Roger Crittenden

The Thames and Hudson

Manual of Film Editing

Contents

Introduction 7

I The historical perspective : how the function of editing has evolved 9

THE SILENT ERA I0 THE CONTRIBUTION OF

D. W. GRIFFITH I0 THE CONVENTION I I THE RUSSIAN

INFLUENCE I2 . EISENSTEIN I 3 LIMITATIONS OF THE

FORM I4 . ROBERT FLAHERTY AND THE DOCUMENTARY

MOVEMENT I 5 . CHALLENGING THE CONVENTION I 6 CAMERA-STYLO AND CINEMA-VBRITB 17 . THE NEW

WAVE I 8 . EXPLORING THE BOUNDARIES 20 COLOUR

AND WIDE SCREEN 20 TECHNIQUE AND MANIPULATION 21

2 Shooting with cutting in mind 2 3

CREATING THE EDITOR'S MATERIAL 2 3 CONVENTIONAL

COVER AND THE ALTERNATIVES 24 - CONTROLLING IMAGE

AND SOUND 25 . IDENTIFICATION 26 . RELATING

SHOOTING TO EDITING 28 . DOCUMENTARY SHOOTING 32 . THE PROPER USE OF SOUND 37 PAPERWORK 40

3 The cutting room and editing equipment

UPRIGHT AND FLAT-BED MACHINES 47 THE

SYNCHRONIZER 5 3 . MAGNETIC SOUND AND TAPE

JOINERS 55 THE SYNC BENCH 56 . THE TRIM BIN AND

OTHER ACCESSORIES 5 7

4 Cutting procedure

CHECKING YOUR MATERIAL FOR FAULTS 61 . SYNCHRONIZING THE RUSHES 63 - CODING THE

RUSHES 67 - LOGGING 68 . TRANSCRIBING OR MARKING

UP THE SCRIPT 68 . VIEWING THE SYNC RUSHES 68 BREAKING DOWN THE FILM 70 - CUTTING 70 - THE

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE DIRECTOR AND EDITOR 73

5 The language of editing: giving your material 7 4 form and refining its meaning

REASONS FOR CUTTING 77 CUTTING AND REACTION :

DRAMATIC EMPHASIS 79 . DIRECTORS AND EDITING: SOME

EXAMPLES 80

6 Sound in editing 9 5

CATEGORIES OF SOUND 96 DIALOGUE 97

EFFECTS 99 VOICE-OVER OR NARRATION I00 . MUSIC 102 PLAYBACK 107 - TRACKLAYING 108

DUBBING CHARTS I I 3 THE MIX I I 5

7 The laboratory in post-production I 16

THE 'CONTACT' I I 7 REPRINTS AND DUPLICATION I I 7 . OPTICALS I I g . NEGATIVE AND ORIGINAL CUTTING I 2 3 . GRADING AND PRINTING I 24 . DUPLICATING THE

MASTER 128 - STORAGE AND RETENTION OF THE

MASTER 129

8 Film editing and the future: film or video? 130 ( Appendix: additional and contractual obligations of the editor 135

FOREIGN VERSIONS I 3 5 . CREDITS AND TITLES I 3 5 CENSOR I 3 5 MUSIC CUE SHEET 13 5 LIBRARY

RETURNS 136

Glossary 137

Acknowledgments 156

Bibliography 157

Index 158

Index

Figures in italic refer to illustration

A and B roll chequerboard as- sembly see chequerboard cutting

A and B wind I 19,122; 55 Aaton 133 Accident I I I ; 52 Acmade: Compeditor 3 1 ; flat-

bed editing machine 47; num- bering machine 38; sync bench 33

L'Age d'Or 16 Alexander Nevsky 49 Allen, Dede 73,87, I 3 I Allen, Woody 20 Altman, Robert 23, 88, 89, 95;

4 5 Anderson, Lindsay 105-6 angle and distance 3 I L'Annke Derniere d Marienbad 20 Antonioni, Michelangelo I 9 Arrangement, The 21 Astruc, Alexandre I 7 auto-splice deletion I 24 L'Avventura 19

Badlands I O I Barry, Iris I I , 12 Basic Training 94 Battleship Potemkin 14 Bazin, Andre 16-17, 18 B B C 39744 Beck, Reginald 73 Belmondo, Jean-Paul 84-5 Bergman, Ingmar, 20,24, 81-2,

