How editing creates emotional response

Introduction:

The focus for this report will be on the emotional impact editing has on audiences and how a simple change in the lining up or composition of shots could dramatically alter the responses, received. Often, people’s editing skills are at different levels and, on a personal level, some are comfortable with the position their editing is in. However, the purpose of this report is to further the knowledge, collected, to expand and explore different methods used in the film industry. Also, collect first hand opinions from professionals such as Walter Murch and Eddie Hamilton, who were studied closely for this report.

This report will cover Linear and Non-Linear editing along with why one is considerably higher praised than the other. Also, there will be discussion of Walter Murch’s ‘Rule of Six’ and how this can be applied to creating emotional response. There will be an assessment of an experiment carried out, prior to this report.

From the texts studied, there were many interesting subjects surfaced such as how blinking could be considered cutting in reality and how editing should translate reality onto screen without breaking fluidity. Whilst reading from this text, a lot of personal thoughts seemed to appear on the pages. This acted as reassurance that the perspective of editing, chosen, was correct; that seeing connections between film and reality is essential.

Editing techniques & Rules:

Through the research carried out, there were a number of interesting points made. Editing was being considered more effective now than back when resources were limited. During the early days of film, editing was considered ‘linear’ as the process of recording and re-arranging shots and audio was manual. However with technology now advanced, time spent manually assembling shots has been saved. With non-linear editing it is simply a matter of re-importing the shot onto the timeline whereas with linear editing, where reels of film were used, more money would be spent just for those few seconds more of the scene. Therefore if, hypothetically, a shot was cut a few seconds too short and an actor’s reaction was not properly acknowledged, emotional response may have been more difficult to achieve

One interesting finding was something called ‘The Rule of Six’ (Murch, 2001) These are six key requirements for reaching out to the audience. Within the six rules, Murch discusses how cutting should ensure the emotions are correctly received by the audience. Another rule concerns rhythm; the editing should follow a rhythm in order to be effective. Murch essentially states that cuts should be chosen carefully to avoid distracting the audience away from what is important. With Morante (2017) the technicalities of achieving emotional response are specified.; shot sizes, camera angles, eye-line matches and so on. Essentially, Morante delivers a scenario in the context of a scene from a film so when in editing, those technicalities will influence the audience to react in the way they are expected to.

With action sequences, it is considered better to shoot one movement from several angles before cutting away. For continuity, it is almost paramount that this method is carried out because without this, the cuts would be more noticeable to the audience. When trying to influence an emotional response from the audience, it is always best that cuts are hardly noticeable. After-which, the audience can focus on the narrative and make connections; ‘You struggle to preserve continuity of three-dimensional space, and it was seen as a failure of rigor or skill to violate it.’ (Murch, 2001, p.17)  It seems that the audience have more time to absorb the situation when this is done.

Another interesting method named, ‘Dragnet’ (Murch, 2001) is a simple yet effective system where, as an example, two characters are conversing. Normally, the two shots will alternate with continuation of dialogue even if the character delivering it is off-screen. With ‘Dragnet’ the cut only happens after the character has finished their sentence. It is said to be a ‘shallow simplicity that doesn’t reflect the grammar of complex exchanges that go on all the time…’ (Murch, 2001, p.66) With this method, you are left more time to be informed of the situation in the scene. In prolonging a single shot, the audience are essentially being told that what is happening is important and from gaining their attention there is time to influence their response. This may be a method involved with unit thirteen.

With action, cuts create a constant flow of movement and are what allow the editor to ‘create an extremely realistic situation and to mimic the natural changes in viewing angles…’ (Morante, 2017, p.129) One specific sequence which Morante dissected consists of something called ‘Parallel editing’ which involves cutting between two events happening simultaneously, but not necessarily in the same location. This method is often used in this genre, especially in films such as ‘Hot fuzz’ (Wright, 2007) during a number of the chase sequences. It seems that both parallel editing and ‘Multiple angles of action’ (Morante, 2017) make appearances throughout countless films across the action genre. Films such as, ‘Kingsman: The Secret Service’ (Vaughn, 2014) where shots are shortened and fast cuts are something the audiences are more accustomed to. However, with ‘Kingsman: The Secret Service’ (Vaughn, 2014) cross cutting is sometimes used to make several shots appear as one single shot.

Similar to Walter Murch’s perspective, there is the statement, ‘The act of perceiving a filmic product consists of not only the presence of images that have been edited, projected or broadcast; there needs to be a “receiver” who gathers the stream of information and watched it, pays attention to it, processes it and evaluates it.’ (Morante, 2017, p.195) The sheer reiteration of the importance of the audience, brings the two authors’ perspectives closer together.

With regards to the online article, ‘Film Editing is the Invisible Art’ (Apter, 2014) at times the author was almost in the audience’s position as he states, ‘…the latter feels like an action scene set to the “puree” while the former provides an intense slow-boil of the characters’ deepest emotional conflicts’ It is almost an audiences’ perspective of two scenes and how they are completely different, yet closely related. Similar to that of the experimentation yet to be discussed, it allows thoughts to be gathered on whether or not the chosen conveyance of emotion will promise the emotional response set out to achieve.  As more of an outside look at editing, this article illustrated how editing could completely change two similar sounding scenes.

