Edwin S Porter

If you watch Edwin S. Porter's seminal film, the life of an American Airman, you won't be impressed.

You'll find it slow.  Boring.  Dated.  Probably a little strange.

It is however, one of the best examples, quickly followed by others, of what we call continuity editing.  Or what came to be called classical continuity editing.

Basically, the story goes, he put together footage they already had of burning buildings with new footage he had shot, and bingo, the audience didn't challenge it.

This is important.  You have to, I think, ask yourself, what can be learnt by that fact?

How far will the audience go in believing your story?  How much do they need to keep in with what you are trying to tell them?  Can you switch them of with not enough, or too much, in your editing?

A simple rule can be learnt from this very early little continuity film - The Kiss in the Tunnel.  It has an beginning, a middle and an end.  Not much of a story sure.  No characterisation at all.  However, still a beginning, a middle and, of sorts, an end.

Sounds trite almost to say it, but if you should be looking for those scenes in your editing from the very start.




Porter realised that the audience had become more sophisticated that the single reel actualities of the Lumiere brothers.  Film was coming into its own.

A better film to watch of Porter's is the Great Train Robbery.  It uses another sophisticated technique which has become part of the classical continuity cannon: cross cutting (parallel cutting).