Editing to create meaning

Since the creation of editing in the very first simplistic films, directors have used editing in order to convey meaning to an audience. The use of editing can take control of a number of things include, meaning, tempo and genre.

If a director wants to create meaning do a number of things with the use of basic editing, for instace in a slasher if violence was to be represented you could have the face of someone, then flash back and forth between that frace and a knife being held by them. You could even show the potential victim by having it flash to a person as well you continued these jump cuts. By using simple edits such as these you can create meaning from seconds of clips.

Tempo using edits can create different settings and aid the realisation of genre. For instance the use of quick edits in an action film during a fight scene create a sense of speed during these shots, thereby creating an adrenaline filled ride for us the audience. Another example would be the use of simple and few edits during a naturalistic/historical film in order for the audience to notice as little of the editing as possible. By using a variety of styles to edit we can show this great variety in editing