Lecture 07: Editing II

IS 246
Multimedia Information

Prof. Marc Davis

UC Berkeley SIMS
Monday and Wednesday 3:30 pm 5:00 pm
Fall 2003
http://www.sims.berkeley.edu/academics/courses/is246/f04/
IS246 - FALL 2004 2004.09.22 - SLIDE 1
Todays Agenda
Review of Last Time
Editing

Editing
Kuleshov
Isenhour
Burch
Barthes

Discussion Questions
Action Items for Next Time

IS246 - FALL 2004 2004.09.22 - SLIDE 2

Dimensions of Film Editing
Graphic relations between Shot A and Shot B

Rhythmic relations between Shot A and Shot B

Spatial relations between Shot A and Shot B

Temporal relations between Shot A and Shot B

IS246 - FALL 2004 2004.09.22 - SLIDE 3

Todays Agenda
Review of Last Time
Editing

Editing
Kuleshov
Isenhour
Burch
Barthes

Discussion Questions
Action Items for Next Time

IS246 - FALL 2004 2004.09.22 - SLIDE 4

Todays Agenda
Review of Last Time
Editing

Editing
Kuleshov
Isenhour
Burch
Barthes

Discussion Questions
Action Items for Next Time

IS246 - FALL 2004 2004.09.22 - SLIDE 5

Continuity Editing
Graphic continuity
Smoothly continuous from shot to shot
Figures are balanced and symmetrically
composed in frame
Overall lighting tonality remains constant
Action occupies central zone of the frame
Rhythmic continuity
Dependent on camera distance of the shot
Long shots last longer than medium shots that last
longer than close-up shots

IS246 - FALL 2004 2004.09.22 - SLIDE 6

Spatial Continuity Editing
180 degree rule
Ensures that relative
positions in the frame
remain consistent
Ensures consistent
eyelines (i.e., gaze
vectors)
Ensures consistent
screen direction (i.e.,
direction of character
movement within the
frame)

IS246 - FALL 2004 2004.09.22 - SLIDE 7

Use of 180 Degree Rule
Establishing shot to establish axis of action
Sequence of shot/reverse shots
Focuses our attention on character reactions
Eyeline match reinforces spatial continuity
(Kuleshov Effect)
Match on action reinforces spatial continuity
Following 180 degree rule allows cheat cuts
Continuity of action can override violations of
180 degree rule

IS246 - FALL 2004 2004.09.22 - SLIDE 8

Temporal Continuity Editing
Temporal order
Forwardly sequential except for occasional
use of flashbacks signaled by a dissolve or
cut
Temporal duration (seldom expanded)
Usually in a scene plot duration equals story
duration
Punctuation (dissolves, wipes, fades), empty
frames, and cutaways can elide time in shot
and scene transitions
Montage sequences can compress time

IS246 - FALL 2004 2004.09.22 - SLIDE 9

Todays Agenda
Review of Last Time
Editing

Editing
Kuleshov
Isenhour
Burch
Barthes

Discussion Questions
Action Items for Next Time

IS246 - FALL 2004 2004.09.22 - SLIDE 10

Kuleshov
To determine the nature of montage is to solve
the specific problem of cinema. (Eisenstein
1949: 48)

Kuleshov
First head of the Soviet State Film School after the
October Revolution
Lenin: of all the arts for us the most important is
cinema
Kuleshov experiments
Films without film
Frame shots with hands
Re-edit existing sequences

IS246 - FALL 2004 2004.09.22 - SLIDE 11

Pudovkin on Kuleshov Effect
Kuleshov and I made an interesting experiment. We took from
some film or other several close-ups of the well-known Russian
actor Mosjukhin. We chose close-ups which were static and which
did not express any feeling at allquiet close-ups. We joined these
close-ups, which were all similar with other bits of film in three
different combinations. In the first combination the close-up of
Mosjukhin was immediately followed by a shot of a plate of soup
standing on a table. It was obvious and certain that Mosjukhin was
looking at this soup. In the second combination the face of
Mosjukhin was joined to shots showing a coffin in which lay a dead
woman. In the third the close-up was followed by a shot of a little girl
playing with a funny toy bear. When we showed the three
combinations to an audience which had not been let into the secret
the result was terrific. The public raved about the acting of the artist.
They pointed out the heavy pensiveness of his mood over the
forgotten soup, were touched and moved by the deep sorrow with
which he looked on the dead woman, and admired the light, happy
smile with which he surveyed the girl at play. But we knew that in all
cases the face was exactly the same.

