Editing Techniques

Editing is a highly organised and thorough way of piecing clips together to then make all kinds of things from adverts, to films, features, and all of those kinds of things. It's a complicated process of trial and error to get the best clips you shot together to make a film. Not only that but the amount of time that goes into editing makes you a very dedicated person as you film more than double the amount on average of footage yet need to cut it down drastically to get the ideal film. Many years ago, editing way a much more complicated process then it is now, as you had to literally get your footage and cut and paste it together, this was also known as splicing. A very long and probably tedious process but when editing it meant that you got to know your footage and understand each shot to make sure that it was pieced together the best way it could. The issue now (though some say it's not an issue) is that you don't have the connection with the footage any more and the real authenticity and emotions in some shots are just lost because things are just thrown together, instead of analysing each individual shot the footage that is usually digitally recorded is thrown onto a computer system and into a program such as Final Cut and the footage is all in one place to just pick and chose what you want, making the editing system a hell of a lot easier. I will be looking at the starting sequence of Inception (2010) and analysing the editing techniques used the the first few minutes of the film. Below is the clip, I am only looking at it up until 4:00, the end of the dinner table scene. I apologise for the poor quality but it was the only clip I could find as my previous one had been taken down due to copyright laws.



CONTINUITY









A logical sequence, consistent with it's detail, continuity is what helps the audience understand the flow, travelling from shot to shot it's the coherent movement in a film; following the actions without any discrepancy. Confused? You would be from around 2:24 in Inception as we have a conversation at the dinner table, where are they sitting, well we aren't too sure, it's too confusing, but our minds slowly begin to comprehend what's going on and where the three are sitting. At 2:50 we finally see where the three characters are sitting as we get a long shot of the table, but once again the next shot breaks continuity. The majority of this scene (being the fourth scene in the entire film) has already made it's audience confused, by breaking the 180o rule, as it crosses from three points during the discussion. This has been done purposely though, as the whole film is mysterious and confusing and that's exactly what is being played on, therefore the breaking of the 180o rule has been done well.

Going backwards, when the film starts, we get two shots of waves crashing into rocks, this establishes that the is obviously water around and  possibly even the sea as the water goes all the way to the background of the shot. These shots are classed as establishing as they give a sense of where we might be but there is still de

tail hidden, as we still have no idea, but we assume it's a beach. At 1:03
for five seconds there is an establishing shot, this is where we are given a sense of where we are, which we assume the beach as we see the sand which is alongside the water. There is also a Japanese castle situated on the top of some kind of hill which is guarded with a couple of Japanese soldiers, this establishing shot is placed here so we see where are characters are and where they are going next. Giving a sense of the atmosphere, we know that the character we saw had been washed up onto the beach and was likely to be taken to that castle. This shot really plays an important role as we, the audience have no idea what's going on, and adding this location in Japan makes us wonder what's going on and this shot helps us to understand the surroundings and make us think of what's going to happen next.








Making conversations between characters involves both responses on each character, with Inception there is a moment of conversation at 2:34 between Cobb and Saito, where there is a shot-reverse-shot to show the conversation that they are having. Well actually, it's Cobb talking to Saito to convince him to be allowed in his dreams, and the shot-reverse-shot is done so we can see Saito's facial expressions with this, and how he feels about what is being spoken about, the shots go back and forth until 2:50. Though there is a bit more conversation before hand, but it's not shot-reverse-shot like you would usually expect to see when shooting a conversation and this is because it was a three way conversation and therefore the technique wouldn't work as well, but it is done at some points in that scene.

When you cut in the middle of an action to see the action either being finished or has happened, it's known as a match on action, I don't believe that there is an example in the Inception starting clip, but I also don't see the necessity for one. A common example to example a match-on-action is if someone walks through a door and you see a shot of them grabbing the handle, the next shot could then be inside the room that the person just walked into to, doing the next instruction they are meant to be doing. A reason for match-on-actions is so that you can cut out seconds on what someone may be doing, so we wouldn't have needed to see the person open the door and walk through as we assume (from grabbing the handle) that is is what is going to happen so we don't need to see it and may as well continue onto what would be next.

"What is the most resilient parasite?" well when no ones mouth is moving and you hear this you wonder what an earth is going on. A common sound bridge which is a form of motivated editing happens with music or sound tracks to tack the audience from one scene to another, yet in this case, at 2:22 this sentence is spoken, for a coupld of seconds the audience is very confused to wonder why this is being said and who by? but we then cut to a shot of the same room that is of a different time, as we see Cobb looking fresh and clean, and with a younger Saito (not that the audience may not that at the time) and Arthur who all appear to be getting along, vaguely. But there is a clear change in scene and definitely time and this sentence of dialogue is a sound bridge that motivates the editing to cut to the next scene.

IDENTIFICATION

One minute and thirty seven seconds out of the four minutes and two seconds (including the title sequence) is the amount of time that Cobb is on the screen for, that works out to be around a third of the time. He is the main character in the film and usually with the main character they are allocated the most time on screen, not only that but even if there are multiple main characters it's usually the more screen time, the more important they are. I think that this is also important with other characters as although Cobb may be the main character, it's also shared between the others that share the story with him and as the film goes on more screen time is allowed to the developing characters.

Eleven times out of the minute and thirty seven seconds there are close-ups of Cobb, this are another factor that indicates that he is a main character in the movie, because there are eleven close-ups and the rest either being medium shots or medium close-ups (not all of the shots for Cobb are like this in the film, just a lot more seem to occur at the start) and with these this gives the audience a kind of connection with Cobb, this is because we are in his personal space and can make an understanding of his facial expressions and emotions as we are close we can see the detail and really connect with the character, not only that but at this time we aren't even sure who he is, but the fact we are connecting with him in the close-ups already makes the audience more intrigued.

