5 Major Edits

These 5 major edits are the essential methods of film production. Not only can they tell a story to the audience but they can also give the audience their own story to come up with.

Action edit
Continuity can be the key with this type of edit. The action continues from the movement in the previous shot, hence the reason why this edit is sometimes known as the continuity edit or movement edit. It will cut in the middle of an action and then continue where it left off on a different frame.


The most notable part that an action edit occurs is during the fight sequence between Jason and the police officers at 0:40. The camera angle constantly changes as Jason is about the attack the other police officer so the other shot to the other police officer can be seen with Jason finishing the attack. This scene continues on until both of the police officers are down.



Screen position
This edit is directional since it assists in keeping the audience's eye directed around the screen. The position edit can be cut but only when there is no specific timing needed like there would be in a continuity edit. Notably the screen would basically be switching from one character to another as they exchange dialogue when necessary.


This scene shows the camera angle changing as both the characters talk. The camera does not always focus on the character who's speaking but it changes to sometimes grasp the reaction if it is needed.




The Form edit
The form edit is the type of edit that consists of similar scene transition between two shapes, colours, dimension or sound. These types of edits need to be within the rage and have to look some way have a similar pattern to the next scene otherwise it will not work.

An example of this happening is during the intro scene to the Inspector Gadget movie which shows the G in the intro theme spinning, which transitions the scene changing into a bus wheel spinning.

The Concept Edit
This type of edit acts as a pure mental suggestion since it's left in the mind of the audience what is actually going on in the scene. It usually can be misleading. It is also known as the idea edit or the dynamic edit. This type of edit can also cover changes in place time,

The Combined Edit
This edit can be using two or more of the already mentioned edits to create a structure for the story. It requires a good deal of planning before the production hence why it can be a tricky edit. Two unintentional shots would be rare to be put together to make a combined edit by just the editor themselves.