Film Editing

Film editing is part of the long process of formulating, acquiring and presenting the images and sounds that make a film. The film editor makes decisions about the arrangement of the visual and aural material that they receive in the cutting room, not for their own satisfaction but to stimulate the participation of the cinema and television viewer. Three interrelated aspects, Emotion, Performance and Story, influence this decision-making. Combining history, practice, study and theory, Film Editing: Emotion, Performance, Story investigates why certain editorial decisions can encourage the emotional and narrative engagement of the audience. With full-color examples from features, short films and commercials, this book introduces a range of different editing styles and techniques to provide editors with a context on which to build their practice. Julie Lambden takes a discursive approach exploring the many options open to the editor whether this is the fine point at which to cut or the exact structuring of scenes within a whole film. Examples are closely analysed and discussed using frame grabs, graphics and plans. The book opens discussions on our psychological and cognitive behavior, and asks why certain picture and sound configurations can affect us emotionally. Interspersed with chapters on the fundamental tools of editing are studies of three editing strategies. Each is a method of persuasion that the editor can use to elicit a response in the audience, whether that is sympathy for a character or belief in the fictional world.

Julie Lambden is Senior Lecturer in Film and Television at the University of Westminster, UK, where she specialises in post-production for drama and documentary. Graduating from the University of Reading and the Northern School of Film and Television, she began her career as an assistant editor on broadcast documentaries and drama, later editing both factual and fiction. Teaching post-production to directors and actors at the Drama Centre London (UAL) promoted a closer investigation into the potential of editing and performance.

Introduction Chapter 1: Moving Pictures; the structuring of Story and Emotion Chapter 2: Montage Chapter 3: Study 1- Parallel Tracks Chapter 4: Continuous Time and Space Chapter 5: Study 2 - Subjective Eyes Chapter 6: The Expressive Potential of the Audio-Visual Dynamic Chapter 7: Study 3: Fascinating Rhythms Chapter 8: Constructing a Performance Index