Cutting_ Introduction

Film editing may be compared with cutting, polishing and mounting a diamond. A diamond in the rough state is barely recognizable. The raw diamond must be cut, polished and mounted so that its inherent beauty can be fully appreciated. In the same way, a film story is a jumble of odd shots until, like the diamond, it is cut, polished and mounted. Both diamond and film are enhanced by what is removed! What remains tells the story.

Only good editing can bring life to a motion picture! The various shots are just so many odd pieces of film until they are skillfully assembled to tell a coherent story. Cutting takes up the slack in the film, by removing all superfluous footage: false starts, overlaps, unnecessary entrances and exits, extra scenes,duplicated action, bad takes. What is left must be woven into a continuous narrative; to present the screen story in a manner that captures audience interest and holds attention from opening scene to final fade-out.

Reference:

Mascelli, J. V. (1965). The Five C's of  Cinematography. The United States: radstone publications.