Editing Techniques

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Editing is the post-production stage in which the sequencing or joining together of camera shots, sound and/or text is performed, it is basically how the individual shots are put together. Continuity editing is when the sequence is edited so that time seems to flow, uninterrupted, from shot to shot; this is achieved by using only straight cuts. This can also involve cross-cutting which is where a sequence cuts between to different settings to make it appear as if the action is occurring simultaneously. This editing technique is used to make the film seem as real as possible and allow the audience to be fully immersed in what’s happening on screen and even forget that they are in fact watching a film. Some techniques commonly used in continuity editing are establishing shots, match on action, eye line matches, point of view shots, shot-reverse-shot, and parallel editing.

The most common editing style in the romantic drama genre is continuity editing. This is most likely because romantic films are extremely focused on telling the story and making it seem as if it is real, therefore they must make it flow smoothly and keep the editing unnoticeable.

For my film I mainly used continuity editing to stick to the codes and conventions of the genre and to help keep my story linear and easy to understand, as this is what the target audience wants. At first I used the razor tool to cut the video clips from many places to eliminate extra shots, and then I applied the Cross Dissolve transition in between. In the end of every scene I have used Dip To Black transition which helped in giving a good ending to the scene.

I also used an audio crossfade because I used two different music mp3s and to merge them and make them seem natural, I had to make sure there was no awkward composition or gaps. I worked on two audio layers which aided me in overlapping dialogues with background music that I choose from royalty free websites.