Editing



Study of Russian montage
Battleship Potempkin (d. Sergei Eisenstein, 1925)
Mother (d. Vsevolod Pudovkin, 1926)
The Kuleshov Effect

Sin City (d. Frank Miller/Robert Rodriguez, 2005) See the Sin City effect in operation here, as well as in the IB Film Gweilo (d. Nick Hatzer, 2009), We will be concentrating on the use of the Sin City effect employed by editor Helen Lee in this production.

The Cutting Edge: the Magic of Movie Editing (d. Wendy Apple, 2004) A documentary exploring the history and techniques used by editors.

Textual Analysis & Film Language

Key texts of study:

M (d. Fritz Lang, 1931) German Cinema

It's A Wonderful Life (d. Frank Capra, 1946) A Christmas special to get us all in the mood!

Short Films:

Inja (d. Steven Pasvolsky & Joe Weatherstone, 2001)

MT. Head (d. Koji Yamamura, 2002)

Klaus the Forklift Driver (d. Stefan Prehn & Jorg Wagner, 2000) All 3 of these films can be found via the short films link above.

In October you will have a textual analysis exam to see how well you are coping with the theory and terminology associated with this course and how easily you deconstruct how meaning is conveyed in film texts. You will be given a choice of three films and asked to analyse only 1. You then choose a 5mins sequence to deconstruct and have 15mins to discuss the text. The choices in October 2008 were:

Trainspotting (d. Danny Boyle, 1996)
The Good, The Bad & The Ugly (d. Sergio Leone, 1966)
Raise the Red Lantern (d. Zhang Yimou, 1991)






Practical task

During November, you will be asked to construct a chase sequence in which you attempt to tell a simple story through concise use of editing through space and time. You should attempt to aim for a 3 minutes sequence which must contain 1 jump cut through a portal and at least one piece of cinematic trickery via an edit. For the Y12 class of 2009, keep in mind the codes and conventions of the road movie, which you have been studying via The Motor Cycle Diaries (d. Walter Selles, 2005)

Go here to see the Chase Scenes from 2 years ago or here to see material from 2008.