--

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13.2
Making Editing Decisions
Goodeditors must be abl e \0 tel! astor yefficiently while
maximizi ngviewerinterestThis requiresth,t(theyopenttc
anediti ngsystem,visualizeasmoothshotsequencewhi le
lookingatanumberofsingleshots.andselect theappro-
priate transit iom. focsuch a sequence. Good editorscan
alsodetectcontinuityprobl ems,suchas thetal entholding
thecoffeecupin hi sleft hand in the mediumsht)! andin
hi s right hand in the following cl ose-up. Once you have
masteredtheediring syslemr ouareusing,youwill realiu
that lhl' real artofedi ting is in slOrytellillg and flpplying
aestheticsequencingprinci pk" Thissectiondemonstrates
someofthemajorones.'
... EDI1ING FUN(JION$
Combine, s/JOrlen, correct, and build
.... BASI( TRAHS1T10N DEVICES
The (VI,the diJso/Ye,the wipt.',ond Ole (ode
.... MAJOR EOlllNG PRINCIPLES
Confinuiryediling (wbj('(I IOen/ificOl ion. Ihe mm/oJmop,
vee/or,. mOVE-mml. (oJor. and $oundJ. (ompletiry edi/ Irlg,
(()Illetl, and elhio
J. For more detailed trtJ t mtm or Ht'rOtrt
ZeIt!. Sa/Hid MMIQlr. 4t h ed . ( Bcl mallt . Calif.: ThonlSon
Wadworlh.20(5).
308
EDITING fUNCTIONS
Editingisdonefordifferent Sometimesyouneed
to arrange shotsso thatt hey tell a story. Othertimesyou
mayhavetoeliminateextraneousmaterial to makeaStory
fit agiven timeslot,oryou rna)' \ ...anl tocut OUI theshot
where the tal ent stumbl ed over a \Vord or a
close-upforanuni nletcsti ngmediumsho\.Thesedifferem
reasonsarcallexampl esofthefourbasiceditingfuncti ons:
(I) combine,(2)shorten.(3)correct,and(4)build.
COMBINE
The simplest editing is combining program porti ons by
hookingthevariousvideo-recordedpieces togetherin the
proper sequence. The more care Ihat was taken duri ng
the producti on. the less wotk you haveto do in post pro-
ducti on, For example,most$Oapoperasare shot in IOllg.
complete scenesorineven longersequenceswithamulti-
studiosetul';the sequencesilre then combi nedin
postproduction.Or,you maysel e< tI'ariousshotstaken at
afrienel'swedding.lDd simplycombinethemintheorder
in which theyoccurrro.
SHORTEN
;-"'lan)' editing assignments involve cutting the available
material(0 make t he final videotapefit a given time 510 1
o rto eliminateextraneousmat erial. anENG editor,you
wi ll find thatyouoften have to tell iI completeStoryin an
unre:lsonabl yshort amountoftimeand that YOll hav"," to
paredowntheavail.!blematerial to itsbareminimum.ror
exampl e, lheproducermaygive youonly twenl)'seconds
to tell the st Orr ofadownt own fire, although the ENG
team hadproudl yreturned with("We nl)'minul eSofexcit-
ingfootage.
P.Hadoxically, when edi ting ENG foulage, you Ivill
discover thatalthough you have anabuudanceofsimilar
malerial,youmaylackcerlainshOls totellthestorycoher
entl}". For e.\ample,whenscreeningthenrefootage you may
lindthatthereare manybeOlut ifulshotsofflamesshooting
outof....,indOl...sandoffirelightersonladders, pouringI" a-
t!.'rintothebui lding,butnopicturesofthewailcollapsi ng,
whi ch injuredOl fir<'"fi ghter.
