ABSTRACT
Editing Forms The moment of the edit, where one shot changes into another, is dictated by rhythm-sometimes by an internal rhythm the visuals present, sometimes by a musical track, more often than not by the rhythm of language. All language, dialog or narration, has a rhythm, a cadence or pattern, dictated by the words and based on grammar. Grammar marks language with punctuation: commas are short pauses; semicolons are slightly longer pauses; periods are the end of an idea. The new sentence begins a new idea, a new thought, and it is natural that as the new thought begins, a new image is introduced to illustrate that idea. The shot comes, not on the end of the sentence, not in the pause, but on the beginning of the new thought. This is the natural place to cut, and it’s this rhythm of language that drives the rhythm of film and video, particularly so in documentary production. Dialog presents different problems. Cutting on speech from one speaker to the next, though apparently mandatory in sitcoms, is usually monotonous to watch. Action and music may not have language to guide their rhythm. Music, of course, will have its own, while action has the internal rhythm of movement within the frame that will drive the pace of the cuts. In this lesson we’ll look at cutting these various forms.