An interview with Eddie Hamilton raised a number of advantages with editing. For instance, he states that he is, ‘…constantly refining’ how he can ‘utilize the non-linear tools’ in his possession. Hamilton states that with the available resources, he can ‘…find material very quickly.’ (Hullfish, 2017) Again, this relates back to Linear and Non-Linear editing and how more time can be dedicated to the emotions of the film, with the resources available. Through all the research carried out, this has been the central message each author has brought forth into discussion; Editing is a vast world of techniques and methods. So, understanding those methods and using the available resources will ensure that the emotional response from the audience will always be correct.

Experimentation:

An experiment recently carried out saw a short scene shot and edited in two very different styles. The hypothesis being that the change in editing would influence audiences to see the scene a different way. The scene was first given bleak colour grading with a combination of greens and blues. The aim was to sell the scene as a post murder sequence, where the character was leaving in a swell of anger. There were also obscure scaling effects added to make the frame move and act as the psychological meltdown of the character. To accentuate this effect, there was also dramatic changes to the exposure. These changes would last less than a second to forward the sense of discomfort that the audience should be feeling.

The same scene was then re-cut with a brown filter worked in, to establish a rather sorrowful atmosphere. An unused close up on the actor was used as they exited the building where they found the body. Each of the shots were prolonged and an alternate take was included whereupon the actor pauses against a window and begins to cry. Though these were alternate takes, there were very few used to completely change the emotional impact of the sequence. Originally, there is distance between the audience and the character with the camera stationed from a far and no camera movements used to bring the two closer together.

However, for the second cut, the zoom-in acted as a bridge for the character to walk along to reach out to the audience and inform them of the sorrow they felt. When the two were compared, there were clear differences with regards to the emotions. These were made clear in the video with text directly stating the context of the scene; ‘Murder’ and ‘Grief’. The deliberate change in colour grading, paired with the prolonged shots of the character in despair, made for an almost blatant display of two different scenes concerning two very different emotions.

Conclusion:

There have been a number of interesting perspectives, explored. Author Walter Murch demonstrated how he sees editing in the way he lives his life and how others live theirs. Discussing his ‘Rule of Six’ brought forth how bridging the gap between film and reality is key in making way for emotional response. Though this was not particularly focused on by Murch, there is always a way of interpreting the same rules for achieving emotional response from the target audience. His other method, ‘Dragnet’ will be considered during unit thirteen, to ensure actor’s performances are given more substance by being present, on-screen, longer.

With ‘Editing and Montage in International Film and Video’ (Morante, 2017) the case studies of different scenes in films proved deeply informative in listing the requirements of a scene of a specific type and genre. Morante dissects an action sequence from a police-based television programme. The individual shots sizes were stated below each significant shot which was presented as a still. This can be used, much to the advantage of unit thirteen, as reference to some of the typical shot sizes and camera movements used in a chase scene, as an example. From there, the creator’s own approach can be taken towards the final edit; cuts can be made where necessary and shots can be prolonged if necessary.

From reading the two articles, the advantages of editing have been made clear and there are interesting methods used by editors which were once a rarity to hear about. Apter’s short but detailed look at editing as an ‘…invisible art’ (Apter, 2014) listed the effectiveness of editing and how it should be praised more than it currently is. Though there was very little factual information which could be useful, from this particular article, the insight and familiar sounding discussion of two very different yet similar scenes was very reassuring and will gain the confidence needed when approaching unit thirteen.

The article centered around an interview with Eddie Hamilton, proved useful in referencing several methods he uses and why they are useful for the success of the final film.  Hamilton explains how he wants the target audience to connect with the characters in the films he edits and relates these points back to the importance of editing. It seems that Hamilton is in high praise of Non-Linear editing and this is briefly mentioned in the article. This was more of a reoccurring subject than previously expected. However, it stands as the very history of editing and its progression. In achieving emotional response, this article essentially informs people that without thoroughly reviewing an edit before announcing it is complete, connecting with the target audience could be a challenge.

The experiment carried out proved to be very reassuring with regards to how a certain emotional scene should be set up. Research carried out made clear what requirements could be utilized to affect the audience in the correct way. There were many conventions worked into the scene to inform the audience of the mood and atmosphere, intended. Carried out in such a short time frame and through sheer improvisation, the experimentation remained true to the purpose of this report. As an element of further research, screening the experimentation before a selective audience would provide reactions which could be assessed. If these reactions were correct, the screening would have proven that the experimentation was made, correctly.

As a whole, editing calls upon several different techniques and methods in order to create emotional response. These, as discussed, vary from prolonging single shots, to capturing events from several different angles and cross-cutting between them. With the ‘Rule of Six’ (Murch, 2001) there are clear and direct rules which, if abided by, promise not only the correct emotional response from the audience but a bridge built between reality and film. With this metaphorical bridge built, the film can begin to affect its audience more. Through the audience investing in the characters and events of the film, any change in emotion is more likely to affect the emotions of the audience and from there the success of the production can be celebrated.

 

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/

Films:

Vaughn, M (Director). (2014) Kingsman: The Secret Service (DVD). UK: MARV films

Wright, E (Director). (2007) Hot Fuzz (DVD). UK: StudioCanal