THE ARTOF EDITING

THE CONSTRUCTION OF TIME

Shannon Walsh / sm2002 / Spring 2014School of Creative Media, City University Hong Kong

CLASS 3

CONSTRUCTING TIME

• Parallel Editing• Temporal Ellipsis • Temporal Expansion

THEORY OF MONTAGE:PARALLEL EDITING

• Parallel editing or "cross-cutting" means "two stories told simultaneously with inter-cutting

Alfred Hitchcock, Strangers on a Train (1951)

PARALLEL EDITING

Parallel action is a powerful technique because it invites the viewer to draw thematic connections or make other kinds of comparisons between the areas of actions.(Hurbis-Cherrier, 2007, pg. 75)

PARALLEL EDITING

Temporal expansion: stretches out time, and is the opposite of temporal ellipsis; examples are evident in Serge Eisenstein's classic Potemkin, Kevin Kostner's Tin Cup, and Silence of the Lambs. 

Explosions, falls, and fights are often juiced up with temporal expansion, but such are often ridden with clichés.

THEORY OF MONTAGE:Temporal Expansion

THEORY OF MONTAGE:

Elliptical editing or temporal ellipsis  means "omitting part of an event," and almost all editing is in fact elliptical.

 Fades often signify "temporal ellipsis"--a break in time going forward, while dissolves often signify flashbacks or suggest future action (Casablanca).  

Swish pans (flash pans, zip pans, or "wipes") are used to signify a series of events--as in the "marriage sequence" in Citizen Kane.

Sometimes elliptical editing is combined with dialogue to create a long break in time, as in the famous sentence in Citizen Kane that begins "Merry Christmas. . . and ends twenty years later. . ."and a Happy New Year."

THEORY OF MONTAGE:Temporal Ellipsis

THE BIRDS (1963)

Graphic & Temporal Relations: Fire scene

THE BIRDS (1963)

Graphic & Temporal Relations: Fire scene

TEMPORAL ELLIPSIS

MALTESE FALCON (1943)

TIME as basic element of FILMTSAI MIANG-LING

What happens when the cut only happens for a change of scene? Film grammar is disrupted when we cut less because we are use to quick cutting and a certain

language of cinemahttp://www.fandor.com/blog/daily-venice-toronto-2013-tsai-ming-liangs-stray-dogs

Action continuity:“What time is it there?” (2001)

DEADLINE!

• Action Continuity Assignment Workshop & Shooting

Happy New Year!!