Editing techniques
and rules
The 180 rule- When
you film a scene using separate shots, it’s important that people understand
where everything in the scene is. You can use the 180 degree rule, together
with looking space and eyeliner match, to help them. Imagine you’re looking at
a scene from the side. You can see the whole scene. If you look at one character,
they are on the left hand side of the scene facing right. The other character
is on the right side of the scene facing left. You could just show your scene
in long shot, but that would mean we couldn’t see facial expressions, or
details of what characters are doing, very well. It would also be quite boring
because the camera position doesn’t change.
Shot reverse shot-
4. Shot Reverse Shot is a continuity editing technique used in conversations or
simply characters looking at each other or objects. A shot showing what the
character is supposedly looking at (either a point of view or over the shoulder
shot) is followed by a reverse angle shot of the character themselves looking
at it, or of the other character looking back at them, for example. Shot
reverse shot often ties in with the 180° rule to retain continuity by not
distorting the audience’s sense of location of the characters in the shots. Shot
reverse shot in 28 Days Later
The 30 degree rule-
The 30 degree rule is rule used in filmmaking with the purpose of creating
continuity between different shots within a larger sequence of shots. It should
also be noted that the 30 degree rule isn’t a scientific standard. Many
filmmakers use an “anything more than a 10 degree change in angle” while others
say no less than 25 degrees. However, a 25 to 30 degree minimum change in angle
seems to be the agreed upon norm. When moving your camera between shots the
camera should be moved a minimum of 25 to 30 degrees (with a maximum limit of
180 degrees) to avoid jarring transitions also known as jump cuts. This helps
you seamlessly piece together a larger sequence of shots in a harmonious manner.
Between shots you can change your camera’s depth, perspective and angle. All of
these changes should be motivated by your story and flow with the pacing of
your film or documentary. You’ll need to think both about the artistry of each
shot and what the camera is trying to communicate but you’ll also need to think
about the technical fundamentals of each change in position.
Match on action- Match
on action occurs when an action that begins in one shot is continued or
completed in the next. In an exterior shot Julia Roberts opens the front door
to a house. In the next shot the camera, now indoors, photographs her entering
the foyer and closing the door.
Rule of thirds- The
basic principle behind the rule of thirds is to imagine breaking an image down
into thirds (both horizontally and vertically) so that you have 9 parts. As
follows.
The rule of thirds 1 As you’re taking an image you
would have done this in your mind through your viewfinder or in the LCD display
that you use to frame your shot. With this grid in mind the ‘rule of thirds’
now identifies four important parts of the image that you should consider
placing points of interest in as you frame your image. Not only this – but it
also gives you four ‘lines’ that are also useful positions for elements in your
photo.
The rule of thirds 2 The theory is that if you place
points of interest in the intersections or along the lines that your photo
becomes more balanced and will enable a viewer of the image to interact with it
more naturally. Studies have shown that when viewing images that people’s eyes
usually go to one of the intersection points most naturally rather than the centre
of the shot – using the rule of thirds works with this natural way of viewing
an image rather than working against it. Continuity- Cutting to continuity
involves taking out all the inessential moments in a conventional action.
Editing takes out the dead, boring moments in a film. Imagine having to watch
all 31 miles of celluloid shot for Lawrence of Arabia! When James Bond travels
from London to The Bahamas, do you really want to watch the whole trip: snoring
for eight hours on the plane, brushing his teeth in the airport bathroom,
renting an Aston Martin at Avis, and so on? Cutting to continuity just includes
Bond's leaving M's office, boarding a plane, leaving the Jamaica airport, and
driving his car down an ocean-side road. All this activity takes just a few
seconds.
