58 Moving Images: Making Movies, Understanding Mediaon much more signifi cance and displayed energetic artistry through
their use of the width, height, and depth of the screen.
Cinematic storytelling developed both within shots and between
shots. In the last unit, we discussed the concept of continuity, including
the use of the axis and screen direction. It was during this time that these
concepts fi rst started to emerge in the practices of fi lmmakers. As directors
created fi lms that used well arranged and blocked takes in longer fi lms,
they also began to display more use of a variety of framings arranged
into sequences of shots. Th ey began to understand that by placing shots
in relation to each other, they tended to function more or less eff ectively
depending on their timing and relationship to each other.The Development of Editing
To e d i t fi lm, it is fi rst necessary to cut the piece of celluloid. Th is is
done using a razor, which is part of a standard editing tool: the splicer.
Editors cut the fi lm precisely between frame lines, remove unwanted
lengths of fi lm, and reattach the selected shots together. As diff erent
pieces of fi lm are cut, editors manage the footage by hanging the
pieces in trim bins so they can use the strands of footage when they
need them. Non-linear editing—the type of editing seen in computer
programs—is a direct replication of this process. You may have noticed
the appearance of razors or metal bins in the icons of digital editing
Figure 2-21 One model of a fi lm programs because of their signifi cance in fi lm editing.
splicer.Figure 2-22 Flat-bed editing machine in which the reels of picture and
sound travel across the viewer and sensors from left to right, allowing
for forward and backward movement of synchronized picture and
sound.Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).