The development of editing technology

Early editing (cutting): Cutting is a fundamental form of editing that emerged relatively soon in the film industry as filmmakers and audiences began to desire films with longer and more in depth narratives and this was only achievable through editing multiple shots together. Early filmmaker George Melies, whilst filming a carriage, had his camera jam, and therefore accidentally created what is now known as jump cuts. Melies used his discovery to create his own editing style where the actors would disappear and reappear. Melies created some of the basic editing techniques we still use today such as stop motion photography, fade in/out and overlapping. Further forward D.W.Grffith created Cut In, this was first used in The Greasers Gauntlet to put emphasis on emotions and reactions. Throughout his career he developed continuity editing along with many other techniques.

Moviola:

In simple terms, the moviola is known as an editing machine. The Moviola was the first device used to allow the editor to view their footage whilst editing it. The Moviola was invented by Iwan Serrurier in 1924 and was used by holding the celluloid imaged and feeding them through and delivery stem consisting of rubber belts, metal sprockets and simple optics. This device made room for precision within editing, allowing further continuity throughout sequences.

Flatbed edit suites:

A flatbed edit suite is an editing machine that followed the moviola. Images and sound roll are loaded onto separate plates, each set moves individually or are locked together to allow synchronisation between sound and image. This is where a prism reflects the images onto a screen whilst a magnetic playback head reads the audio tracks. Most films shot on a double-system (sound and picture are recorded on separate devices). A mark is made on both sides of the strips and the flatbed is switched into interlock mode causing the audio and visuals to move in synchronisation.

Linear and non linear editing:

Linear editing is the post post production process of selecting, arranging and modifying shots in a predetermined sequence, this was originally the only way to edit video tapes and was frequently used for live TV. In 1990s, non linear editing computers were made available, allowing edits to be altered by the software. Each time anything was rendered or played back, it would be copied from the original and editing steps, ensuring the original copies safety.

Online and offline editing:

Online editing allows an editor to edit video tape recordings using computer software. The protocol used supports different devices like one inch reel-to-reel type C videotapes and videocassette recorders.

The digital era cmx-600:

This was the first Non-Linear editing system, it was introduced in 1971 by CMX Systems, it was referred to as RAVE, or Random Access Video Editor. The 600 had a console with two black and white monitors, as well as a light pen which was used to control the system. The right monitor played the preview video, and was used by the editor to make cuts and to edit decisions by using the light pen to select options, which were over-laid on the image, while the left screen played the edited video. It recorded and played back video in analogue on disk packs the size of washing machines.

Modern editing platforms (final cut premiere pro):

This modern platform is widely used by companies such as BBC and CNN. Plug-ins allow importing and exporting formats that aren't supported by others  and supports a wide variety of file types.

files and file types: