History of Film Editing

First upright Moviola

The initial editing of film was done it a positive copy of the film negative called a 'film work-print' (cutting copy in the UK). A film work-print is done by physically cutting and pasting together pieces of film. Created by using a slicer and threading the film on a machine with a viewer such as a Moviola or 'flatbed' machine like a Steenbeck.

Steenbeck

Most films are now edited digitally on systems like Final Cut Pro and Avid that bypass the 'film positive work-print' altogether. The use of the film positive technique allowed the editor to experiment with the copy without damaging the original.

Source: www.wikipedia.org-Filmediting