Editing Flashcards
The cut
The break between
Temporality
The time between cuts
Straight cut
One shot ends and another begins abruptly. This is by far the most common type of cut.
Fade-in/Fade out
The image gradually darkens to or brightness from black. Commonly used for particular effect.
Dissolve
One shot is gradually superimposed over the other. Used for particular effect.
Iris
Screen is covered in black from edges to centre
wipe
Subsequent image replaces previous image in horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line. Iris and wipe cuts are much less common.
Continuity editing
“invisible” editing where “each shot has a continuous relationship to the next”
Establishing shots
An initial shot (often a long shot) that establishes location.
Two shot
Medium range shot of characters to establish location for conversation.
Over-the-shoulder shots
Camera positioned behind and over the shoulder of one character, then alternating to another.
Insert
Typically a close up that draws attention to important details.
180-degree rule
“restricts possible camera setups to the 180-degree area on one side of an imaginary line (the axis of action) drown between the character or figures of a scene”
Shot/reverse shot
one character looks in one direction offscreen, followed by another character looking offscreen in the opposite direction.
Eye line match
one character looks in one direction offscreen, followed by a character or object with matching screen position
POV shoots
camera positioned to see through the eyes of character.
Match on action
Direction and pace of action match between shots.
Graphic match
When patterns, shapes, colours, match between shots (more abstract)
Story time
The length of time covering the events shown onscreen and the events inferred arranged in chronological order.
Plot time
Length of time covering the events explicitly shown onscreen.
screen time
Length of time film takes to tell its story.
Scene
Series of shots in a continuous action or motif across scenes.
sequence
Series of shots linked through continuous action or motif across scenes.
Flashbacks and flash forwards
Events shown out of chronological order; when a scene in present is followed by one in past (flashback) or future (flashforward) Ambiguous temporality means it isnt clear when a scene takes place relative to story.
Duration
Length of time used to present an event or action in a plot. This may not conform to the length of time that passes in the story”
Ellipsis
Abridgement of time through editing.
Crosscutting
Alternating two or more events in two locations, usually happening simultaneously.
Overlapping editing
Same moment of action presented in two or more shots.
Pace
“The tempo at which a film seems to move, influenced by the duration of individual shots and the style of editing”
long takes
Shots that are comparatively lengthy in their duration,
Rhythm
The organization of editing according to different paces or tempos determined by how quickly cuts are made.
Disjunctive editing
The use of practices and patterns that reject continuity editing style
Jump cut
elliptical cut that creates discontinuities
Juxtapositions
Cut that results in unexpected, discontinuous contrast.
Montage
although commonly used to refer to elliptical sequences, in Film Studies montage (originating with Soviet filmmakers in 1920s) is the concept of “cutting together of conflicting or unrelated images to generate an idea or emotion in the viewer”
