What I will investigate in my Report:

For my report, I will be further studying editing along with the methods used to achieve an emotional response from the audience. I will assess the different methods used by editors such as Eddie Hamilton and how they better the deliverance of emotion in scenes. By the end of this report, I will have an even clearer understanding of editing and also be aware of different methods and techniques which further the cinematic success of a piece of work.

Sources:

For research, I have read through two texts, referenced above. Both books underline editing whilst discussing how cutting is often overused and how sometimes it is useful in making the audience feel a certain way. One of the books was especially useful as it was written by Apocalypse Now editor, Walter Murch. Being that Murch is an editor, himself, reading ‘In the blink of an eye’ gave me something of a front row seat in the education of editing skills and the differences between Linear and Non-linear editing. The second book was by Luis Morante who is not an editor but has studied editing in great detail. This was still very informative and stated the facts of constructing scenes which convey specific emotions.

Whilst Murch’s book was more of an informal insight into being an editor; understanding the possibilities and limitations of editing, Morante’s book was more technically driven and gave visual examples of how certain scenes should be structured. This is always useful when deciding on shot sizes and camera movements for your own projects. The books complimented each other with one being more technical and one being more informally direct.

I have also looked at two online articles, including one centered around an interview with  Eddie Hamilton and his work on Kingsman: The Golden Circle, an inspiration for my final project. The other talks about how editing is an ‘invisible art’; how it is often underrated and should be acknowledged.  This article seemed very relevant to what I am going to be investigating as it gives an example of two similar scenes from two very different films and how the editing completely altered the emotional responses.

Similarities between the books & articles:

The article consisting of an interview with Eddie Hamilton has similarities to Murch’s, ‘Rule of Six’ and discusses the importance of correctly conveying emotions in a scene. The article by Josh Apter has some similarities to Morante’s ‘Theory & Technique’ book as they both have a comparison of scenes with different emotions and how there are specific requirements, within editing, for achieving the conventions of the chosen emotion. Both Morante’s book and Murch’s book cover how editing changes depending on what vision is being created whereas the articles are more dedicated to celebrating editing and giving existing examples. Morante’s is particularly passionate about discussing the modern age of editing and how it is something of a godsend to linear editing. I will continue to compare and contrast these research sources in my written piece.

Overall, I would say that Walter Murch’s ‘In The Blink of an Eye’ was the most helpful in informing me of the methods used to acheive emotional response, in film. Though there is no clear chapter fully dedicated to emotional response, there are several references to editing a scene to fit a certain mood, tone or even genre. When considering this, it was made much easier to see where the author was directing his views and how they would relate to my report’s purpose.

587 words-02/02/18

Reference List:

Books:

Morante, L. (2017). Editing and Montage in International Film and Video: Theory and Technique. London, United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Murch, W. (2001). In the blink of an eye (2nd ed). Los Angeles, CA, United States: Silman-James Press

Articles (Online):

Apter, J. (2014, March 3). Film Editing is the Invisible Art. New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2014/02/28/the-envelopes-please/film-editing-is-the-invisible-art

Hullfish, S. (2017, September 22) ART OF CUT with Eddie Hamilton, ACE on Kingsman: The Golden Circle. Provideo Coalition.  Retrieved from https://www.provideocoalition.com/art-cut-eddie-hamilton-ace-kingsman-2/