IS246 - FALL 2004 2004.09.22 - SLIDE 12

Kuleshov Effect
Kuleshov Effect
Neutral Face Soup (Pensive Face)
Neutral Face Dead Woman (Sad Face)
Neutral Face Child playing with toy bear (Happy
Face)
How do you describe the face?

Video has a dual semantics

Sequence-independent stable semantics of shots
Sequence-dependent variable semantics of shots

IS246 - FALL 2004 2004.09.22 - SLIDE 13

Todays Agenda
Review of Last Time
Editing

Editing
Kuleshov
Isenhour
Burch
Barthes

Discussion Questions
Action Items for Next Time

IS246 - FALL 2004 2004.09.22 - SLIDE 14

Isenhour on Context and Order

A1:B; A2:C A1 NOT EQUAL A2

Shot context affects shot meaning
The shot before affects the shot after
B:A1; C:A2 A1 NOT EQUAL A2
Shot context affects shot meaning
The shot after affects the shot before
A:B NOT EQUAL B:A
Short order effects shot meaning
(A:B):C NOT EQUAL A:(B:C)
IS246 - FALL 2004 2004.09.22 - SLIDE 15
Metropolis Sequence

IS246 - FALL 2004 2004.09.22 - SLIDE 16

Metropolis Re-Sequence

IS246 - FALL 2004 2004.09.22 - SLIDE 17

Battleship Potemkin Sequence

IS246 - FALL 2004 2004.09.22 - SLIDE 18

Battleship Potemkin Re-Sequence

IS246 - FALL 2004 2004.09.22 - SLIDE 19

Todays Agenda
Review of Last Time
Editing

Editing
Kuleshov
Isenhour
Burch
Barthes

Discussion Questions
Action Items for Next Time

IS246 - FALL 2004 2004.09.22 - SLIDE 20

Burchs Transitions
Temporal transitions
Continuous
Discontinuous
Temporal ellipsis
Measurable time ellipsis
Indefinite time ellipsis
Temporal reversal (flashback, overlapping
cut)
Measurable time reversal
Indefinite time reversal

IS246 - FALL 2004 2004.09.22 - SLIDE 21

Burchs Transitions

Spatial transitions
Continuous
Discontinuous
Proximal
Radically discontinuous

IS246 - FALL 2004 2004.09.22 - SLIDE 22

Todays Agenda
Review of Last Time
Editing

Editing
Kuleshov
Isenhour
Burch
Barthes

Discussion Questions
Action Items for Next Time

IS246 - FALL 2004 2004.09.22 - SLIDE 23

Barthes Action Sequences
Consecutive
Temporal succession
Consequential
Causal succession
Volitive
Action results from an act of will
Reactive
Causal succession based on stimulus-response
Durative
Indicating the beginning, ending, or duration of an action
Equipollent
Necessarily paired actions (e.g., asking a question and
answering a question)

IS246 - FALL 2004 2004.09.22 - SLIDE 24

Todays Agenda
Review of Last Time
Editing

Editing
Kuleshov
Isenhour
Burch
Barthes

Discussion Questions
Action Items for Next Time

IS246 - FALL 2004 2004.09.22 - SLIDE 25

Discussion Questions (Kulsehov)

Gke Knayolu on Kuleshov

When two shots are stitched together via montage,
the resulting meaning of the sequence always
transcends the individual meanings of the shots.
Sometimes they transform and frame our perception
to obtain certain meanings from the individual frames,
yet mostly a third meaning arises which did not exist
in either of the frames before they were joined
together.
How much of this new meaning relies on the
cinematic context, how much of it on the cultural
background of the viewer?
Does watching the same sequence second time
result in a change in its meaning?

