This week one of the subjects discussed in the lectorial was the function of editing. I thought that what Liam talked about was really interesting and I loved the examples he used to demonstrate his ideas.
Even though I didn’t really believe in the idea that editing is solely there to ‘fix the problems’ of the shoot, I’ve only thought about the purpose of editing as the arranging of various clips to string together a sequence that tells a story. However, there is actually a whole lot of meaning that is formed subconsciously in an audience’s mind between any two edits. I find the whole notion that editing relies on the audience’s preexisting knowledge and opinions really fascinating, and I think it’s extraordinary that so much meaning can be drawn out of a single frame or two frames placed next to each other.
I’ll take Liam’s Iron Throne example to demonstrate. When Liam showed a photo of the iron throne in the lectorial to a group of media students immersed in Western culture, most people had a reaction because they connected the image to Game of Thrones. The connotations they have surrounding the image comes from their opinion on the show, as well as how much they know about it. However, if the same photo was shown to someone perhaps in an Asian country who does know about the show, or if the same photo was shown before Game of Thrones existed, the reaction would be completely different. There would be no recognition to this specific chair, and instead would just be an uncomfortable and menacing looking wooden structure. But also when we strip back a level, our brains had to first recognise that what’s being shown is an image of a throne. The fact that the brain can conjure up so much meaning when all we started out with is simples lines and colours being projected onto a wall is incredible.
To end with, I’ll leave with the little sticky note story bits that our group had a bunch of fun creating, as evidenced below. (Disclaimer: no aliens or magical unicorns were harmed in the process).