To make us even more connected with Cobb we, as the audience are also put in his shoes as there are multiple point of view shots which are placed at the dinner scene. These are here to give that audience the extra connection and see what he can see. These aren't common in the start of the film because there is quite a complexity behind the story-line already and the dinner scene has some interesting shots which make it a little harder to distinguish whether or not they are point of view shots, but saying this, the complexity of the dinner scene with it's shot still gives us the connection that the point of view would (in this case I feel anyway). Other than the dinner scene, at the very start of the film when Cobb is lying in the water there are three point of view shots where he looks over to one side of the beach at the children, these are really interesting too because they are very unstable and really represent how he would be looking at them but obviously we are seeing what he sees, I really like the way that it's been done to make it look a little disorientated as he seems to look on the beach anyway.

Making even deeper connections we want to know more of the emotions within the characters and how they respond to certain things, therefore the important role of a reaction shot, where we see the reaction of a character to something else that has just been said or happens, there is one in placed so we can see what Cobb feels. A good example of when this happens is at 2:18 when Saito (the old man) tells Cobb about a dream he remembered and we see Cobbs face as he looks up from his bowl and there is a sense of astonishment in the reaction. At the time the audience is unaware of what Saito may be talking about but when coming to the end of the film, you would understand it's a sense of realisation as Saito has remembered a fact that Cobb was surprised he did remember.


OTHER FACTORS

Not focusing mainly on the main character but within the starting sequence as a whole, you look at the kinds of shot variations that occur, and with this they are ranged from medium close-ups to extreme close-ups. For a staring sequence this is really interesting as we look at a range of features that we are unaware of and maybe keeping us with these close-ups withholds information where we are obligated to look at the charters and just make assumptions from what we learn in the first few minutes in this very confusing and intricate film. Although there may be a range of close-ups, we still are homed in on little details such as the spinning top, which plays a very important role later in the film, so not only are we restricted to seeing these certain things, in a way, I assume them as guidelines for later references that happen in the film.

Montages are a compilation of images of clips that make a story or some kind of passing of time. In the starting sequence there isn't one that occurs but as I really enjoy the emotions that montages give and the way they are pieced together, there is an example from Up (2009) which is very emotional.




Providing/withholding information is a massive thing with Inception as you don't really know anything until the final scenes of the film. I really think that Christopher Nolan plays on the fact that the audience have to be really into the film to understand it all and the can't glance away in case an important detail is missed, as we know from the starting sequence that all the shots are important as they act as guidelines we know that as he withholds all this information we are just waiting on the edge of our seats to find out more about the film as slowly we are provided with the information. Focusing back on the starting sequence we are withheld from a lot of information as we see this run down guy and we already question 'why is he on the beach?' and then 'who are these two children?' and 'why is he looking at them?' not only that but he has a gun in the back of his trousers and some kind of officers then take him into this grand looking building, I mean seriously how much more do you not want to tell us what's going on? This is the kind of thing that really keeps the audience captivated in the moment until information is revealed.

Although the starting sequence is complex, another editing technique that can be used id parallel editing/cross cutting. This doesn't actually happen in the starting sequence as I just mentioned but it does happen later in the film, a scene that takes place with parallel editing is when the group are switching between levels (the dreams) and you see both parts playing out alongside each other butting back and forth between the two. This is really well done because you can tell when the scenes are cut back and forth and because each level is effects the other the cutting switches at the time when problems happened in one of the levels and you see the reaction in the other level (like a massive reaction shot but between parallel editing) I think it's really complicated to try and explain the cross of levels in the film but the parallel editing switches well between both scenes.

The pace of the edit can greatly influence how the scene is seen, the faster the pace the more likely it is to be action packed and lots of things going on so there are more edits. On average in an action movie, shots are edited together around every four to six seconds, making each cut very close to the next. Where as if you were watching a documentary say, you wouldn't want that editing rhythm because it would be far too fast, and you would have longer takes (such as a wildlife documentary observing flowers, the long shots would appeal more). Where in the starting sequence of Inception this is very true as each shot is cut with seconds between the next, this is the kind of pace throughout the entire film.

The construction of time and space is another way to grab the audiences attention in a film, and Inception is based entirely upon that statement. Within the starting sequence we are already confused as there is a clear change of time (at least we assume but it looks certain) Typically a film will go in a linear order from start to finish and that makes it easy for the audience to understand as time and space is constructed in a simple fluid way. Whereas I just mentioned, Inception isn't as straight forward as that, as it goes in a non-linear order jumping between various times, and this is part of the film and why audiences watch it to hopefully get the understanding by the end of the film; Not only that but in the end you find out that the first sequence we watched is also the ending.

Multiple points of view occur at various times in the starting sequence as we have a view from all three of the people at the table, multiple points of view gives us various chances to look at a scene from many angles as we see at the dinner table (like breaking the continuity) we see every angle of the characters and are constantly changing, these multiple points keep the pace going in a film and like at the dinner table, you have all these views to follow who is talking and what is going on around you.

Usually used to show a sense of time passing or to cut something out, jump cuts are not usually seen as something to be used in films. I believe there is one in the starting sequence as when Saito picks up the spinning top in the next shot which is vaguely similar, his hand is in a different position ever so slightly, I'm not sure if it's meant to be an error or it was an actual shot that was meant to have the slight hand movement, but I think it looks a little out of place, but then again it's not so noticeable so I'm not sure whether it would class as a jump cut, maybe one, just subtlety.

Finally, I think that Inception is a great example to explain in terms of editing techniques and the uses within the film because there are so many things that happen but somehow (and I don't even know how) all of these techniques keep us on pace and up with the film until we finally learn the ending. The techniques that have been used here have been used very well and must've been quite a challenge to pull off but I love this film entirely.