Advanced Editing Notes- Overview/Classical Paradigm

1. T he arrival of a train is one of the pioneering films of the industry, at least so do most movie historians agree on. It is a short featured film of passengers getting on and getting off a train. The film gives off a realistic approach to the movie because it features the subsequently relatable average day life of all these people from the old days. The camera remains stationary and does not move at all to appreciate different angles. This was done, since all the setting was needed in order to establish the shot. This extreme long shot provides full exposure to the actions, and the audience can see it as well. However unlike it, there is another movie called “damsel in distress” which uses a lot of editing and shots to create a very lengthy film. The film distresses the story of a woman being strapped to a railway while a train is coming, however the men come to aid her and defeat the villain. This was an exquisite use of parallel action as there were different shots being used yet still related to one another. There are uses of dramatic close ups, medium shots, and many techniques for drama, and because of this continuity editing I feel it’s much like classism. There is movement in the movie as well, both from the camera and the actors.

2.  2.The Arrival of a Train has no editing. It’s a very standard, nonstop sequence of a train passing by the station and collecting people. And since the footage is not at all cut, it is realism and the audience may decide the emotion behind it since there the director’s opinion is not made obvious. However in the film Damsel in Distress, there was a lot of editing done to meet the parallel action. You would see close ups of the villain plotting evilly on the train heading straight for the girl, and the heroes effortlessly working to rescue here. This is a clear example of Classicism as the roles are already distinguished and the audience does not have the ability to evoke opinions since the focus is forced on individuals.

3. I feel Arrival of a Train has more freedom as movie, allowing the audience to generalize their own opinions on the film. It is after all a realistic film, and because of the wide shot it was taken in, made it okay for a story to not have some complicated and complex moral behind it. That it was up to the audience to decide the fate of the film, and not in the director’s part to embed his opinions in the movie. As for Damsel in Distress, it’s the very type of film we see being used today: Shots being pulled together (all having to relate and in order) to express a hidden story or moral behind it. The movie is a great example of classical cutting, as we are forced to perceive the story as it is with villains and characters, and does not allow the audience the privilege to create their own opinions.