How does film editing work?

Three cameras filmed the same café scene. A scene is filmed from several set-ups, like a wide shot and two close-ups. The editor lays shots end to end on a timeline and decides, moment by moment, which one you watch.

Read how it works: How does film editing work? · The history of film editing · More boxes on Glassbox

Chapters in this interactive model

1. The cut: choosing what we see: Three cameras filmed the same moment. The editor decides which one you watch, and when.
2. Continuity: hiding the cut: Cut on action, match the eyeline, keep to one side of the line. Or break the rules on purpose.
3. The Kuleshov effect: meaning from the cut: The same blank face, next to soup, a child or a coffin, seems to feel different things.
4. Pace, rhythm, and sound that leads: Cut the same scene fast or slow, and let the sound arrive before the picture.
5. Transitions: cut, dissolve, fade, wipe: How one shot hands over to the next tells you how much time has passed.
6. From dailies to picture lock: Watch everything, assemble, cut it down, lock it, then rebuild it in full quality.