CORRECT
Much editinglime isspentOll correcting mist Olkes,either
by elilOinating unacceplable porti ons of a sce ne or by
replacingthem with bett erorll'S. This type ofedi tingcall
be simple- merely(ull ingout the part dur ingwhi ch the
talent coughed and replacing it wi th a retake. But it
.llsobe chall enging,especiaUyiftheretakedoes not mat ch
Sec rio" J 3.2
the rest of thl? recording. You may find, for example, that
some of th .;: corrected scenes differ noti ceabl y from the
o thers in color temperature, sound qualit y, or fi eld of
view (shot toO d ose or toO loose in relation to t he rest of
the footage). In such cases the relati vely simple editing job
be-comes a formidabl e postproduction challenge and, in
some: cases, a nightmare. Al though most nonlinear edit-
ing software makes rema rkably powaful color correction
fe atures avai lable, applying them is often a tedious and
highl y time-consuming affai r. This is one of the reaSons
why you should pay particular atl l?n tion to color matching
dllfing production.
BUILD
The most difficul t, but also the most satisfying, edi ting
assignments af e when you can build a show from a great
many takes. Postp roduction is no longer anciUary to pro-
duction but constitutes t he maj or production phase. For
exa mpl e, ", hen yo u use a si ngle camcorder during a fi lm-
st yle field producti on. you need to select the best shots and
put them in lhe proper sequence in postprod uction editing.
Film-sryle refers to a motion picture techJlique whereby you
repeat a brief scene several times and shoot it from iI variety
of angles and fie lds of view, irrespective of t he scripted
event sequence. But when editi ng (hese shots, you cannOt
simply select some and combine them in the sequence in
I"hk h t hey were takl'"n; rather, you have to go back to the
script and rearrange the shots to fit the story line. Thestory
is lit erally built shot-by-shot. mf.}wmNG-7
select Icombine I condense IcOfrect Itry it
BASIC TRANSITION DEVICES
"''henever you put two shots together, you need a mmsi-
IIoIl-a device that implies t hai the two shots are related.
There are fo ur basic transi tion devi ces: ( 1) the cut , (2) the
di ssolve, 0) the wipe, and (4) the fa de. In addit ion, there
are countl ess special effects ava ila ule that ca n se rve as
transi tions. Exa mples are flips, page turns, or Ily effects
(see chapter 14). Al t hough the)' all havl? the same basic
purpose-to provide an acceptable link bctwc(' n shots-
they di ffer in function, that is, how we are to perceive the
transi tion ill a shot sequence.
CUT
The cur is an instantaneous change fro rn one image (shot)
to another. It is the common and least obtrus ive Wl1I-
sitton device, assum ing that the preceding and following
shots show some conti nuity. The cut itself is not visibl e; all
Making Editing Decisions 309
yo u see are the preceding and foJlo\Vi nS shots. It resembl es
most closel y the changing field of the human eye. Try to
look from one oh tect to another lOcated some di stan ce
away. Notice that yllU do not look at things in between, as
yo u would in a(amera pan, but [hat your eycs jump ahead
to the second position. as in a cut.
The cut, like aU other transition devices, is basically
used for the clarification and intensification of an event.
C/n riji cariOlI means that you show rhe viel'r'{'f the event as
c1e:l rl y as possible. For example. in an interview show the
guest holds up dl/! book she has written. To hel p the viewer
identi fy the book, you cut to adose-up of ie
il1fellSifiurf ion means tha t you sharpen tne impact of
the screen event. In an extreme long shoe, fo r example,
a football tackIe might look quite tame; when set' n as a
tight cl ose up, ho\Veve r, the action releals its brute force.
By cutting to the dose up, the a<: tion has been
DISSOLVE
The dissolve, or lap dissolve, is a gradual tca nsiti on from
shot to shot, the h','O images tem poraril y overl apping.
Whereas the cut it self cannot be seen on-screen, the dis-
solve is il dearl y visible transi tion. Dissolves are often llsed
to provide a smooth bridge for act ion or to indicate the
passage of time. Dependi ng on the overall rhythm of an
event , you ca n use slow or fast dissolves. A very fas t one
fu nctions almost li ke a cut aod is t herefore call ed a soft
cut. f or 010 interesting and smooth transition from a wide
shol of a dancer to a close-up, (ar instilnce, si01plydisw lve
from one camera to the oth er. When you hold toe di ssolve
in the middle, yo u will create a sllperimposilioll,or slIper. A
slow diss.olve wi ll indica te a relatively loog passage of time;
a last dissolve, a short one.
