What is it?
Editing refers to the selection and joining together of vision and sound. It creates the chain of events in cause and effect relationships occurring in space and time (narrative). Time and pace are important considerations for editing, as it is expected to increase as the narrative moves closer to its climax.
The codes and conventions of editing:
Vision: when shots are joined and matched in colour and composition.
Rhythm: pattern of narrative and understanding of what to expect.
Space: location of each shot within scene and world of story.
Time: placement of shot to development storyline.
Most narratives usually follow Continuity editing (apparent, smooth, seamless editing that does not draw attention to itself). This makes the representation realistic for viewers.
Editing in Blade Runner
Deckard 'retiring' Zhora
This scene is a clear example of how vision mixing with sound can create a deeper, darker representation of something. This particular sequence of shots with the faster tempo and lower tones mixed with the slow motion visuals on the screen shows the gritty desperation that any living thing is willing to suffer through in order to survive. Even though she is only a replicant, Zhora still has human feelings, skin and memories. Even when Deckard shoots her she bleeds. This scene details how there is such little difference between the Replicants and humans.
Deckard's bullet-shots are edited louder so that his weapon appears more threatening, as these shots are the last thing the replicant Zhora will hear. Adding slow motion enhances the scene as it not only increases the dramatic tension but really allows the audience to connect to the pain and fear in Zhora.
Editing in Notorious
Viewers immediately exposed to shots of Alicia and Devlin framed together (eg- drunk driving scene, and coffee shop scene in Rio). The space between them gradually decreases as the characters get more comfortable with each other and their intimacy increases. This concept's extent would be seen most effective when Devlin tells Alicia he loves her (the scene when he finds her poisoned in the bed and is going to rescue her); in contrast to this would be the framing of when the couple were suffering from the most tension (just after Alicia held the dinner party and she started getting poisoned, blaming it on a 'hang over'), the framing emphasises the distance between the two characters and their undealt feelings.
The sequence that best represents how sound editing effectively works with visual composition is the scene when Alica figures out that the coffee is what is poisoning her. Throughout her time getting poisoned, the director has been giving an inkling to the audience, showing the coffee cup in focus more than the background and keeping it in the foreground with a closeup. This highlights some significance though the audience would not know what exactly. When the doctor mixes up his coffee with Alicia's, the music intensifies during the course of scene, with quick abrupt cuts to closeup's on Alicia to Madam Sebastian and Alex Sebastian. This is to display the recognition that her husband and mother in law are the culprits and something is wrong with the coffee, hence the commotion they brought up when the doctor was about to drink Alicia's cup.
