The Technique of Film and Video Editing ─ History, Theory, and Practice

The Technique of Film and Video Editing provides a detailed, precise look at the artistic and aesthetic principles and practices of editing for both picture and sound. Because editing is about more than learning a specific software program, this book focuses on the fundamentals of editing as art. Analysis of photographs from dozens of classic and contemporary films and videos provide a sound basis for the professional filmmaker and student editor. This book puts into context the storytelling choices an editor will have to make against a background of theory, history, and practice. This edition includes brand new chapters covering the goals of editing, including editing for narrative clarity, subtext, aesthetics, and dramatic emphasis, all showing how to evoke specific audience responses. Some of the new films to be discussed include A History of Violence, Atonement, The Departed, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, MIchael Clayton, and more.

Ken Dancyger is the author of numerous books on screenwriting, editing, and production. He conducts screenwriting forums and workshops in North America, Europe, and Asia. A past chair of Undergraduate studies in the Department of Film and Television at NYU, he is currently Professor of Film and Television at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University.

Introduction

Section I History of Film Editing
Chapter 1: The Silent Period
Chapter 2: The Early Sound Film
Chapter 3: The Influence of the Documentary
Chapter 4: The Influence of the Popular Arts
Chapter 5: Editors Who Became Directors
Chapter 6: Experiments in Editing: Alfred Hitchcock
Chapter 7: New Technologies
Chapter 8: International Advances
Chapter 9: The Influence of Television and Theatre
Chapter 10: New Challenges to Filmic Narrative Conventions
Chapter 11: The MTV Influence on Editing I
Chapter 12: The MTV Influence on Editing II
Chapter 13: Changes in Pace
Chapter 14: the Appropriation of Style I: Imitation and Innovation
Chapter 15: The Appropriation of Style II: Limitation and Innovation
Chapter 16: The Appropriation of Style III: Digital Reality

Section II: Goals of Editing (new)
Chapter 17: Editing for Narrative Clarity (new)
Chapter 18: Editing for Dramatic Emphasis (new)
Chapter 19: Editing for Subtext (new)
Chapter 20: Editing for Aesthetics (new)

Section III: Editing for the Genre
Chapter 21: Action
Chapter 22: Dialogue
Chapter 23: Comedy
Chapter 24: Documentary
Chapter 25: Imaginative Documentary
Chapter 26: Innovations in Documentary I
Chapter 27: Innovations in Documentary II
Chapter 28: Ideas and Sound

Section IV Principles of Editing
Chapter 29: The Picture Edit and Continuity
Chapter 30: The Picture Edit and Pace
Chapter 31: The Sound Edit and Clarity
Chapter 32: The Sound Edit and Creative Sound
Chapter 33: Innovations of Sound
Chapter 34: Nonlinear Editing and Digital Technology I
Chapter 35: Nonlinear Editing and Digital Technology II
Chapter 36: Conclusion

Appendix A: Filmography
Glossary
Selected Bibliography
Index