Because dissolves are so relldily avai lable in NLE soft
ware, you mar be tempted (0 use them mo re oft..n than
necessary o r desirable. A di ssolve ,,,ill inevi tably slO\,<,
down the transition and, with it, the set' ne. If dissolves an:
overused, the presentat ion wi Ulack precision and accent
and will bore the viewer.
WIPE
There is a great variety of wipes availahle, the simpl es t of
whi cb is when the base pict ure is replaccd by another one
that moves conspicuously from one screen edge to the
other. Othe r wipe effects look as though the to!' picture is
peeled off d Slack o[ nthers, or a diamondexp3.0di ng (rom
the o;enter of the lop pict ure graduall y shoWl; the one un-
derneath. The wipe is such an unabashed t ransition
Ihat it is normally ctJssifi ed as a specia l effecl.
310 Chap t er 13
The wipe- rdh Ihe viewers that theY;H1? defi nitel y go-
ing to see elr.e, o r it injects scm..: or fun
into the shot r.equt' nC\". and other such effrets art'
especially magni fi f<:i on the large 16 x 9 H DlV screen. Like
wi th any ot her spl.'cial effeo, you should use discretion;
overused or inappropriate wipes easi ly upstage the shot s
they are conne'CIing. (The vari ous h,jl'es and special-effects
transitions are di scussed in chapter 14.)
FADE
In a fad, {he picture either g<*s gradually w black (fade -
Qut) or appea rs graduall y o n the screen from bril,k
(fade-itl). You use the fade to signal a detinite
(fade -in) o rend (fad e-oul) of (l. scene. Like the cunain in
a theater, it defines the beginning or the end ot a portion
of a screen even\.
As such, the fade is technic all y not a true transition.
Some direclors and editors use the term cfOss -iude for a
4uick fade to black foUowl.!d inunediatt'!)' by a fudt'-i nto Ihe
next image. Here the fa de acts as a tra nsition device, deci-
sivelr separating toe preceding and following images from
each other. The fade is also call ed a dip 10 hlnck.
You are certainly familiar with the unfof\un<ll e IIm-
dency 10 cut dinx tl y from OM commercial 10 the other
without connttting them with some transition device that
would tell us where onl' commerci al ends and the other
begins. Such j uxtapositions .;an easily lead 10 embarrassing
meanings. similar to a montage effect in film, where two
adjoi ning images ,He intended to create special n1l'anings.
POSTPRODUCTION EDITI NG
A brief dip to black could reduce, or even eJimin:tll', this
p01enliaUy funny or ina ppropriate monlage effe<1.
That said, do not go [Q black too often- the program
continuit ), wiU be illtt'rrupl<."d too many timej by fades Ihal
all suggest fi nal ending.<>, The other extreme is thl.' n(ver-
go- to-bl(l ck cr..?..e: Wille directors cit.> not daro: go to bhlck
for fear of givi ng Ih( viewer a chance to switch to another
channel. If aconstant dribble ofprogram m<lteria\ is the
only way to hold a viewer's a(lemion, however, the program
contcnt, rather than the presentation techniques, should
be <." x<lrnined. E!DSWITCHING-t fadeIt ryi!
MAJOR EDITING PRINCIPLES
To give your edi ting direction and maKe yo ur seqtlencing
choices less arbitrary, you need to know 111<." purpose of
the show and the conk:>.:.1of the event you <lre 10
fe-create through editing. For example, {he even t context
for till' fivc out -of-order (dips) in fig ure 13.20 js a
young woman getling into her caf to drive home after work.
su: n.):o TaKe (l dose look al these fi ve fmmes, representing
the uegin nings or brid shots (ttordw on the source tape.
How would you arrange them so Ihall he)'cUl together well
while effecti vely telling The story?
