Running head: EDITING AESTHETICS IN MEDIA

Editing Aesthetics in Media

By: Sara West

Editing Aesthetics MCA 696D

Pace University

Running head: EDITING AESTHETICS IN MEDIA

Editing Aesthetics in Media

American film editor Walter Murch says, editing is structure, color, dynamics,
manipulation of time, [and] all of these other things (Murch, 2001, p. 10). Without this
structure, the color edits, the cuts in film, the change in dynamics, and these manipulations in
time, there would be nothing but raw footage- so editing literally makes film, film. However,
editing is used in more than just blockbuster motion pictures. Editing is necessary for TV shows,
Internet/YouTube channels, and of course, news station coverage.
To Murch, the ideal cut meets six distinct criteria all at once, but they are in descending
order from importance. The most important thing is to keep in the scene is the emotion (Murch,
2001, p. 18). Emotion can drive the scene, can move the audience, and can affect the entire
outcome of your ratings. For example, in the hit sitcom, Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia, in
episode one of season ten, The Gang Beats Boggs, right away you can tell what emotion the
audience should have from the scene by the music and the ambiance of the scene. There is old
timey ballgame music playing and there is a cartoon tally that shows up on the screen as if it is
an old sports video. Even though Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia is a comedy sitcom, you
know from the music and the graphics that this is going to be a sports-themed comedic episode
and the sport they are focusing on is baseball (Cherin, 2015). Continuing with the baseball
theme, as each scene ends, it is cut with a whooshing baseball sound and the episode has the
reoccurring sports-like graphics that periodically pop up.
However, contrary to the music making the scene, lack of music can also make the scene
and intensify the emotions the audience is meant to feel. For example, in Christopher Nolans
2008 movie, The Dark Knight, there is a particularly stunning exchange between the Joker and

Running head: EDITING AESTHETICS IN MEDIA

Batman that happens in pure silence in an interrogation room (Nolan, 2008). There is no music
for almost the entire five-minute scene, and very few sound effects. The total scene is composed
of the actors voices, their cadences, and their voice volumes- which speaks volumes to how
good the acting is! Not only does the silence make the audience listen harder and more closely
to make sure they do not miss anything, it also makes it more intense when the sound and
eventually the music does pick up and come into the scene.
Another element that Murch says to keep in mind while editing is the second of the six:
story. More specifically, does the edit keep the story moving (Murch, 2001, p. 18)? An example
of an unnecessary edit that does not keep the story moving is in the editing and presentation of a
piece by Fox News online entitled, Can Dylann Roof provide a competent defense for himself?
At the very beginning of this news piece, the camera cuts to a green screen that is blue that has
two screens with competing images and B-roll of the courtroom scenes and the defendant in
handcuffs (Fox News Online, 2016). Because there is so much going on, the edits do not make
sense and it creates even more chaos, and the story loses impact and importance because the
audience does not know where to focus their attention. In addition, it gives a legitimate news
company, like Fox, a cheesy look like it is more of a high school morning news-briefing piece.
On the other hand, a good edit that moves the story forward can be seen in the NBC News online
piece about Twitter Star Bana al-Abded (NBC News Online, 2016). As Matt Lawyer talks, the
visuals cut to actual B-roll with quietly playing natural ambient noise from the background. As
Matt continues to talk, the images continually change from static pictures to B-roll footage, and
all in all it moves the piece along in a smooth fashion that makes sense to the audience. Not only
is it seamless editing, but also it is not distracting or confusing for the audience.

