AS1: Task 1: Editing in Early Cinema

Developments in Editing

Throughout time, editing became more and more advanced. When the idea of films were first introduced, editing was definitely limited and this is evidently shown in the film 'Sortie D'usine' (1895) made by The Lumiere Brothers. This film was shot through one scene and presented workers leaving a factory and then the scene ended.
We are able to see an enhancement in editing in the film: 'The Miller and the Sweep' where more characters were added to the shot and an 'action packed' scene commenced demonstrating a fight between two characters - after this, the scene ended.
'The Kiss in the Tunnel' is a depiction of when we begin to see editing in full force. Being shot only through three scenes, the film demonstrates the scene shot showing the train in motion, cutting straight to the two characters inside of the train showing the famous kiss. The scene then ends with the train exiting the tunnel.
Scenes became more advanced once more in the film; 'The Life of an American Fireman' where we see how the shots transition between two scenes creating point of views between both the fireman and the two victims trapped in the burning building. The rest of this blog is a continuation which presents changes made to editing in film over time.

Thomas Edison:   

The Kinetographic camera, as well as the Kinetoscope were invented in a laboratory which was ran by Thomas Edison. Although Edison is famously known for inventing the light bulb, he also developed the 35mm film strip that was used within the film industry and eventually went on to create a projector to play the film strip. 

The Lumiere Brothers:

Notably the first film ever made in 1895 was created by the Lumiere Brothers and was called: 'Sortie D'usine'. The brothers both produced very short films that were filmed through static shots or locked down shots. To satisfy the audience, motion was used in shots to demonstrate activity. Below is the film.



Sortie d'usine (1895):                 

Sortie d'usine is said to be the first film ever made by the Lumiere brothers in 1895. The film demonstrates a group of workers leaving a work factory. The scene doesn't include any cuts as it runs all the way through.

George Melies:

Previously a magician, Melies spent his free time watching films created by The Lumiere Brothers. Melies is credited for building a studio, writing scripts, designing film sets and the discovery of the basic camera tricks we continue to use today. Although he saw the possibilities of a novelty, Melies had discovered the editing skill; stop motion by accident when he broke his camera.                                 

                        

                           

                                                   The Vanishing Lady (1896):

Melies made the film; 'The Vanishing Lady' in 1896 and this is where we saw the technique of in-  camera editing. This was achieved by Melies winding a lever at an adequate pace (not too fast, not too slow) so that the edit would be successful.

We're able to see the edit occur in the film when a  blanket is placed over the actress. The next scene  cuts and then the actress is no longer visible.

The Impossible Voyage (1904):

                                                                             






Another film by Melies is The Impossible Voyage. This film presents colour shots as we see that the frames have been painted over to be able to produce this film in "colour".

G.A.Smith:

Before editing, every film ran for a period of time - just as long as there was a film strip inside of the camera. This is presented in the film: 'The Miller and the Sweep.' In Smith's other film (made in 1898), it was stated that the film was the premier of editing.

The Miller and the Sweep (1898):

Notably, one of Smith's other films was The Miller and the Sweep which depicted two protagonists (the Miller and the Sweep) both fighting each other right next to a windmill. The next scene demonstrates other characters coming into the scene and then chaos arises on screen.
                   



   

The Kiss in the Tunnel (1899):



The Kiss in the Tunnel - another one of Smith's films demonstrated how editing was able to cut from one scene to another and to another. Filmed through three shots, we see the developments in editing here

Edwin S. Porter:

Porter has definitely played a huge role in the establishing the aspects of motion picture language and has contributed tremendously to the film industry. Porter discovered that when filming - the screen image wouldn't need to show a person form head to toe in the shot. Porter

Porter significantly created the film 'The Great Train Robbery' (1903). This was notably Porter's major film debut and we see the first use of continuity editing.


Life of an American Fireman (1903):

 



Before Porter  worked alongside Edison, he      previously worked as  an electrician. Whilst  working with Edison, Porter  made the film: 'Life  of an American Fireman'  (1903). The film was  evidently made different to  others due to its  significant plot and action; i.e. to  rescuing people  in a burning building.

The Great Train Robbery (1903):

I have presented two versions of The Great Train Robbery. One version in black and white and the other version using colour. Following on from the previous films, we are able to notice the enhancement in editing











The coloured version of The Great Train Robbery was achieved by having each frame (for this particular scene) painted over accurately. This is known as a colour shot.

                                                                                                                                                     

Charles Pathe:

Charles Pathe created the film; 'The Horse that Bolted' (1907) where we are able to see the first use of parallel editing. Parallel editing is editing that is shot through two scenes at a different time. This is exemplified in the film when we see the delivery man was shot inside of a building, delivering a package and the horse was outside of the building waiting for the delivery man to come back. Shown below is the film.

The Horse That Bolted (1907):

D.W.Griffith

Being a major supporter of editing, Griffith used the technique of cross cutting. This presented parallel action used in different locations to create the effect of crossing between two different scenes at one time.

Griffith, being one of the earliest directors in the film industry first used editing techniques in the production of feature length films. An example of this would be when he created the film; 'The Birth of a Nation' (1915) shown below.

The Birth of a Nation (1915):

The Birth of a Nation was Griffith's first film he created and infuriated the populated Southern areas in America due to its racial discrimination against black people at the time. Its controversy made the film one of Griffith's most memorable film to date.