Without peeking ahead, renumber the shots in the
order you would sequence Ihero \ 0 teU the story of Ihl"
woman gett ing int o Ihe ca r ,md dri ving off. Now look at
the th ree edited versio ns. su 13.11- 13.ll IdentifY the one
YOlllhink is the best combinati on of shots .
. 11-
..

ShOll-atin motion
11>0"
"'" 2
r-, "' .
// ' I
II

I
- .
SIIol4- backing up ShotS
13.20 SOURCE TAPE SHOT SEQUENCE
The eve"l (or 5noiS is a wom"n getting IIlIO,l ca. to drive home after wod... This 5equence i5 as il on the
sOurce lape.
' , ( l ! I 1 U P U O ) ) U ; ) l I a a p l l l
- Q J d 0 1 p i l J ; ) P J O ' > l o l l S a l p J a 4 1 a 4 M
a u ! w J < l l a p 0 1 a ) u a n b a s S l l I l
[ l l N l O 0 1 S 9 N I l I 0 l [ l ' [ I
l U a i \ a a p ! "
- Q J d 0 1 p < l J a p J O S l O l l ' > a l i I J a l l l a 4 M
a U ! l U J < l l a p 0 1 a J u a n b a s s l 4 1
l l l N l n 0 1 S 9 N I l i O l l l ' [ L
" , ( l m u i l U O ) j U O I M " P ! "
- Q J d 0 ) p i l . a p J o a J I ? a t j l J . l 4 I a ' 4 M
a l l ! U U i l l a p 0 1 a I M ' ' ' ' ' 3
I I
L l l N l n 0 1 S 9 N I l I O l L l ' [ I
. , / '
.
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- -
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.
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. . .
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L L [
, I
312 Chapt er I J
If you selected sequence 3, you made the ri ght choice.
Hert"s why: Obviously, the dri ver needs 10 wa lk to the car
(shot 3) and unloc k Ihe door (shot 2) before fastening the
seal belt (shot 5). The neXI action is 10 back lhe car out
(shot 4). Finally, we see the ca r dri ving off (shot I).
Nonlinear editing is not unlike the preceding exercise:
to supply structure to a !lumber of shots, init iaily repre-
sented as individual stills, which YOU then run as dips. You
probably noticed thaI this is the e.'\3'l opposite of linear
editing, where yOll slart OUt I"ilh running sequences and
then fTeele particular frallles \hal mark the edit points.
This shot selection w!\s based primarily on story
continuity. Equall y important aspects of editing CQncern
complexi ty editing and preserving <onte):\. You should
rea lize that all editing princ iples-including aesthetic
ones-are conventions :lIld not J bsolutes. They work
well under most circumstances and are a hasic part of the
visual lit eracy of most television vie\,,lers and produclion
personnel. Dependi ng on the event context and the <om
munication aim, some of the "do's" o( editing may e;lill y
become the "don'ts" and vice versa.
CONTINUITY E.DITING
Continuity editing to the achievement of story con-
tinuity despite the fact that great chunks of the story are
POSTPRODUCTION EDITI NG
acruall y missing, and to the shots in such a way
Ihal viewers are largely UIl.1W.lfe of the edits. Specifically,
you need to observe these aesthetic factors: (I ) subject
identi fi cati on, (2) the mental map, (3) vectors, (4) move-
ment, (5) color, and (6) sound.
SubJect identification The vi ewer should be able
to recognize a subj ect or an object from one shot to the
next. Therefor e, avoid editi ng be"veen shots of extreme
changes in distance. SEE 1J.24 If you cannot maintain visual
cont inui ty (or idelllihca tion, bridge the gap by telling the
viewer that the shot is, indeed, the same persall or thing.
