Understanding Film Editing 

Introduction - The Kuleshov Effect

Why do filmmakers choose to cut between shots in the ways that they do? What effect do these choices have on us as an audience and on our interpretation of what's happening on screen? How does editing help tell a film's story? One of the first and most important principles that all editors should learn is the Kuleshov effect. Basically: when we see a single shot of something, whether it's an object, a landscape or a person, our brains read it and tell us what we are looking at. "That's a Muppet Baby doll, that's Hogwarts, that's Chad (fuckin' Chad)". It registers these images and decides how it feels about them. The second you cut from that shot to another, our brains start asking themselves: "what is the relationship between these two images?". Without us knowing, it starts to make assumptions about that relationship and inferring all sorts of meaning. For instance, if we cut from an image of Chad to an image of an e-cigarette we immediately start to draw conclusions "Chad clearly vapes. I knew it. Fuckin' Chad" To see this effect in action watch the two clips below from start to finish:

Notice how hungrily and greedily she's looking at that ice-cream? Compare that with the scene below:

Notice how her expression is softer? She's clearly fallen in love with that puppy and is no doubt seconds away from walking into that pet store and slamming a sweaty wad of cash down on the counter. Both scenes use the exact same shots of the woman's facial expression as she looks across the street. Regardless of the images being identical our brains tell us that she's feeling two completely different emotions in the two scenes. In the first scene we see greed, in the second we see empathy. Even if you're completely aware of it, you can't help the fact that your brain interprets these two scenes differently because it draws a connection between the shots of the woman's face and the thing that she's looking at. Now let's take a look at some of the most commonly used techniques in film-editing:

1 - Match on Action

Shot 1 shows the beginning of an action Shot 2 shows the completion of that same action This is a great example of an invisible cut. The filmmakers needed to cut between Bodhi exiting the alley and Bodhi entering the back yard. By ending shot 1 at the exact moment that he slams into the wooden fence and beginning shot 2 at the exact moment the fence falls to the side, they are able to transition to a different camera-angle, in a new area and carry on the chase sequence without making the transition jarringly obvious. The reason it works is that our eyes are so focused on the movement of the character and the destruction of the fence that we don't register the cut. These cuts are very often used in fight sequences as you can see in the below example from Raiders of the Lost Arc.

Shot 1 uses a wider shot to give us a clear view of what is about to happen, building the audience's anticipation of the kick Shot 2 cuts to a closer shot where the effect of the kick is more visible, thus enhancing the impact of the glorious moment of foot to Nazi collision. Because we're so focused on the impact, we're not really paying attention to the cut.

2 - Overlapping Edit

This is similar to a Match on Action but the difference is that part of the action is repeated. Shot 1 shows the beginning of an action Shot 2 shows the completion of that same action BUT repeats a part of the action that was already seen it shot 1. This type of cut allows filmmakers to extend the duration of an action, making it take longer than it would if it was shown in real time. This gives the action itself more emphasis by allowing us to focus on it longer. It usually prompts a transition between two different camera-angles, making the action more dynamic (and less boring to watch). Shot 1 is a wider shot, displaying the environment and establishing the mood of the scene (in a word: moody) Shot 2 is a closeup shot displaying Morpheus' facial expression and establishing the mood of the character (very pleased with himself indeed) Below is a much more blatant example of an overlapping edit from Bloodsport.

Shot 1, 2 and 3 repeat the same action from different angles. In real time this moment lasts for less than a second but by using an overlapping edit, it is slowed down and given a lot more emotional impact.

3 - Graphic Match

Shot 1 and Shot 2 share the same shapes, structure and composition but there are many key aesthetic differences between the two. In this case we go from shiny uniforms, painted car and a clean white interior to grubby overalls, a beat-up car and an average garage. This type of cut is often used to transition between a characters' fantasy and reality (as in the above example from Grease). It can also be used as a way to thematically connect two shots that are separated by time and space. One of the best examples being the transition below from 2001: A Space Odyssey.

In this case Stanley Kubrick uses a graphic match to connect a shot taking place in the prehistoric era with a shot that takes place in the futuristic era of commercial space travel. The frickin' GENIUS of it is how, with a single cut, it connects the first moment when early hominids started using tools to mankind's eventual mastery of space travel. In between the two are millions of years of progress and evolution but with the use of this cut, the film essentially skips over all that and shows these two points as key moments in the same ongoing story of human development.