History and Development of editing

Editing is the process of using footage and using it to combine shots into sequences. Film editing used to require you to physically cut the film and then put it together with a separate image to create a cut to the next shot which created a transition in-between the two shots, but editing film is much easier now due to technology and digital cameras and computer software.

Transitions are used in the post-production process of editing and it is where scenes are merged together, the most common transition is a cut which is where the scene instantly moves to the next shot which can be used for many different editing techniques, dissolve transitions can be used when a character in a film may be having a flashback and wipe transitions are used to portray time passing.

 

This scene from Hot Fuzz has lots of cuts between different camera angles to show how intense the scene is, the music in the background is also very intense sounding which matches the scene, in the scene at 1:17, there is a part where a swan is in the middle of the road blocking them from driving, the antagonist drives out of the way and ramps up in the air, this scene is put in slow motion to change the pace of the scene and the music also slows down during this part, during this scene it cuts between the car in the air and a boy down below in the model village, this scene shows that the boy is looking at the car as it goes over him. There is a match on action shot when the swan is in the middle of the road, the breaks are put on and then it shows another shot where the car fully breaks with the swan in front of the car, this helps carry the viewer across the potential disjunction of the edit, where the car is and how close it is to the swan.

At 0:24 it makes the pace of the scene faster because it quickly zooms in to the actions they make to start the car, the siren, the seatbelt and the accelerator. This creates pace because it zooms in and each cut is a fast so it prepares the viewer for action and pace.

There are lots of fast cuts in the chase scene and there is also a lot of shaking to display the intensity of the situation, there are many different shots of the cars and in different angles such as from above, the sides and even inside the vehicle to show the driver and passengers expressions from both the protagonists and antagonists. During the fist fight in the model village it keeps up with the pace by quickly cutting in-between shots during actions and different motions because if the camera was kept in the same place during the entire scene, people would find it boring or maybe not get the excitement it is supposed to make the viewer feel.

This scene has a couple of shots where the camera is extreme close up shots when he writes his name, opens the door and unlocks his locker, this works as a transition and shows a small montage of actions, this lets the viewer know that time is passing and it's a quick way of showing everything he did without taking up too much time,  doing this is a good transition to display time passing, there is also the scene where he is walking through the police station and the camera follows in front of him whilst panning to his left and right to show the people talking to him on his way through, this is good for the viewer because it allows them to see who is talking to him as he walks through the police station, there is also a part just after he opens his locker, looks at something, the camera then cuts to what he is looking at and then back to his face, this shows his reaction to the inside of his locker showing that he isn't amused by it.

Towards the end of the clip he is on the phone talking to someone about a swan, after the call it quickly cuts to him talking with the man on the phone in person, this is a good transition because this slows the pace down as he is walking through the police station everything is moving a bit fast, but when he is speaking to the man the pace slows down implying that this isn't an exciting or interesting thing to be dealing with.

In this scene it shows a boy stealing things and as he confronts him he stops and looks and the camera slowly gets closer to their faces as it switches between them, this is a good example of an eyeline match cut, where one person is looking at something or someone off screen and then it cuts to who or what they are looking at, this adds suspense to the scene because it builds up that something is about to happen, when they begin to run the pace picks up again similarly to the first clip where the camera cuts from shot to shot really fast and the camera is shaking at the same time which creates pace and shows that there is lots of action happening.

The main protagonist is involved in lots of action throughout the film, and the different shots and techniques they use make the viewer enjoy it much more, action films often have lots of different cuts in them especially when the action picks up just to make sure that the viewer is interested in the film and the action that happens in it.