Early Experiments of Film Editing

Early films by Thomas Edison were short films that were one long, static, locked-down shot. Motion in the shot was all that was necessary to amuse the audience, so the first films simply showed activity like traffic moving on a street. Therefore there was no story and no editing. These films lasted only as ling as the film in the camera was. Edison wanted to increase the length of short films and come into contact with Edwin S. Porter in the late 1890s.

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Edwin S. Porter was thought to be the first American filmmaker to put film editing to use. In 1903 Porter made the film 'Life as an American Fireman' which was among the first that had a plot, action and also a close-up of a hand pulling a fire alarm. 'The Great train Robbery' is another one of Porters films. Also produced in 1903 'The Great train Robbery' is still used in schools today as an example of early editing. It is one of the first examples of dynamic, action editing. This film cuts shots taken at different times and places which are used for emotional impact. The technique is unavailable in a static long shot. Porter also invented and utilized some of the very first special effects, such as double exposures, miniatures and split-screens. Porter is known as the first film hyphenates, meaning he was a director. editor and engineer.

Source :www.wikipedia.org-Filmediting