ABSTRACT
This part introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters. Up through the 1950s, the language of editing in mainstream Hollywood filmmaking to achieve this effect was remarkably conservative. "There was almost a formulaic way of presenting films," says editor Carol Littleton in The Cutting Edge, a 2004 documentary about film editing. "This film language was very strict, and in editorial terms there were rules that one felt could not be broken." Motion pictures cast a spell on us. When a film is "working," it transcends its origins as a series of disconnected moments and feels instead like a seamless experience, a smooth roller coaster ride that pushes us through space and time in a dynamic and satisfying way. Audiences quickly became comfortable with jump cuts as a legitimate style choice, and since that time wave upon wave of revisions have been made to the "rule book."