El!IJli)EDmNG7 Continuity-=. subject tD
Despite what was just noted, trying to edit together
shots that are tOO si milar can lead to even worse 1r0U
ble-the jump cut. This occur.; when you edit shots tha t
are ident ical in subject yel sli ghtl y different in screen 10-
catioll; the subject sms to jerk from one screen locat ion
to another as i f pushed by an unseen forcc. SEE u .n To
avoid a jump cut, Iry to find a succcedi ng shot that shows
the object from a different angle or field of vie1>', or insert
a cutaway shot . SEE U.26
Mental map Because television has a relatively small
screen, we normally see lillie of a total scene in Ihe on
13.24 EXTREME CHANGES IN DISTANCE
When you cut from an extreme long shot to a tight closeup, viewers may not ,e(ognize exactly whose close-up it i$,
13.25 JUMP CUT
tf the size, screen position. 01 shooting
angle of an object is onty Slightly differ
ent in two succeeding sh01S, lhe Objecl
seems 10 jump within lhe sCleen.
Sec t ion ' 3.2
Mak.lng Editing DeciS/on$
13.26 CUTAWAY
You can avoid a jump cut by changing image size andlor angle ol Vtl?W or by separating the two shots with a cutaway. shown here.
screen space. Rather, the man)' dose-ups suggest, or shouJd
suggest, that the event continues in the off-screen space.
What you show in the on-screen spac!:' defines the off-
screen space as wel l. For example, if you show person A
looki.ng screen-right j n a close-up, obviously talking to an
off-screen person (B), lh(' I' ie.wer would expect person B to
lookscrce-n-Ieft on a subsequent dose-up. su: n.21 AND n.n
What you have done--quite unconsciously- is hel p the
viewer construct a me,ftal mflpiliat pots people and things
in a logica l place regardless of whether they are in on- or
off-screen space. Once lhe map is in place, the viewer ex-
pt'C1S the subsequent screen positions to adhere to it.
The mental map is so strong that if the subsequent
shot person B also lookj ngscreen-right, the I'iew('e
would think that both perso ns A and B are talking to a
third part)'.
13.27 MENTAL MAP SHOT 1
Here person A's sneen-right gaze (hi s inde): suggests that
person B must be located in the off-screen space to the right.
13.28 MENTAL MAP SHOT 2
When we now see B in a close-up looki ng screentelt.
we assume person A to be in the off-screen space.
313
314 Chap t er I J POSTPRODUCTION EDITING
13.29 MAINTAINING SCREEN POSITIONS IN REVERSE-ANGLE SHOOTING
In this over-t he-shoulder reverse-angle shol sequence, t he interviewer (lnd Ihe interviewee maint<lin their basic screen posit ions.
To help you faciljtate and maintai n the viewer's ment al
map, you need to know something more ... boul vectors.
Vectors Continuity edit ing is little more than using
graphic, index, and motion vectors in the source male-
rial to estabLish or mai ntain the viewer's menial map. If
you wcre 10 apply the ve<tors \0 the c:'I:<l.mpl e of on-screen
person A ';'liking to off-screen person e, the screen-right
index vector of A needs 10 be edited to the sc reen-Ief!
index vector of B. Although the index vectors of the two
persons lIle converging io off-screen space, they indicate
that A and B are talking \,,;th each other rather than away
from each other.
Maint<lining screen posit ions is especiall y important
in over-tile-shoulder shots. Jf, for example, yo u shuw a
reporler intervi ewing in an over- the-shoulder
n"o-shot , the vi{'\"er's memal map expe<ts the (\YO people
to remain in thei r relati ve screen positions and not switch
places during a reverse-angle shot. SEE 1 ' .29
One important aid in ma intaining the viewer's memal
map and keeping lhesubjects in the e.xpected screen space
in reverse-angle shooting is the vector line. The l'eCtor /;,/('
(also called the line, the lille of cOllVersmioll "lid acliol1, or
the hlmdredeigl1ty) is an extension of converging index
vectors or of a motion vector in the direction of object
travel. SU:13.10
When doi ng reverse-angle swl tching from camera I
10 camera 2, you need to position the cameras on the same
side or the vector line. SEE 13," Crossing the line with one
oflhe two cameras wiU switch the subjects' screen p<lsitiollS
and make them appear to pl aying musical chairs, thus
upsetting the mental map. SEE ll..l1

,.""