IS246 - FALL 2004 2004.09.22 - SLIDE 26

Discussion Questions (Kulsehov)

Gke Knayolu on Kuleshov

An average feature film consists of 1,000 to
4,000 very short shots. As discussed in class
before, a Tarkovsky film may consist of less
than 250 shots and still be two times longer
compared to a Hollywood film. Hitchcock and
Warhol investigated the cinematographic
potentials of making films with a single long
shot. In which situations may a longer shot be
more effective than a series of shorter shots?

IS246 - FALL 2004 2004.09.22 - SLIDE 27

Discussion Questions (Isenhour)

Simon King on Isenhour

The meaning of a shot varies when the shot
that precedes it or the shot that follows itthe
contextvaries. Reminiscent of Saussure
the meaning of signs is determined by their
relation to other signs.
Does this theory explain subliminal
advertising? Are surrounding shots affected
by shots/images that are too brief to
consciously register with the viewer?

IS246 - FALL 2004 2004.09.22 - SLIDE 28

Discussion Questions (Isenhour)

Simon King on Isenhour

Can the meaning of a shot vary due to
repetition? (Think A, B, A, C, A) Usually there
have been other intermediate shots between
repetitions that also affect the meaning of shot
A, but does the repetition alone affect the
meaning of shot A? Can anyone think of
good examples? (Groundhog Day, Solaris, M
?)

IS246 - FALL 2004 2004.09.22 - SLIDE 29

Discussion Questions (Isenhour)

Simon King on Isenhour

I found the attempt to quantify shot impact,
e.g., The degree of change in the meaning of
each shot is inversely proportional to the
intensity of its original meaning, a bit forced.
Can we quantify subjective notions such as
intensity and meaning?

IS246 - FALL 2004 2004.09.22 - SLIDE 30

Discussion Questions (Burch)
Alison Billings on Burch
In thinking about creating a system to
effectively categorize pieces of media for
storage and retrieval, how useful could the
breakdown of space and time into the 15
possible combinations of articulation be for a
multimedia information system?

IS246 - FALL 2004 2004.09.22 - SLIDE 31

Discussion Questions (Burch)
Alison Billings on Burch
As people have become more media literate,
have the uses of spatial and temporal
articulations in film changed? How?

IS246 - FALL 2004 2004.09.22 - SLIDE 32

Discussion Questions (Barthes)

Jaiwant Virk on Barthes

If The principle of narrative art it is a
matter of producing a discourse which best
satisfies the demand for completeness,
then how does one define the boundaries of
the action sequence? How much cultural
history does one pack to prevent the horror
of the vacuum? Or should the sequence be
completely abandoned to a subjective
analysis of the reader/viewer?

IS246 - FALL 2004 2004.09.22 - SLIDE 33

Discussion Questions (Barthes)

Jaiwant Virk on Barthes

What are the possible factors that can be
considered to define/label an action
sequence for media metadata purpose
(motion, etc.)?

IS246 - FALL 2004 2004.09.22 - SLIDE 34

Todays Agenda
Review of Last Time
Editing

Editing
Kuleshov
Isenhour
Burch
Barthes

Discussion Questions
Action Items for Next Time

IS246 - FALL 2004 2004.09.22 - SLIDE 35

Readings for Next Week
Monday 09/27: Semiotic Media Theory
Eco, U. Articulations of the Cinematic Code. in
Nichols, B. ed., University of California Press,
Berkeley, 1976; pp. 590-607. (Yong)
Metz, C. Film language: a semiotics of the cinema.
University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1991; pp. 92-
146. (Rebecca)
Wednesday 09/29: Film Theory Application &
Assignment 1 Introduction
Eisenstein, S.M. Film Form: Essays in Film Theory.
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers, San Diego,
1949; pp. 45-63. (Cecilia)

IS246 - FALL 2004 2004.09.22 - SLIDE 36