The Development of Editing Technology.

The development of editing technology.

Early editing.

Before digital editing evolved early editing was pretty much none existent when it came to the production of motion pictures and the only way to cut a scene was to start recording at the exact moment the scene started and stop recording the exact moment that the scene ends as it was impossible to cut out any footage that went over the recording time. This means the whoever operated the camera had to be as accurate as possible as mistakes couldn't be taken out, the camera could only record what was in front of the lens, especially due to the fact that the camera also couldn't be moved, due to this most early motion pictures would be one long continuous shot. Eventually early editing and 'cuts' became more common and in order to do this the editor would use a microscope and a razor blade to be as accurate and precise as possible as they were physically cutting the film themselves. This meant that mistakes couldn't be made as some film may be lost. After the film was cut with a razor blade it was then glued to the next part of the motion picture to create more detailed storytelling as film makers felt that it added to a viewers sense of tale rather than one long continuous shot.
However as digital editing evolved and became more advanced so did the way the scenes were cut, Now cutting doesn't have to mean that the camera starts and stop filiming with the scene it can film for a little longer and can get digitally cut on the computer in order to make sure that everything needed in the scene is used and not cut my mistake.

Moviola

The Moviola was a machine that was invented in 1924 and became the standard for motion picture editing up until the 1970s. The reason as to why it was so popular is because it allowed editors to study each single frame that was captured in extreme detail and depth meaning that they were able to see exactly what frame needed to be cut during the editing process without losing any important parts of filming. This style of editing meant that cuts could become more accurate as editors could better decide where the best cut point would be and allowed to start maximising the use of editing to the best of its ability.



Flatbed edit suite

This machine allowed for film and sounds rolls to be edited either simultaneously or at separate times by the images and sound rolls being loaded onto separate plates, the image of the film is shown on the screens while the sounds plays alongside the images either simultaneously or not. Whole the images and sound rolls run the editor can chance how they play to fit the editor’s needs. Along with this if a part of the scene needs to be cut then a mark can be made so the editors know where this needs to be done and at which exact moment. The most common flatbed edit suite were either the six plate or the eight plate most likely made by Steenbeck and K-E-M in the 1930s. 

Linear and Non linear editing

Linear editing is when all editing of footage has to be done in the order that it was filmed or in chronological order of the story and cannot jump between editing different clips from different times, this was what used to be standard practice before digital editing became more advanced and non-linear editing became more popular. As editing techniques developed more the non-linear way of editing became more popular as this allows editors to move from clips to edit and don’t have to stick to the order which was filmed. This way of editing allows for the editor to have longer to make decisions on editing certain clips and can come back to re edit a previous scene that didn’t work well. This also means that if mistakes are made the editing process doesn't have to start again like it would with linear editing as editors can go back and cut between editing different clips or different scenes. 

Offline and online editing

Offline editing is when raw footage from filming gets copied / duplicated and then only the copied version if the footage is then edited. Offline editing is very similar to non-linear editing as the process can move back and forth and doesn’t have to happen in the order in which footage was captured etc.
'Offline editing in simple terms is the use of proxy footage, duplicate footage of the original source, for video editing.' – Chris Gates

Online editing occurs after offline editing where the final touches are added, its where the final stages of the editing process can be done by using a computer software. However online editing isn’t suitable for live footage.

The digital era

CMX 600 
This was the first non linear editing system which used used two screens with a light pen where the right screen would show the preview of the footage, the pen would then be used to edit the footage and make cuts, finally the left screen would show the edited footage. This way of editing was first introduced in 1971.
 

Edit Droid and Avid 1
These were the frst ways of electronically editing film and did so by projecting the use of graphical display within film and television, eventually many films started using Edit Droid instead of things like the moviola and later switched to Avid 1 creating films like 'Lets Kill All The Lawyers(1992)

Modern editing platforms.

In the postmodern era we have moved of from the times of litteraly cutting film in order to edit and have moved onto digital software such as Premire Pro which can be more widley accessible to the public rather than just editors, these types of systems allows for importing and exporting footage, adding special effects to footage and digitally enhancing them. Modern editing platforms allows for more high and extremley low budget films to made made and easily editing from things like YouTube for channels such as Justin Odisho to big productions such as Gone Girl 2014 and Deadpool 2016.


1)https://www.netribution.co.uk/blogs/guides/2090-from-razor-blade-to-desktop-a-history-of-video-editing
2)https://www.infoplease.com/features/movies-tv-and-music/movies-and-film-fade-brief-history-editing
3)https://emilywheelhousehnccreativemedia.wordpress.com/2016/08/31/development-of-editing-technology/
4) Johnathon Paul, (June 25 2015), avaliable from The Beat.com, What is offline video editing? How does it work….and is it a thing of the past?, What is offline editing?, www.premiumbeat.com, acessesed 19th September 2018
5) https://motionarray.com/blog/how-hollywood-is-turning-to-premiere-pro