In class, we have recently been learning about editing. The editing technique that I find particularly interesting comes from the way directors use transitions to move their story along. As a person in the Electronic Media Production option here at Eastern Illinois University, I am constantly pressured to make good videos for projects. One way that I am taught to do this is through the use of good transitions.
I found a very nice way of introducing transitions in an article that I read by Michael Kurland. The title of his article is very interesting in itself. It is titled, Get Your Characters Through Doors Without Stumbling: The Art of Transitions is a Subtle but Important one for Good Storytelling. In this article, Kurland states,
“Transitions–moving characters through space or through time–seem simple, but they are a recurring problem for all but the most experienced writers. Do they just appear–pop!–at the new location, or should I slowly and in great detail get them from here to there? Both are technically correct, as are all the infinite possibilities in between the two extremes.”
(Kurland, 2008)
This section is very true when it comes to editing. When you think about editing, you don’t think about all of the ways to get your characters moving throughout the scenes. What makes a good editor or director is the way that this happens throughout the film.
In class, we touched on match cuts. In our class notes, we defined a match cut as shapes, objects color, overall composition in shot A will fall over into shot B.
I came across a periodical that was written by Vincent LoBrutto, and LoBrutto states,
“The art and craft of editing is comprised of two overarching approaches–invisible and visible editing. Invisible editing is a cut that is hidden by strategy–a match cut where a prominent action within the frame is continued over the cut so the event is embraced by both Shot 1 of this moment through Shot 2. This phenomenon allows the creator to present a flow of images that tell a story without reminding the audience they are watching a motion picture. Where to make the cuts–outgoing of Shot 1, incoming of Shot 2–demonstrates the very essence of the invisible editing concept.”
(LoBrutto, 2009)
There is a very good match cut done by Tim Burton in the film Ed Wood. This film was done by Burton in 1994, and is about a mostly true story of the legendary director of awful movies and his strange group of friends and actors. This film stars Johnny Depp, Martin Landau (Who won Best Supporting Actor in this Film), and Sarah Jessica Parker. In this movie, Ed Wood is a very bad filmmaker who is trying to join the film industry. Upon hearing of an announcement in Variety that producer George Weiss is trying to purchase Christine Jorgensen’s life story, Ed is inspired to meet Weiss in person.
In this post, I would like to analyze a scene in the film that has a good match cut. It occurs when Ed walks into Variety and overhears 2 employees “gossiping” about an article in Variety. The news that the two employees are gossiping about is about George Weiss’ announcement of his new idea for a film. In the first frame, Ed is looking at the newspaper, reading the announcement. The camera tightens up on the newspaper to the point where the only thing in the frame is the news article itself. The next shot opens with the same tight shot of the newspaper, but then zooms out and you find that Ed is holding the newspaper in an entirely new location. This jump of location is done in order to move the plot along and move the character from one scene to the next, just in a flow of images that is subtle, but successful.
I find this clip to successfully make use of a match cut, and I believe my description of the scene effectively shows how the match cut is used. I have inserted a link to the clip below. This clip is on YouTube, and it can be found at 10:00 and it ends by 10:30.
Work Cited:
Kurland, M. (2008). Get your characters through doors without stumbling: The art of transitions is a subtle but important one for good storytelling. Writer, 121(1), 31-33.
LoBrutto, V. (2009). “Invisible” or “Visible” Editing: The Development of Editorial Styles and Strategies. Cineaste, 34(2), 43-47.
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