Why is Video Editing, The Beginning.
Why is video editing? Â Yes, I know that’s not proper English. Â I often here the question, “What is video editing?” Â If you are reading this post then you’re probably aware of what video editing is. Â But do you know why we edit?
One of the first films ever created is Round Hay Garden Scene (1888).
Watch it here Round Hay Garden Scene
Some may argue that Horse in Motion (1878) was the first film. Â That film was accomplished using multiple cameras. Â These were still photographs assembled into a motion picture. Â They used 24 cameras to capture this. Â I never took a film class. Â But the fact that standard film shoot 24 frames per second and the first film used 24 camera doesn’t seem like a coincidence.
Actual motion picture cameras weren’t developed until the 1880s. Â That’s when camera started capturing all the single images on one reel. Â As this time there was no editing (how sad). Â Each film ran as long as there was film to roll.
Filmmakers often would shoot and just stop the crank of the camera when they felt they completed capturing that scene. Then they would reset for the next shot and start cranking again when the next scene was ready. You could say this was the beginning of editing. It was editing in the camera so there still was no manipulation of the reel. So, technically not yet.
It wasn’t until the 1900s that editing started.  Did you know that the one of the very first reasons for editing is that studios they wanted films to be longer.  They wanted multiple film reels compiled into one continuous movie.  After that revelation they started putting images together to try and tell a story.
One of the very first films to employ many techniques that I teach today is The Great Train Robbery (1903)
Watch this movie The Great Train Robbery and realize
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There is action/movement in every scene
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They maintain screen direction (except for one edit)
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There is sequencing
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Each edit advances the story
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There is an effort made to pacing/rhythm
Yes this is film.  But it’s the base for editing moving pictures together.  It doesn’t matter if you are broadcasting, web-casting, pod-casting, or some other casting yet to be invented.  The simple rules for telling a story with knowledge of editing apply. Editing hasn’t changed much in over 100 years.
shawnmontano @ January 6, 2010
AWESOME, another great post!
Anything prior to 1885 is I believe known as pre-cinema… Also check out http://www.precinemahistory.net for some cool stuff.
Enjoyed the article.
I think the Muybridge 24 camera / today we use 24 fps is actually a coincidence though. Muybridge did other set ups with 12 cameras, and didn’t start trying ways to project until later — and when he did, it wasn’t with a well-regulated projector, but a system more like a motion device (zoopraxiscope, for example).
And when those first camera operators worked, it was hand cranked and varied a lot. Some of those films work at realtime 18 fps, some 20, some 22 or 24. In fact, part of our impression today that early films are herky-jerky or in fast motion is that many early films were cranked under 24 fps, then by the time we see them today they are shown at 24, giving that frantic motion we associated with them.
There’s an interesting article on early evidence of editing here:
http://cri.histart.umontreal.ca/grafics/fr/montage-en-1.asp
tf
Those cameras were a work of art. To this day, it astounds me that some people saw the possibilities of art from photography and moving picures. And thanks, Gord, for sharing the cool site, very interesting indeed!
That was a nice reading. It’s funny that you mention that the “editing” was born because the studios wanted longer movies. As for today, it seems that is the other way around… Money, money, money, it’s sad.
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Did you know that the first editors were women? it was because the act of cutting and splicing film together was considered the equivalent of knitting.
It wasn’t until the introduction of sound that it suddenly became ‘ok’ for men to be editors.
If you’ve never taken a film class, I definitely recommend the following DVD. has incredible historical background specifically from the perspective of the editor.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0428441/
(Great interviews with Walter Murch too!)
It’s funny that you mention that the “editing†was born because the studios wanted longer movies.