Editing Film editing (section)

== Continuity editing and alternatives ==
{{Main|Continuity editing}}

Continuity editing, developed in the early 1900s, aimed to create a coherent and smooth storytelling experience in films. It relied on consistent graphic qualities, balanced composition, and controlled editing rhythms to ensure narrative continuity and engage the audience. For example, whether an actor's costume remains the same from one scene to the next, or whether a glass of milk held by a character is full or empty throughout the scene.  Because films are typically shot out of sequence, the [[script supervisor]] will keep a record of continuity and provide that to the film editor for reference.  The editor may try to maintain continuity of elements, or may intentionally create a discontinuous sequence for stylistic or narrative effect.

The technique of continuity editing, part of the [[Classical Hollywood cinema|classical Hollywood]] style, was developed by early European and American directors, in particular, [[David Wark Griffith|D.W. Griffith]] in his films such as ''[[The Birth of a Nation]]'' and ''[[Intolerance (film)|Intolerance]]''. The classical style embraces temporal and spatial continuity as a way of advancing the narrative, using such techniques as the [[180 degree rule]], [[Establishing shot]], and [[Shot reverse shot]]. The 180-degree system in film editing ensures consistency in shot composition by keeping relative positions of characters or objects in the frame consistent. It also maintains consistent eye-lines and screen direction to avoid disorientation and confusion for the audience, allowing for clear spatial delineation and a smooth narrative experience. Often, continuity editing means finding a balance between literal continuity and perceived continuity. For instance, editors may condense action across cuts in a non-distracting way. A character walking from one place to another may "skip" a section of floor from one side of a cut to the other, but the cut is constructed to appear continuous so as not to distract the viewer.

Early Russian filmmakers such as Lev Kuleshov (already mentioned) further explored and theorized about editing and its ideological nature. [[Sergei Eisenstein]] developed a system of editing that was unconcerned with the rules of the continuity system of classical Hollywood that he called [[Intellectual montage]].

Alternatives to traditional editing were also explored by early [[surrealist]] and [[Dada]] filmmakers such as [[Luis Buñuel]] (director of the 1929 ''Un Chien Andalou'') and [[René Clair]] (director of 1924's ''Entr'acte'' which starred famous Dada artists [[Marcel Duchamp]] and [[Man Ray]]).

Filmmakers have explored alternatives to continuity editing, focusing on graphic and rhythmic possibilities in their films. Experimental filmmakers like Stan Brakhage and Bruce Conner have used purely graphic elements to join shots, emphasizing light, texture, and shape rather than narrative coherence. Non-narrative films have prioritized rhythmic relations among shots, even employing single-frame shots for extreme rhythmic effects. Narrative filmmakers, such as Busby Berkeley and Yasujiro Ow, have occasionally subordinated narrative concerns to graphic or rhythmic patterns, while films influenced by music videos often feature pulsating rhythmic editing that de-emphasizes spatial and temporal dimensions.

The [[French New Wave]] filmmakers such as [[Jean-Luc Godard]] and [[François Truffaut]] and their American counterparts such as [[Andy Warhol]] and [[John Cassavetes]] also pushed the limits of editing technique during the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s. French New Wave films and the [[non-narrative film]]s of the 1960s used a carefree editing style and did not conform to the traditional editing etiquette of Hollywood films. Like its Dada and surrealist predecessors, [[French New Wave]] editing often drew attention to itself by its lack of continuity, its demystifying self-reflexive nature (reminding the audience that they were watching a film), and by the overt use of [[jump cut]]s or the insertion of material not often related to any narrative. Three of the most influential editors of French New Wave films were the women who (in combination) edited 15 of Godard's films: Francoise Collin, Agnes Guillemot, and Cecile Decugis, and another notable editor is [[Marie-Josèphe Yoyotte]], the first black woman editor in French cinema and editor of ''[[The 400 Blows]]''.<ref name= edited/>

Since the late 20th century [[Post-classical editing]] has seen faster editing styles with nonlinear, discontinuous action.