Steps of Offline Editing

A list of steps showing what actions to take during the Offline stages of editing a project, to ensure the best quality piece of work possible.

• Start with lots of footage (rushes). Watch through these twice, the second time make notes as you go along for future reference. 
• Create 1st edit. Keep all the edits, just in case.
• Begin 2nd edit. Leave time between 1st & 2nd so you can approach it the second time with fresh look. Trim down the original edit to the stage where you can..
• Show to director/external expert.
• Make any suggested alterations, or completely restart 2nd edit.
• Once happy with this, walk away from it for a while, as to not get too attached to certain aspects of the project. This means that when coming back to it, you can see mistakes you may have made or add new ideas.
• Final Edit 1.
• Show to director again, receive feedback.
• Final Edit 2. (Repeat previous stage as many times as necessary)

Online editing to be carried out after this, to add any effects and grading that may be needed.

The Kuleshov Effect

This is something I stumbled upon when researching theorists.

 Lev Kuleshov was a Soviet filmmaker and supposedly the first film theorist. He believed strongly that editing in order to juxtapose shots was the core element of filmmaking, an idea that resounded through to his students, most notably the famous Sergei Eisenstein, who created montage as a form of editing. 

Reading about his ideas and the work he did was very interesting, especially his experiments into something now known as "The Kuleshov Effect", which illustrates how editing in film can be used to change the viewers interpretations of events, even when the core element of the footage remains the same. He would film somebody's reaction to something off screen, and by simply switching the thing they have seen, our opinion of the person reacting changes. This is a fascinating theory, as it demonstrates how editing can be used as a manipulative tool over the audience, an idea that has always intrigued me.

Above is an interview with Alfred Hitchcock, as he demonstrates The Kuleshov Effect and how it can be effective.