Linking and Film Editing
A film does not always stop while the viewer considers whether to follow a link or not. It is thus necessary to give the viewer the necessary information before he or she is supposed to make a decision on what to view.
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In the travel film, for example, we must first show a little of the visit to a famous landmark. Only then can we expect the viewer to want to select a longer or shorter version of that episode.
It will probably always be a question of skill and experience to select how much information that is needed to show, for the viewer to make an informed decision. Yet, we can deduct some guiding principles from film theory.
Shots are combined into larger units when films are edited, and the understanding of this montage is at the heart of film theory. A shot (or take) could be roughly defined an uninterrupted recording segment. When a film is made, shots are edited together to form scenes and stories (in most widespread filmic genres, that is). A shot may in theory always be trimmed shorter by cutting away material in either end, until it consists of a few frames only.
It would be absurd to create the short version of a stretchfilm by using a shorter edit of every shot from full film. Still, I often used a part of a shot to stand for a longer segment in the longer film. This practice is also widespread in television series when making synopses of earlier episodes. When shots are trimmed down the editing rhythm also becomes busier. This created a problem in the travel film, as is discussed under "Interface and Structure."
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We need to show that the film has an upcoming segment that is somewhat coherent. In amateur video, three kinds of coherence are widespread, and they need to be signified differently:
- Formulaic actions are closed, recognisable events or actions that the viewer recognizes as something that is performed again and again in fairly the same manner. Examples could be a wedding, cleaning the house, or going to work in the morning. For such events, it is enough to show a little. A couple dressed for wedding in front of an altar, and we understand that a whole wedding ceremony is implied.
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What I am thinking of is that action that is recognized and, in the words of Roland Barthes
(S/Z), "can be given a name".
These concepts are from narrative theory, as the majority of film theory is about fictional narrative. Formulaic actions may be recognized in other kinds of films, however, and most home films would not qualify as narratives in a scholarly sense as defined by Branigan
or Chatman
, among others, as they lack the inner logic of a beginning event, and a series of developments leading to a well-rounded ending. Home movies are normally descriptive rather than narrative.
Even if they are not narratives, amateur movies are not without logic. We may explain this logic by using some concepts from Edward Branigan's theory of film cognition
. Branigan sets up a hierarchy of relations between shots from random heaps to proper narratives. Between the two do we find episodes and catalogues, cognitive relations that are central to home film editing.
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- Episodes are such as visits to a certain place. Here, the setting must be established, and it must be hinted at what happened.
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Episodes are "created by collecting together the consequences of a central situation: for example, collecting everything that happens to a particular character in a particular setting as well as everything that the character does in that setting" (Branigan, p.21
). When I, for example, picked up the video camera in New York's Central Park and filmed, I created the material for what became an episode. Branigan defines an episode as a collection of "the consequences of a central situation" (p.21). This may often be thought of as a scene, shots from a specific location within a limited time span.
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- Catalogues are sequences of similar shots mounted together, such as a series of characteristic buildings of a city. To represent a catalogue, enough shots must be shown that the viewer recognizes what they have in common. ("Aha, a sequence of characteristic buildings!")
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A catalogue is a montage of shots put together adhering to one principle, or as Branigan
puts it: "by collecting objects each of which is similarly related to a 'center' or a 'core.'" The New York segment, for example, has a catalogue sequence where famous New York landmarks are put together: the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, the Statue of Liberty, et cetera.
Episodes and catalogues can in theory always grow longer, as long as they continue to show consequences of a central situation or objects related to a core. This is used in stretchfilm editing, as episodes or catalogues that are shown in the short version may be expanded in the longer version. For this to be intelligible, however, enough must be shown of the episode or catalogue that it is recognized as such. This has implications for stretchfilm editing: We cannot understand an editing principle from one shot alone. At least two shots must be edited together before we can form an understanding of the organizing principles.
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