Editing

There are a few things we need to know for AS about regarding EDITING:

PACE
STYLE
HOW MEANING IS AFFECTED

In relation to pace, we're interested in how often there is a cut. Obviously in a main part of a film, there will be a fairly steady pace of editing, with the exception of conversations where it is quite normal to be cutting between two speakers on a rapid basis. This will involve SHOT-REVERSE SHOT and Over The Shoulder (OTS) shots. Where the action or tension is increasing, there tends to be an increase in the pace of editing - that is there are MORE edits per minute. This is a generalisation obviously but a good rule of thumb.

When filming and cutting a conversation or action sequence, it is important NOT to break the 180 degree rule (i.e. you don't cross the line to film from the other side of the action). This would confuse the audience as objects and people will appear on the 'wrong' side of the screen and audiences use direction and other editing rules to make sense of the action.

You need to stay on one side of the line!

For a classic example of how an increase in pace of editing matches a rise in tension and action, watch the Psycho shower scene:

Count how many edits there are in the first 1mins 38 secs then count how many from there to the end - that should give you an idea of the increase in pace. There is also a very good graphic match in this sequence between the bath plughole and Janet Leigh's eye.