'mlor Iinr
13.30 VECTOR LINE
The vector line is formed by extending converging index vec-
to(S 0( a motion vector.
motion ve<: lor line wi lh cameras (placing
cameras on opposite sides of a movingobj o::< t) wi ll rever:ie
the direction of object motion every time you cut. You \\,iU
also see the opposite camera in the background. SEE n .))
To continue a screen-left or screen-right object motion,
you must keep bOlh cameras Oll the same side of the vector
linc. Continuity-+ mental map IIry it
Movement When editing, or cutting an act ion with a
swi tcher. try to continue the 3c tion as much as possible
from shot to shot. The following di scussion ( overs some
of the major points to keep in mind.
To preserve motion continuity, cut dllring tht' moti on
of tht' subject , not before or after il. For example, if you
havea cl ose-up of a man prepari ng to rise from a chai r, CUI
10 a wider shot just after he has started to rise bUl before



-

Sec t i on 13. 2 Making Edi t i ng
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stlot 2


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3 15
13.31 VECTOR liNE ANO
PROPER CAMERA POSITIONS
To mai ntainthescreenPOSI'
tiOns of perwns Aand B in
oyeHheshoufdershooting.
thecameras mustbeonthe
same oft heveclOl line.
13.32 CROSSING
THE VECTOR liNE
Whenoneofthecameras
crossesthevectorline.per-
A andBwill switch
positionseverylime you cut
between the twO cameras.
position
fOf lito! 2
316 Chapter /J POSTPRODUCTION EDITING
13.33 (ROSSING TNf
MOTIONVfCTOR UNf
When crOSSing the mot ion
vector ti ne wit h ' ilmer<l s,
CoJITIf1"
...,
t he object motion will be
f I,
'O't([QI'
reversed in eelch YlOt.
--- '"'4
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,
,
,
Shot 1

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-- - - -- - - - ....., :.'
plXjllQn
Shol2
Icullo"
he finish es Ihe movement. Or, if you have the choice, you
(an let him almosth:nish the actioll on the d ose-up (even
jf he goes out of the frame temporarily) before cut'ting 10
(he wider shot. But do not wait until he has finished get -
ting up before goi ng 10 the wider shol.
(uning on motion
If one shot cont ains a moving object , do not foll ow it
with a shot that sho ....'S the objeCl stati onary. Similarly, if
you foll ow a moving object in one shot wilh a camera pan,
do not cut to a stati onary camera in the next shot. Equ<tlly
jarri ng would be a cut from a stat jonary object 10 a moving
one. You need to have the subject or (,lJTI Cr a move in both
Ihe preceding and t he subsequent shots.
When \vorking wilh foot age in whi ch the ac tio n
has been shot from both sides of the mo ti on vector line
(resulting in a reversal of screen directions) . you must
separate the b vo shots with a cutaway or a head on shot
so ,hat the reversed screen direction can lJe perceived as
continuing. SEE 13.3"
Color One of the most seri ous continuit y p roblems
occ urs when colors in t he same scene don', match. For
example, if the script for an EFP cans for an exterior MS
(medium shot ) of a while building followed by an MS
of somebody walking to the front of the same building,
it should nol suddenl y turn blue. As obvious as such a
di screpancy may be, color continuity is not al ways casy
13.34 CUTAWAY
I' you want to sU9gest continuing motion of two thai show the obj ects convergi ng, you need to in5ert <l cutaway that has a
neutral screen dir ection.
Section 13 .2 Making Edi r ing Oeci51onS 317
10 maintain, even ifyou are ca reful to white-bal ance the c"sual orflowing, dissolves are usuall y more appropriate
foreachnewlocati onandli ghtingsituation.\"'hat than hard cut s. But do notbe a slave to convention.
canthrowyouoffarelightingchangesyoumay nOI noti ce Cutting "around the beat" (slightly eMli er o r later than
in the fe rvor ofproduct ion, Forexample, the If"mporary the beat) all occasion can make t he cutting rhythm less
blocki ngofthe sunbysomecloudsca n drasticall y inlJu mechanicaland intensifytheSCene,
ence thecolorlemperalUre,ascant hehighl ypolishedred
pai nt ofa ca r reflectingonto the: white shirt ofa COMPLEXITY.EOJTI,N,G
standingnexttoit. Complexity editing isadeli beratebreakwith editingcon-
The more attention YOLl pay to white-balanci ng the ventionstoincreasethecomplexityandint ensityofascene.
