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The importance of editing in film
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As one of the most celebrated and best known Soviet directors, Sergei Eisenstein’s theoretical writings and practical uses of editing are a crucial part of cinema’s development. He viewed the art form of film as a tool with which to inflict certain reactions and emotions to audiences, be it through shock or empathetic understanding. His editing techniques were key elements to achieve these effects, carefully planned out and sought to create conflict in meaning. “Art is not a mirror which reflects the historical struggle, but a weapon of that struggle.” (Vertov in Enzensberger, 1972) His keen editing work proved cinema’s propagandistic potential and was used as such to instigate the masses against the Soviet bourgeoisie. Therefore, not only did he demonstrate that editing is the essence of cinema, but that its application in a certain manner has the ability to change history.
In order to illustrate the potency and effect of editing in film, Tarantino’s indie hit Pulp Fiction (1994) will serve this purpose by analysing its non-linear structure and subversive genre rule bending.
If for Eisenstein, art is always conflict, and his montage is supposed to intellectually and emotionally challenge viewers through metaphors, Tarantino merely uses editing to play with narrative freedoms and excite stylistically.
“Although the “marginality” of US independent cinema has economic and other industrial causes and effects, it is also seen as arising from the differences that mark the independent product from the mainstream product [...] working with more daring and or controversial subject matter, very often marked by distinctive styles of camerawork, editing or narrative organisation.” (Hillier, 2006, p. 248)
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• Dancynger, K. (2011) The Technique of Film and Video Editing Focal Press: Oxford, 5th edn.
• Dillon, S. (2006) The Solaris Effect – Art and Artifice in Contemporary American Film University of Texas: Austin
• Enzensberger, M. (1972) Dziga Vertov in “Screen” (1972) 13 (4): pp. 90-107
• Hillier, J. (2006) ‘US Independent Cinema Since the 1980s’, in Williams, L. R. and Hammond, M. (ed.) Contemporary American Cinema McGraw-Hill: Berkshire pp. 247-264
• Reisz, K., Millar, G. and Dickinson, T. (2009) The Technique of Film Editing Focal Press: Oxford 2nd edn.
• Rosenberg, J. (2011) The Healthy Edit – Perfecting Your Film Focal Press: Oxford
• Sander, J. (2010) Stylistic Innovations in Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction Grin Verlag: Nordersted
• Tzioumakis, Y. (2006) American Independent Cinema: An Introduction Edinburgh University Press: Edinburgh
Braudy, Leo and Marshall Cohen, eds. Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings, Fifth Edition. New York: Oxford UP, 1999.
Elsaesser, Robert. "The Pathos of Failure: American Films in the 1970s" The Last Great American Picture Show: New Hollywood Cinema in the 1970s. Ed. Thomas Elsaesser, Alexander Horwath, Noel King. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2004. 279-292. Print.
Bordwell David and Thompson, Kristen. Film Art: An Introduction. 8th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2008.
... ed (BFI, 1990) we read … “contrary to all trendy journalism about the ‘New Hollywood’ and the imagined rise of artistic freedom in American films, the ‘New Hollywood’ remains as crass and commercial as the old…”
The only real way to truly understand a story is to understand all aspects of a story and their meanings. The same goes for movies, as they are all just stories being acted out. In Thomas Foster's book, “How to Read Literature Like a Professor”, Foster explains in detail the numerous ingredients of a story. He discusses almost everything that can be found in any given piece of literature. The devices discussed in Foster's book can be found in most movies as well, including in Quentin Tarantino’s cult classic, “Pulp Fiction”. This movie is a complicated tale that follows numerous characters involved in intertwining stories. Tarantino utilizes many devices to make “Pulp Fiction” into an excellent film. In this essay, I will demonstrate how several literary devices described in Foster's book are put to use in Tarantino’s film, “Pulp Fiction”, including quests, archetypes, food, and violence.
Renée, V. 2013. Transitions in Editing: the History and Evolution of the Dissolve « No Film School. [online] Available at: http://nofilmschool.com/2013/08/history-an-evolution-of-the-dissolve/ [Accessed: 8 Apr 2014].
Thompson, K 2003, ‘The struggle for the expanding american film industry’, in Film history : an introduction, 2nd ed, McGraw-Hill, Boston, pp. 37-54
It is no doubt that Martin Scorsese has heavily influenced the emulating of American film making from European influences. He is a prime example of a ‘New Hollywood Cinema’ director, not only from his ethnicity and background, but from his sheer interest in this form
Stanley, Robert H. The Movie Idiom: Film as a Popular Art Form. Illinois: Waveland Press, Inc. 2011. Print
In the presented essay I will compare the style of work of selected artists in the montage of the film. I will try to point out some general regularities and features of Soviet cinema. At the same time I will try to capture especially what is common in their systems and similar or conversely what differ. For my analysis, I will draw on the feature films of the Soviet avantgarde, namely these are the movies - The Battleship Potemkin (S. Eisenstein, 1925), Mother (V. Pudovkin, 1926) and The Man with a movie camera (D. Vertov, 1929).
The development of editing - Editing - actor, film, voice, cinema, scene, story. 2014. The development of editing - Editing - actor, film, voice, cinema, scene, story. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Criticism-Ideology/Editing-THE-DEVELOPMENT-OF-EDITING.html#ixzz2sNiIEQqt. [Accessed 10 February 2014].
In conclusion it is clear that Tarantino’s film is postmodern, and Jameson’s insightful essay stands in relation to Pulp Fiction much in the same way as a prophecy stands in relation to its fulfilment. The postmodernist Tarantino expresses in a full and technicolour form what Jameson the modernist had only partially understood in the more static arts of painting and architecture.
Schatz, Thomas. Hollywood Genres: Formulas, Filmmaking, and the Studio System. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1981.
Dmytryk, Edward (1984). On Film Editing: An Introduction to the Art of Film Construction. Focal Press, Boston.
Offering the unique ability to visually and audibly convey a story, films remain a cornerstone in modern society. Combined with a viewer’s desire to escape the everyday parameters of life, and the excitement of enthralling themselves deep into another world, many people enjoy what films stand to offer. With the rising popularity of films across the world, the amount of film makers increases every day. Many technological innovations mark the advancement of film making, but the essential process remains the same. Pre-production accounts for everything taken place before any shooting occurs, followed by the actual production of the film, post-production will then consist of piecing the film together, and finally the film must reach an audience. Each step of this process contributes to the final product, and does so in a unique right. The process of film making will now start chronologically, stemming from the idea of the story, producing that story into a film, editing that footage together, and finally delivering that story to its viewers.