104; 42 Birth of a Nation I 2 Bitzer, Billy I I

Bogdanovitch, Peter 20 Bonnie and Clyde 87 Boston, Satah 44 Bresson, Robert 20, 25, 73, 83-

4,102; 43 Britten, Benjamin 104 Brownlow, Kevin 46,74 Buiiuel, Luis 16,22,23,82-3 ; 9 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance

Kid I 02

Cacoyannis, Michael 24 camera: mechanism faults 63;

use of 9, 10, I S camera sheets 40,61; 16 Camera-Stylo I 7 ,24 cameraman: importance of 23-

4. 93; relation with recordist 3 7

captions I o 1-2; and see titles cementjoiners 55

censor (in U K) I 3 5 Chabrol, Claude I 8 ,73 Chandler, Raymond 23,89 chequerboard cutting I r 9, I 23-

4; 56 Chien Andalou, U n I 6 Chinatown 87-8 Chronique d'un Et4 I 7 ; 6 Cinema-Vkrit.5 I 7-1 8 Cinemascope 2 I Cit izen Kane I 7 clapperboard 26-8,42, I 3 3 ; i 1 Clark, Susan 86 close-ups 4,9, 10, I I , 15, 24, 30,

35 ; crosscut 10, I I ; sound 30 C M X Video Display Unit 58 coding see numbering machines,

rushes Collins, Alfred 9 colour film 20; correction I 18;

duplicating from colour ma- terial 129

Compeditor 5 3,96 ; 3 I complementary angles 3 3 Confrontation, The 91 ; 46 continuity 28-32, 34-5; conti-

nuity cutting 21 continuity notes (or sheets) 28,

40-1,43,61, 133; 18 continuous action 16-1 7,21 Conversation, The 25 Coppola, Francis Ford 25 Coutard, Raoul23 cover 24-5, 3 2

cues 98 cutaway 3 3 cutting: in the hand 46; organ-

izing material 61-70; positive reasons for 77-8; procedure 70-3; standard markings 58, 64, 113, 121, 123; 40; tech- nique 21; to overcome prob- lems 78-9; and see editing

cutting copy: guide for ordering optical effects I 2 I ; preparation for negative cutting I 23-4

cutting room 46-60; 21,35,36; accessories 57-60; effect of equipment on sound 95; and see editing machines

Daniels, Bebe 46 Death in Venice 20

Delerue, Georges 105, I 07 Death on the Nile 89 Decae, Henri 23 Decisions 94 Devils, The 108

dialogue 79,96,97-9; tracklay- ing 109-10,112

Diary o fa Chambermaid seelour- nal d'une Femme de Chambre, Le

directors: editing techniques 80- 94; relationship to cameramen 24; relationship to editors 73

dirt or 'sparkle' 62, I 25 Discreet Charm ofthe Bourgeoisie,

The 82 dissolves I 19, 121, 122-3, 126;

40 documentary film 15-16, 17,

18, 92-4; breaking down 70; shooting 32-7; sound 97, 101, r 07

Don't Look N o w I I 2 ; 53 dramatic tension, balance and

emphasis 75 Drew, Robert I 7 dubbing charts I 13-14; 54 duplication I 17, I 18-19 Dymytryk, Edward 23

East of Eden 2 I

editing: general contribution 7- 8, 23,73,74-94, 133-4; dot- umentary 92-4; evolution of 9-2 I ; obligations after com- pletion I 35-6; sound 95-1 I S ; video editing I 30-3

editing machines 46-54; flat- bedltable 47, 50-1. 52-3, 60, 70; 25, 26, 27, 28, 29; upright see Moviola

editors: relationship to director 73

effects 96-7, 99-100, I 36; 54; music and effects mix I I 5, I 35 ; tracklaying I 10-12

Eisenstein, Sergei 12, I 3-14> 17, 103,104; 4,49

Elvira Madigan 103 extraneous objects in shots 63 eyelines 29-30, 34; 13

fades 119,122-3,126; 40 Farewell M y Lovely 23 Fassbinder, R. W. 32 Femme Douce, Une 83-4; 43 film footageltime conversion

58; 34 Fistful of Dollars 50 Flaherty, Robert r 5, 16,75; 5 flashback 10

focal point of scene 75-6 fogging 62, I I 8, 127 Ford, John 23