camera to theprevailingcolortemperatureoftheli ghti ng, Yourselecti onandsequencingofshotsisguidednolonger
theeasieril isto maintaincolorcontinuityin postproduc- bytheneed to maintainvisualandallTalcontinuitybutby
tion.As menti onedb.... (ore,anyt ypeofcol orcorrecei on in waysofgellingaJld keepingtheviewers' attentionandin-
post production isdifficultand time-consuming. creasingthei remoeionalinvolvement.Cornplexity editing
doesnOlmeanchatyoushouldflaun tIherulesofcontinu-
Sound When editing dia logue or commentary, take it yedit ingbut ratherthatyoumaydeli be ratelybreaksome
extra care to preserve the ge neral rhythm of the speech. ofthem to intensifyyourcommunica ti on intent.
The pauses between shots of a continuing conversa ti on Man}' commercials use complexit y editing to make
should be neither much sha n er nor much longer than us sit up and take notice. Even the jump cut has gained
theones in t he unedi ted vusion. In an int erview t hecut prominenceas anaestheticint ensifi er, Youhaveundoubt -
(edit orswitcher-acti vated)usuall yoccursattheendofa edlyseentheerraticeditingthatmakesd personjumpfrom
questi onoran,lnswer. ReaClionsho\.s,however,areoften onescreenlocationtothene.xt,evenwhenheisonl ytalki ng
smootherwhenIheyoccurduri ng, ratherthall ;11 theend about the vi rtues ofa (.Jedit card. Much ofm1l5ic televi-
of, phrasesorsentences. Butnotethatactionisgenerall ya sion (MTV)edi ting isbasedon thecompl exityprinciple.
stronger motivation foracut Ihan dialogue. Ifsomebody Although hardl y necessary, the jarri ng di scontinuity of
movesduringtheconversation,you Illustcuton move, shotsfurth('r intensifiesthehighenergy ofthe music.
eveniftheotherpersonisstillin themiddleofastatement. Compl exityeditingis al soan effective intensification
m!l)EDlnNG-+ sound device in television pla),s . Forexa mple, 10 ca pture the
As discussed in chapt er 10, ambient (background) extreme confusiOn ofa driven 10 the point of a
soundsareveryimpon ant inmaintai ning editingconl inu- bre;,kdown,you may want tocrossthe linewiththe
it y. IfthebackgroundnoiseOlCISasenvironmentalsounds, ( ameras to show the person in a quickseriesofflip-nop
whi ch give cluesto wheretheevent takes place, you need shots. SEE 1l.U
to maintainthese throughout the scene, even ifit
was buil t from shotsactuall y taken from different angles CONTEXT
andat di fferenttimes. Youmayhave tosuppl ythisconli nu- Ufo..fn aU l ypes ofediting, but especiall y when edit ing
irybymixi nginaddit ional sounds in the postproduCl ion EFT newsstori esanddocument ari es, )'ou mUStpreserve
s\.,reeteningsessions. the t rueCOnt ext in which themain event lOokplaCt". As-
\Vh enedi tingvideoto music, l1ytOCllt wilhthebeat. sumethatthe newsfootageofaspeechbyalocal polirical
Cuts determine the beatofthe vis ual sequence al"l d keep candidatecont ai nsiii funnydose-upofanaudience mem-
the act ion rhythmically tight , much as the ba rs measure bersoundasleep.Butwhenyouscreenthereslofthefoot
di visions in music. Ifthe general rhythm ofthe musk is age, youdi scoverthatall theotheraudi encememberswere
13.35 COMPLEXITY EDITING
Here theshooting(rom bothsides0( thevectortinecreates adi st urbirKJ flip-flop, thesub}ecl'sconfusion.
