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
Today’s 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
Today’s 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
Today’s 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
Today’s 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 all—quiet 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
Today’s 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
Today’s 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
Burch’s 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
Burch’s Transitions
• Spatial transitions
– Continuous
– Discontinuous
• Proximal
• Radically discontinuous
IS246 - FALL 2004
2004.09.22 - SLIDE 22
Today’s 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
Today’s 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)
• Gökçe Kınayoğlu 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)
• Gökçe Kınayoğlu 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 it—the
context—varies.” 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
Today’s 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. 92146. (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