Film and Video Editing Theory

2 Noël Burch, PMR Versus IMR and Continuity Editing in a 5 × 3 Matrix

Editing is a significant component of a film’s style, a term that broadly includes how the individual filmmaker chooses to represent his or her material. Style is defined as

a recognizable group of conventions used by filmmakers to add visual appeal, meaning, or depth to their work.¹

Style includes choices that affect mise-en-scène – the physical arrangement of actors, props, costumes and space – as well as choices made regarding lighting, lens, camera movement and how the film will be edited. Looking at film style from its earliest history to the present, film scholars have identified a few major trends that have become part of the central story of cinema’s history.²

In ...