318 Chapter 13
not only wide awake but quae stimulated by the candidate's
remarks. Are you going 10 use thE' cJo$e-up? Of course not.
The person aslC<! pwas in noway representative of the over-
aU context in whi ch the evenl-the speech-took place.
You must be especiall ycareful when llsingstock shots
in edit ing. A stock , hoI a co mmon occurrence--
d ouds, beach snow fallin g, traffic,
can be applied in a variel y of contexts because its qual ities
<HE' typical. Some television Sl:Ili ons {' ilber subsc ribe to a
slock-shollibrary or maintain their own colJeClions.
Here are t'Wo exampl es of using slOck shots in editing:
When editing the speech by the political candidate, you
fi nd that you need a cutaway to ma intain continuit y dur-
ing a change in screen direction. You have a stock shot of
a news phowgrapher. Can you use il ? Yes, because <l n('IIIS
photographer certainl y fit s iOl o t he Jewa.1 ev('nt ronlext.
But shoul d you usc a stock shot of the ;wdit'nn' happily
clapping after the ca ndidate fe'ads the grim st ati stics of
Labor Day traCtic accidents, JUSt to prese rve visual continu-
ity? Definitely not. The smiling faces of the audience J re
certainly out of place in t hi s context. -4
E.THICS
Because as editor you h<lvC even morc power than the
ca rneraperson over what and what not to shol': and to
construct difterelll meanings of the basic event footage. this
sect ion ends with J brief discussion of '1/115, or principles
of right conduct.
The willful distortion of an event through editing IS
not a case of poor aesthelic judgment but a questi on of
et hics. The most impon ant principle for the edito r, as (or
all production people working \"ith the prest' mation of
nonfictional events (news and documentaries r:uhcr than
drama ), is to remain as true to the actual event as possible.
For example, if yOIl were to add applause simpl y bec;;use
your favori te political candidate sa id something you hap-
pen to support , although in realilY there deJd silence,
you would dcfi nitdy he acting unethi call y. It woul d be

POSTPRODUCTION EDITING
equally \,'rong to edit out all the statement s that go against
yOur convic tions and leave only the ones with which you
agree. If someone presents pro and con arguments. be sure
to present t he most repreSl' l1tali veof cacho Do nOI edi t oul
all of one side or the olher to meet the prescribed length
of the st'gmenl.
Be especiall y carl"ful wh("1\ jUX\;lposing two shah thal
may genera te by implica tion a third idea not contained in
ei ther of the two shots. "'0 follow a polit ician's pl ea for in-
crea,.ed armamenlS wi th thee_xplosion of an atomic bomb
may unfairly imply that th is politician (avors nucl ear war.
These t ypes of mont age shots Jre as powerful as they are
dangerous. Montage effects betwt'cn video and aud io ih-
format ion are especi ally effective; they may more subtle
than the video-only montages but are no less potenl. For
("xample, adding the penet rati ng :lIld aggravat ing sounds
of police si rens to the footage o( " for signs of several
houseS in :1 wealthy neigh borhood \"ould prob'lbl}" sug-
gest that the neighborhood is changing fo r the worse. The
impli ed message is to not buy any hOll sts in this "crime-
ridden" neighborhood.
Do nOI stage event s just 10 get exciting foolage. For
e.:\il1IIpl e, i( a police offi cer has made: a successful rescue
and all you got was the rescued person on a do
not ask the offi..:er to return to the of t he accid('nt
to simulate the daring feat. Alchough reenactments of this
SOrl have hccome rout ine ror some ENG tea ms. slay away
from them. There is enough drama in all events if you look
doselyenough and take effe<t lve pictures. You do not have
to <lllyt hing.
Fimllly, yOLI are uhi ma tely responsible to the viewers
for yom choices as an editor. Do not violate the trust they
put in you. As you can see. there is a fine line between in-
tensifying an event t hrough careful edi ting praCl ices ;md
distorting an event through careless or unethical ones.
The only safeguard the vi ('wc:rs have against irrespons ible
persuasion and m anipulation your responsibil ity as a
professional communica tor and your basic for
your audi ence.
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