Rule's of Editing

Editing is getting rid of unwanted footage so it is easier to tell the story to the audience, from A - B. Different factors that may effect when we edit are:

• Information - tell the audience the story and encourages the audience to take part. For example, detective Tv shows or movies such as Sherlock Holmes and Law and Order.
• Motivation - Reasons why things are happening in the scene.
• Shot Composition
• Camera Angles
• Continuity - Advertising or Music Videos.
• Sound - L cut like the scream in horror films or a J cut, this is used to set tone for films.

Rule of Six: 

This is from Walter Murch's book 'In the blink of an eye' and these are the six elements to building the story within the edit. 

He describes this as "If you have to give up something, don't ever give up emotion before story. Don't give up story before rhythm, don't give up rhythm before eye-trace, don't give up eye-trace before planarity and don't give up planarity before spatial continuity".

Walter Murch follows these guidelines to follow while editing so that he is able to keep the audience invested in the film.

More in Depth - Rule of Six:

1. Emotion - Emotion is the most important part when editing, so when cutting clips you have to consider the emotions of the story as well as considering the audience and their feelings. You have to also consider if the cut is distracting the audience from the emotion of the story.
2. Story - each cut must advance the story so if the scene isn't advancing the story, cut it as it can confuse or bore your audience.
3. Rhythm - Timing is everything. The editing must have a beat so it can flow smoothly. If there is no rhythm, the editing will look sloppy and bad because it will appear choppy to the audience. Try to achieve tight cutting but still keep it interesting.
4. Eye Trace - You should be aware of where in the frame you want your audience to look and cut accordingly. Try to match the movement in each scene so it all flows smoothly. See the screen as 4 sections, try keeping action in one section if it appeared their before as the audience will already be looking in that direction. An example of this would be 'Apocalypse Now' as the ceiling fan and the helicopter are editing together to appear as the same thing, helping flow into the next scene.
5. Two Dimensional Place of Screen - Making sure to follow the 180 degree rule, this keeps the action progressing and maintains the continuity.
6. Three Dimensional Space - Giving the illusion of three dimensional solidity, example being in 'The Shining' scattered throughout are reverse-angle wide shots between characters.

These were ranked into percentages like:

• Emotion - 51%
• Story - 23%
• Rhythm - 10%
• Eye Trace - 7%
• 2D Place of Screen - 5%
• 3D Space - 4%