Film Lesson Plans

Editing

This lesson provides a basic introduction to editing exploring continuity editing and the radical approach to montage editing developed by Soviet filmmakers in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution. The final section briefly examines two films by Martin Scorsese that illustrate the director’s innovative approach to camera technique and editing.

  1. Editing: Introduction
  2. Soviet Montage
  3. The expressive use of Camera and Editing Technique

Editing: An Introduction

Introduction

On its most basic level, editing is simply the joining together of individual shots to create visual sequences.

There are different types of editing joins that can be used between shots, and each can serve a different purpose or function within a narrative:

  

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Soviet Montage

Introduction

The Soviet filmmakers who emerged in the aftermath of the 1917 October revolution in Russia were part of an artistic avant-garde committed to innovation and experimentation and the creation of new artistic practices. Directors Sergei Eisenstein and V. I. Podovkin were part of the formalist tradition in film history. These Russian directors believed that editing was the foundation of film art and they set out to shatter the illusionistic storytelling and seamless continuity cultivated by Classical Hollywood. The pattern of editing established by Hollywood pioneer D.W. Griffith (1915) in his films The Birth of A Nation (1915) and Intolerance (1919) taught these filmmakers how different shots sizes and camera angles could be combined together in the editing suite with powerful narrative force. The Soviet filmmakers wished to harness the power of cinema as a tool of education and propaganda and they therefore wished to go much further than simply entertaining audiences with spectacle and historical romance.

  

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The Expressive use of Camera and Editing Technique

Introduction

The films of Martin Scorsese offer an important case study of how a filmmaker can employ a wide range of often contrasting camera techniques for expressive effect. Two of the Scorsese’s films are particularly remarkable for the director’s radical camera and editing technique.

  

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