How Editing Has Changed Over Time

How editing has changed over time from connorkw95

Editing has evolved drastically since movies were first produced, the technology became more advanced and audiences expected more and more. The first film makers weren't keen on the idea of editing film shots, as they thought it would confuse people and ruin the film however they soon found out that this was not the case. They realised that editing footage together allowed them to create more complex stories! The earliest films created weren't edited at all, they were usually just short, static clips, using one camera angle. Robert W. Paul, a British electrician was one of the most influential early film makers, his 'Come along, do!' pioneered modern film editing, even though the final film was only thirty eight seconds long, it's considered one of the most significant films ever made because it was the first example of film continuity, apparently it was one of, if not the first film made with more than two shots!

 The first proper film editor was D.W Griffith, he invented and popularized all sorts of film making techniques, his hit film 'Birth Of A Nation' was ridiculously popular, even though it was heavily criticised for portraying a negative depiction of African/Americans, it pioneered the use of advanced camera and different narrative techniques. Apparently D.W Griffith was the first man to use a close up shot and believe it or not, at the time audiences didn't understand the idea and said they wanted to see the whole actors body since they had paid money to see them. From then on, film editing started to snowball and more and more techniques followed such as coloured films, advanced transitions and all sorts. Other film makers hit the ground running as the technology they used advanced. And i think as time went on and the technology got better and better, film makers started to become more creative and intuitive. A prime example of this is Alfred Hitchcock, 'The master of Suspense', he is widely recognised as the most influential and important person ever to be in the film industry. He created an unusual and unique style of film making, he pioneered the use of a camera made to move in a certain way, that it mimics the actors gaze thus forcing viewers to engage in a form of voyeurism. He was also well known for framing shots to maximise peoples emotions in the film, such as anxiety, fear and empathy. All of this made him unique and stand out from other film makers at the time. One of his most popular films; 'Psycho' at the time, sex and violence weren't popular on the big screen, but this film set a whole new benchmark for the acceptability for violence, sex and deviant behavior in Hollywood. One scene in the film, which no doubt you'll have seen before is the infamous shower scene. It's known as one of the best know scenes in cinema. It showcases Hitchcocks skills as a film maker, the scene is three minutes long and has seventy seven different camera angles!This the infamous shower scene!

Nowadays, film editing has been taken to amazing levels, the technology is so much more advanced, it has allowed for modern classics such as Avatar, 2012 and The Avengers to be created, and all because of the rubbish old films that were first created. And now CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) has took films to a whole new level, and no doubt there will be even better technology and effects for us to see in the future.

Rendering

As you know, Premiere Pro attempts to play back any sequence in real time and at full frame rate. However, real-time, full frame-rate playback is not always possible. There is a solution for this; rendering the sequences.

To play back complex sections in real time and at full frame rate, you may have to first render preview files for those sections. A red render bar appearing in the time ruler of a sequence indicates an unrendered section that probably must be rendered in order to play back in real time and at full frame rate. A yellow render bar indicates an unrendered section that probably does not need to be rendered in order to play back in real time and at full frame rate. Regardless of their preview quality, sections under either red or yellow render bars should be rendered before you export them to tape. A green render bar indicates a section that already has rendered preview files associated with it.

Cutting and Editing Footage

Editing is the process of getting all your clips in the right order in the Timeline. Trimming is the process of adjusting the point where we switch between clips so that both the action and the story flow smoothly from one clip to the next.

When editing you will chose what clip goes in the timeline next, in the project panel. You would then “mark” the clip by setting an In and an Out in the Source monitor and edit it into the Timeline at the position of the playhead. 

Adjusting a clip's In and Out points after it is already edited into a sequence is called trimming. Typically, you trim clips to adjust how they play back in a sequence. For example, as you view the edit, you want to cut to the incoming clip a little sooner than you originally planned while marking clips. To fix that problem, trim the clip using trimming tools in Premiere Pro.

You can trim clips by dragging the edge of a clip. A clip's "edge" is a clip’s In or Out point, or edit point. Several specialized tools and techniques allow you to trim an edit point. These tools and techniques allow you to trim more easily and accurately, reducing the number of steps involved and maintaining the integrity of the sequence.

This is what it should look like when you are cutting and editing footage in Adobe Premier Pro, you can see on this screen shot someone is cutting footage.

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The Purpose of Editing

Editing is one of the most important aspects of film making. The purpose of editing your footage is so you can tell a story and engage the viewers. By editing one sequence, you can create a million different stories, depending on the way the footage has been edited. You can change the tempo, speed, brightness and add certain transitions this can allow you to create anything you want from the sequence you have. You could probably imagine that without editing movies would be pretty dull, in the past movies weren't edited properly sometimes not even edited at all so it was the same camera angle with no transitions or effects, imagine how boring that was? Well, even although they are considered masterpieces and paved the way for the modern classics we watch now, they were boring! But this allowed us to advance and progress and now modern editing has helped bring the viewer closer to the film and allowed so much more room for creativity. Now you can understand the purpose of editing and why it's so important in film making.

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Exporting a Film

Once you have completed your project, you will want to export your film, which means it will be your final cut and not just a few sequences on premiere pro.. Here is a few quick steps on how to do so; Firstly you want to click file > export media. Once you have clicked that a box will come up on the screen. You want to tick three options; 'Use Maximum rendering Quality', 'Frame Blend', Render and maximum depth'. Once you've ticked those you can change the name of your project. Now that you've done all that click export, and your movie will be exported.