Analyzing editing and techniques of a 5-10 minutes sequence

Film editing
In order to build a good well film which will have big hits we need a really important part of the media which we call film editing. This is "part of the creative post-production process of film making". It involves working with raw footage and selecting individual shots and combining them into sequences to create a finished motion picture. Film editing was once derived form the traditional process of working with film (film splicing), however now it involves a lot of the use of digital technology.

Film splicing, normally done by a machine named film splicer.

This device is used to physically make a cut transition and put together lengths of photographic film in film motion pictures.
There are different types of splicer which d the same job. In the old times before digital technology they wuld use one of these devices for editing:

• Cement splicers
• Tape Splicers 
• Ultrasonic splicers
• Thermal paper splicers

Bellow is a you tube video explaining more about the techniques used in the old days for editing using one of those devices above.

However now we do not have the needs f using this device any more for editing as we have the use of computers and digital technologies. This method is much easier, faster and more reliable. Time consuming is little compared to before.

Transition
This another method used in the editing of films. The transitions are used to connect the shots in a more effective way so the audience can read it better. There are simple method of transitions:

1. Cut- This is an abrupt but usually trivial transition from one shot to another. A shot just immediately replaces the previous one. 
2. Fade- This normally refers to fade in and fade out, where the sequence will kind of dissolve to and from a blank image/shot.
3. Wipe- This is a type of transition where a shot replaces another by travelling from one side of the screen to the other. Sometimes it does this action with different shapes.
4. Dissolve- This is a gradual transition from a shot to another. 

For this piece of work i decided to write about the techniques and the editing of the first 8 minutes of a film named "Pain and Gain". This film was first released not long ago; April 11 2013. There are two very popular actors on this film which play the main protagonist; Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne Johnson.

The reason I choose to do this film is simply because it is based on a true story, I like it and there are many scenes that illustrates lots of the editing techniques.

Here is the first eight minutes of the film:

On the first 50 seconds of the film we already are presented with various shot variations. At 26 seconds we have a long shot of a man exercising, this is slowly panning to the left. We then are taken into a low angle, medium shot to give more details. After that we have a low angle close up followed by a high angle close up.

At about 50 seconds of the film we have a sort of parallel editing (cross-cuttings). This is when we keep jumping between two scenes which will cross each other later. On this film we also have cross-cuttings at about 50 seconds of the film where we have the guy running then we cut to the officers then back to him. The cross cuttings go on for a while until they actually cross each other at 2.15

At about 1.26 we have a sort of montage; this is when a scene shows time passing. I would say that on the scene at 1.26 seconds they are trying to illustrate time passing because they have the soldiers jumping down from the truck in slow motion. This shows the audience that the time for the guy running is shorten as the troops are getting closer.

At 2.21 the film maker withholds information from us. He shows us the first 2.20 seconds of the film and when the guy is hit by the police car he finishes the scene there, so we don't find out what happens to the guy so soon. We call this "providing and withholding information".

At 2.21 we also have another editing technique used. The film maker finishes the scene by cutting to the sound track. This is when we hear a sound/beat and then the scene finishes. At 2.21 we end our scene by the sound of smashed glass from the police car. We hear the sound then the screen instantly goes pitch back.

 

Early at the start of the film the 180 degree rule was broken. By doing this it could easily confuse the audience and they could also have lost track on what is really happening. However this break of the 180 degree rule was very clear and easy to follow. You can see it your self starting from 1.00 minutes into the film and finishing at 1.34. At 1.00 the camera is positioned in a way where we see all the actors and everything else moving/running to the left. At 1.12 this was broken and everyone started to run/moving to the right.

 

We also see an establishing shot of the film very early. An establishing shot is when the scene is brought out with a long shot of the scenario to tell or remind the audience where the scene is happening and where the actors are. On pain and gain this action happens at 2.22 when the screen goes black. Unlike others establishing shots this one had a voice over explaining and telling the audience that this film is based in a true story.

 

Just before the establishing shot we had another editing technique which once again was well mastered and done to a professional level. The use of match cut on actions, where an action starts in one shot and is completed in a different shot. We can see this at the minute 2.15, where the actor getting away from the officers is hit by a police car and in one shot he is in the air falling, and the other shot we are taking from an inside view where he hits the car front window and it breaks.

 

Shot reverse shot is a shot which is used a lot in many films. This is simply because of all the dialogue that happens; for example when two people are talking we tend to get a point of view shot from the persons who is listening, then a reverse shot is done for us to see the answer of the person. An example of this shot can be seen at the 5.29.

 

Another shot which can be seen literally at the start of the film is a reaction shot. This is when we see, hear or have an action happening and afterwards cut back to an actor to see their reaction towards what had just happened. At the 0.43 we can see this shot. We had a point of view shot from the actor looking towards the police cars coming over and then we cut straight away to his reaction.