Running head: EDITING AESTHETICS IN MEDIA

The third thing in Murchs list is rhythm (Murch, 2001, p. 18), which is closely related to
editing of story flow. An example of amazing editing in regards to rhythm can be found in the
scene where the audience is introduced to Elle Driver, in Quentin Tarantinos cult classic, Kill
Bill: vol. 1. In this scene, Elle Driver is whistling as she enters the hospital building. It is one,
solid, continuous shot as we follow Elle into the hospital and then she veers off into a side room
and we continue down the hall to the outside of the room that The Bride is staying in (Tarantino,
2003). As Elles whistling fades off, the rhythm of the song picks up effortlessly and continues
as Elle gets into her nurses attire. The continuing music flows perfectly with the long shot down
the hall to The Brides room. Furthermore, when Elle is finally ready and reaches The Brides
room, the song has conveniently ended and the audience is stunned by the lower thirds of Elles
affiliation popping up on the screen (similarly to what has already happened in a previous scene
in regards to another agent).
According to Murch, the fourth thing to keep in mind when editing is eye trace (Murch,
2001, p. 18). Eye trace, like any editing technique, can make or break a scenes credibility and
flow. An example of bad eye trace was in the ABC News online report about Zika Virus (ABC
News Online, 2016). Although it was an interview-type briefing with a doctor, the camera not
only cut off the top of the doctors head, but the doctor is facing almost 45 degrees away from
the camera, so he is looking in a different direction, instead of directly at the camera. This
creates a weird aesthetic for the audience, because it is like they are being talked at instead of
talked to. A good example of eye-line matching and trace is in Mervyn LeRoys 1956 crime
film, The Bad Seed. The entire first part of the movie is heavily dependent on editing of eye line
and eye trace being accurate. The sun is shining a certain way outside of the house, and when
the next scene is inside the house, the sun and shadows are still going the correct way, which is

Running head: EDITING AESTHETICS IN MEDIA

good because it does not confuse the audience (LeRoy, 1956). Ergo, the audience knows it is
still the same time period as previously seen.
The fifth and sixth hints from Murch that make good editing are very closely related.
They are two-dimensional plane of screen and three-dimensional space of action (Murch, 2001,
p. 18). An example of correctly following the 180-degree axis for two-dimensional plane of
screen is the BBC News report of the Ohio attacker. The report starts with a B-roll scene of
police officers conducting patrol cars and where they should go. Then, the camera angle cuts to
above to show the same scene, but at a different angle. However, it is not confusing, because the
camera stays in relatively the same plane, so you know it is the same scene that is happening, just
from above instead of straight-on, as before. Similarly, with three-dimensional space of action,
the 180-degree relationship should be consistent to physical and spatial relations of everyone and
everything in the scene. A prime example of this is in Steven Spielbergs Jurassic Park from
1993. In the scene where the audience is first introduced to the Tyrannosaurus Rex, there are
several different scenes within the initial scene. The first mini-scene is inside the first SUV with
the kids, then there is the second scene inside the second SUV with Dr. Grant and Ian Malcolm,
and those two mini-scenes makes up the larger scene of the T-Rex attacking the cars and
escaping her enclosure (Spielberg, 1993). Because this is such an intricate scene, it is super
important that all the elements line up in terms of where they are in the scene. Luckily,
Spielberg seems to know what he is doing, and the scene flows simply from mini-scene to miniscene and is played out really well as the T-Rex reeks havoc on both SUVs.
Regardless of what is filmed, at some point it will more than likely have to be edited to
some degree. In order to create the most perfect scene, as far as the lay person can see, it is

Running head: EDITING AESTHETICS IN MEDIA

important to keep Murchs Rule of Six in mind both while filming and especially during the
editing process.

Running head: EDITING AESTHETICS IN MEDIA

References
Bender, L. (Producer), & Tarantino, Q (Director). (2003). Kill Bill: vol. 1 [Motion picture].
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Can Dylann Roof provide a competent defense for himself? [Video file]. (2016, November 28).
Retrieved from https://video.foxnews.com/v/5226911792001/?#sp=show-clips
Cherin, D. & Cherin, J. (Writers), & Biermann, T. (Director). (January 14, 2015). The Gang
beats Boggs [Television series episode]. In R. McElhenney (Producer), Its always sunny
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LeRoy, M. (Producer), & LeRoy, M. (Director). (1956). The bad seed [Motion picture]. USA:
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Michaels, L. (Producer). (2016, October 8). Saturday night live [Television broadcast]. New
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Murch, W. (2001). In the blink of an eye (2nd ed.). New York, New York: Silman-James Press.
Nolan, C. (Producer), & Nolan, C. (Director). (2008). The dark knight [Motion picture]. USA:
Warner Bros.
Ohio attacker Abdul Ali Artan was Somali refugee [Video file]. (2016, November 28).
Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38136658
Spielberg, S. (Producer), & Spielberg, S. (Director). (1993). Jurassic Park [Motion picture].
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Texas reports first Zika virus case likely spread by local mosquitoes [Video file]. (2016,
November 28). Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/video/embed?id=43831824
Twitter star Bana al-Abdeb On the Run as Aleppo attacks worsen [Video file]. (2016,
November 28). Retrieved from http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/alepposchildren/twitter-star-bana-al-abed-run-aleppo-attacks-worsen-n689031