollywood history: 365 films were released and moviegoers were buying tickets at the rate of 80 million a week!
Why was 1939 considered the high water mark of movie making?
1939 has long been considered the greatest single year, as it saw the release of Wizard of Oz,''Gone with the Wind,’’ ``Wuthering Heights,’’ and many other great films.
What makes Saving Private Ryan notable from an editing perspective? (1998)
It was the only film dince
1996 to be edited manually.
Why is 1995 considered to be a watershed year in terms of film editing?
It was the last time that the number of films edited mechanically equal the number of films edited digitally.
In the film Apocalypse Now what was the ratio of edited film to minutes of film in the final cut?
95:1
How many feet of raw film was shot for Apocalypse now?
1,250,000
Which scene an apocalypse now required eight cameras each with 1000 feet of film loaded?
Charlie’s point the helicopter scene with the Wagner soundtrack.
In America film editing is referred to the film being cut how was this referenced in Australia and the UK?
They refer to film being joined.
What does Murch say in regards to suggestion?
It is more effective than exposition.
Always try to do the most with…
the least.
When Murch talks about emotion what is he asking?
Is the shop being used true to the emotion of the moment?
When Murch talks about story what is he really asking?
Is that particular shot at advance the story?
When Murch talks about story what is he really asking?
Is that particular shot at advance the story?
When Murch talks about the rhythm of a shot he’s really asking?
If the shot occurs at the moment that is rhythmically interesting and right.
What is Murch referring to when he talks about eye trace?
He is acknowledging the concern with the location and movement of the audience focus of interest within the frame.
What is stage line?
On set, as a scene is rehearsed and blocked for shooting a continuity line—often referred to as the line, imaginary line, director’s line, stage line —is decided upon and the camera will then remain on one side of that line; that is, within a 180-degree arc.
What is Murch referring to when he talks about two dimensional plane of screen?
He is talking about respecting planarity Which is the grammar of three dimensions transposed by photography of two dimensions such as stage line.
What is Murch birch talking about when he refers to three-dimensional space of action?
He’s talking about three-dimensional continuity of the actual space where people are in the room and in relation to one another.
True or false the first three elements of emotion story and rhythm are much more tightly connected than I trace two dimensional plane and three dimensional space?
True first three are much more important and therefore much more tightly connected.
Based on the six elements what does Murch consider to be the central preoccupation of the film editor?
To put themselves into the place of the audience understanding what they’re going to be thinking about, what they’re going to be looking and what you want them to feel.
If you were to ask Murch About the cotton of sun cost in relation to an expensive shot you put a lot of effort into what might he say?
You worked like hell to get that shot and you are convinced that what you got was what you wanted, but there’s a possibility that you may be forcing yourself to see it that way because it cost so much.
What is the proper relationship between the Director and the editor?
Murch believes that it is a responsibility of the editor to advise and counsel on what may or may not be in the final cut but at the end of the day it is the Director that makes the decision.
What does he feel is the danger of having a single editor on a film?
Murch has a concern that we’re a single editor that editor may end up with a lock viewpoint.
What does he believe that you should take from every camera position of each scene?
Murch believes that you should take at least one still photograph that can be used to create form of storyboard.
What are additional advantages of creating still photograph from each camera position?
They are also a great resource for the publicity department or anyone else coming into the film at a later date.
What does Murch believe a still photo can show in regards to specific emotion?
He believes they can express an emotion such as a concept of ironic anger tinged with melancholy that does not simply have one word for it but can be represented in a photo.
What is one of the things that he likes about working with a Moviola?
He likes that you’re able to stand up While editing.
If he were to try an analogy he referred to editing with a Moviola being the same as…
Dancing.
Murch draws what analogy to what things being related to editing?
He feels editing is similar to surgery, cooking and dancing.
All of the analogies that he draws in relation to editing which one does he feel is the strongest and why?
He believes that it is most closely associated with dancing and that the finish film is a kind of crystallized dance. He says you have never seen a dancer sitting down.
Other than the question of sitting when he refers to the differences between the Moviola and the KEM system differences one of what?
Sculptural approach.
Other than the question of sitting when he refers to the differences between the Moviola and the KEM system differences one of what?
Sculptural approach.
What does he say is the sculptor approach with the Moviola?
It is one of building up. The Moviola cuts the film and the tiny little bits you start with nothing and you add frames at a time until you have completed your sculpture.
What does he say is the sculpture approach with KEM?
You start with the entire film and begin to pull away little pieces of it until the sculpture reveals itself; so therefore it is one of rather than adding.
What does computerized digital editing and the good old-fashioned Moviola editing with an assistant have in common?
Both are random access nonlinear systems.
What does he say is a drawback to a non-linear system?
Your choices can only be as good as your requests.
What does he say about the re-editing process?
What you thought was potentially unuseable may turn out to be yourself salvation.
What is the disadvantage to a system that is too linear according to him?
This is just too much material to watch and you might become bored before you find what you need.
True or false; much of Murch’s ethereal explanation of the editing process really comes down to an attempt to academically define what is talent.
True
Murch recommends what to collectively keep certain obsessions from becoming corrosive and to point out blind spots that may have developed through over familiarity with the material.
The participation of audiences in test screening.
True or false Francis Ford Coppola was an enthusiastic supporter of screening his films at almost any stage no matter how unfinished they were?
True
Explain his analogy related to medical pain and test screening in front of an audience.
He believes just because an audience display one particular scene does not mean that that scene should be thought of outside of the whole of the entire film.
What does he believe in regards to film and human thought process?
He believes the film is the closest thing to the human thought process in any art.
Why does he believe that editors accept a cut?
He believes we accept the cut because it resembles the way images are juxtaposed in our dreams.
True or false? Murch believes that film is the closest to thought process than any other art?
False. While Murch may well believe this to be true he was quoting John Huston from the August 1973 edition of the Christian Science Monitor.
What pysiological mechanism does Huston say interrupts our apparent visual continuity of our perceptions?
The blink
There is a telling phrase from cowboy standoffs. What is it and what does it signify.
“He blinked” It signifies the moment he relinquished his primary thought.
