Speed of editing/style of editing

In films, the length of a scene may vary, however, the length of a sequence establishes the pace of the film and the speed of editing can help to show the mood of what is on the screen.

To make the audience to feel anxiety or suspense then the shots will change very frequently and the editing will be quick.  An example of this is The Bourne Ultimatum.
If the film starts to have a relaxed mood then the scenes will last a lot longer and won't change as much, this happens in romantic comedies.
At starts of films, the editing must be slow as the audience needs to understand where they are and what is happening on the screen and it is slow to introduce main characters, however as the film progresses the editing may get quicker and scenes become shorter.  For example, the opening to Spiderman and an action sequence from later in the film are at different speeds.

For trailers, the editing needs to be really fast as they need to have as much detail from the film as possible.



The style of editing is how shots can  be linked together.  The movement from one shot to the next is called a transition.

Straight cut:
It is a common and invisible form of transition.  It is where one shot moves straight to the next without the audience realising.  It helps to retain reality and they do not break the viewers suspension of disbelief.

Dissolves:
It is when one shot fades off the screen while another fades on.  The audience is able to see both the shots at the mid-point of the dissolve.  It is mainly used when the film maker wants to show a connection between two things, such as characters.

Fades:
This is a gradual darkening or lightening of the image until it is black or white.  It is often used to indicate the end of a section of time and it can show the passing of time.

Wipes:
It is when image is pushed off the screen by another, they can be pushed either left or right.  It is common for the image to be wiped to the left as this is more consistent with the sense of time moving forward.  It is used to signal a movement between locations that are at the same time.

Jump cut:
Jump cuts are where the audiences attention is brought into focus on something suddenly.  It occurs when breaking the continuity editing, which is known as discontinuity.  It is as if a section of the sequence has been removed from the film.

Graphic match:
This is where the film maker is able to choose to place certain shots in a specific order to create a smooth visual transfer from one frame to another.  When two consecutive shots are matched in terms of the way they look this is called a graphic match.

Montage:
This has lots of images that have been quickly edited together.  The rapid cuts force the audience to consider the connections between the images.  They are often used to reflect chaos, tension or disturbance.