Unit 31
“Film editing is now something almost everyone can do at a simple level and enjoy it, but to take it to a higher level require teh dedication and persistence that any art form does.” Walter Murch[1]
The History Of Editing (L.O.1.1., L.O.1.2.)
Editing in early cinema was very basic and linear yet despite this it must have been one of the most exciting times in the film industry. Filmmakers had all the creative freedom at their finger tips as no one had created any rules or knew how to shoot a movie.
The pioneers of film are the Lumière brothers who were the first people to ever record moving images from a camera in 1895. The simplicity of their first movie was incredible with a camera set outside a factory and workers streaming out of the front door. It was in black and white, had no sound and had no cuts and yet thousands of people flooded to the cinema to see these images. However from this one simple film came every single motion picture and television show so their innovation should never be forgotten.
In the years to follow came the birth of the first genres with “A Trip To The Moon”, the first Sc-Fi shot in 1902 and directed by Georges Méliès. It was based on H. G. Wells “The First Men In The Moon” . It was followed in 1903 by Edwin S. Porter’s “The Great Train Robbery” , the first Western. Even in this short time period cinema had evolved significantly to include cuts, animation, visual effects and even colour in certain frames although this had to be achieved by manually painting on to the actual film strip.
At this stage film was becoming rapidly more popular with the general public and by the 1930’s Hollywood started creating some of the first “Classic Hollywood” motion pictures we know today, such as Howard Hawks’ 1932 “Scarface”. The introduction of Hollywood cinema dramatically increased the size that a film production could be and with increased investment it meant more actors, bigger production