What about editing language did you notice?

• Murch’s Rules
  • Eye Trace – This clip is clearly mindful of where the audience’s eyes are when cutting from scene to scene, as I didn’t need to dart my eyes from one corner of the screen to another in order to see the focus of the shot.
  • Three Dimensional Space – Throughout the entirety of this clip, the actors always made sense in their space. For the most part, any character’s movement from one spot to another was clearly communicated, so as not to disorient the audience.
  • Emotion – In the end of this clip, there’s a very strong sense of awkwardness, as the villain attempts to make a sly jab at the main character, but completely fails in his delivery. Rather than moving on to the fight after making a comment, the villain then tries to explain his jab, making for a rather embarrassing scenario. This awkward mood is clearly expressed to viewers as the camera lingers on the villain for an uncomfortable amount of time and multiple cuts are made to other characters to show how lost they are.
• Different Cuts/Editing Techniques
  • J Cut – In this clip, multiple J cuts were used in order to create intrigue for the next scene. One specific part of the clip included a J cut in which the focus of the screen is on the main character’s conversation, until it’s interrupted by someone else speaking. At first, we don’t see who the voice is coming from, but eventually, the camera makes a smooth movement to reveal the person speaking in the background of the shot.
  • Invisible Cut – There were two invisible cuts used in this clip that I noticed, in both of which the back of a character’s head was used to transition into/out of a montage. The transition into the montage used a wiping effect to move from the current moment into the past moment being described. When we moved from the past moment to the present, we once again transitioned through a wiping effect which took place behind the character’s head.
  • Montage – This clip included a montage showing a past timeline, which was transitioned into using an invisible cut (as mentioned above). The montage also switched mediums from the previous scene to tell the story in the form of an animated comic.
  • Cutting on Action – Since this clip included part of a fight scene, it’s no surprise that the technique of cutting on action was included. The cut successfully showed the sudden switch from conversation to our main character being launched into the sky by one of our villains.

What did you like about the film clip?

I really enjoyed this film clip, along with the rest of the movie, because it’s relatively outside of the box compared to other more traditional films. There’s a huge level of detail that goes into the film, with the visual effects being so unique and the actors being told not to blink, which adds to the comic book feel of the story (I learned this from the article linked here). In this particular clip, I really appreciated the effort that was put into making everything feel awkward and realistic, especially given the completely abstract story line. The subject matter in the conversations between characters was unrealistic to a conversation you’d have in real life, but the flow of the conversation was relatable, as it was awkward and casual.

What did you learn from this week’s exercise?

From this week’s exercise and lesson, I learned about Walter Murch’s six rules and their application in film, along with a few different cuts and editing techniques. Some of the cuts I learned about included jump cuts, smash cuts, cutaways, and invisible cuts. I’ve really been enjoying learning about these different kinds of cuts that are commonly used in films, as it allows me to have a different experience while watching movies. With this new information, I’m able to notice details in movies that I never would’ve seen before, which is super exciting.

What questions do you have from what you saw?

• What is the difference between Walter Murch’s rule #5 and rule #6?
• Is there a name for when you hear a voice in a film but never see where/who that voice is coming from?

Citations

• “13 Creative Film and Video Editing Techniques.” YouTube, uploaded by Pond5, 14 Aug. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fu3vhFlXV0w. Accessed 8 Mar. 2021.
• Maio, Alyssa. “The Rule of Six: How to Edit Effectively with Walter Murch’s Eye Trace.” Studio Binder, 1 Aug. 2019, www.studiobinder.com/blog/walter-murch-rule-of-six/. Accessed 8 Mar. 2021.
• Gray, Tallulah. “10 Things You Should Know about Scott Pilgrim.” The Cultured Nerd, 11 July 2020, theculturednerd.org/2020/06/10-things-you-should-know-about-scott-pilgrim/. Accessed 8 Mar. 2021.