The Rule of Six of Film Editing - Essay Example

The Rule of Six of Film Editing In the text The Rule of Six, Walter Murch, celebrated editor known for editing blockbusters like Apocalypse and The Godfather III, extends advice to the aspiring editors. According to Murch, in the field of film and film editing, one needs to take into consideration six essential criteria to evaluate a cut. These criteria in order of their relative importance are:1. Emotion- The most important criteria that pertains to the emotive impact of a cut on the audience.2. Story- Whether an edit succeeds in advancing the story in a meaningful way.3. Rhythm- Is a cut executed at an instance that facilitates rhythmic sense.4. Eye Trace- How a cut influences the advance of audiences’ focus in the context of location and movement.5. Two dimensional plane of screen- Whether a cut successfully abides by the axis.6. Three dimensional space of action- Is a cut in consonance with the commensurate spatial and physical links.

According to Murch, the one single criterion that predominantly impacts the audience attention is emotion. If it comes to sacrificing one or more of these six criteria, an editor should give precedence to a criterion in consonance with its place in the list. Also the connectivity between emotion, story and rhythm is more strong and intimate as compared to the one between the last three criteria. The greater the number of criteria an editor can satisfy the better. Personal View Being aware of the fact that Walter Murch has been associated with some of the most successful movies like Apocalypse and The Godfather III, the advice extended by him in The Rule of Six carries immense importance for me.

I believe that what Murch quintessentially intends to say in The Rule of Six is that while working in the cutting room, and editor ought to pay heed to one’s heart and intuition, and opt for a cut that one finds most compelling. Many a times while being in the cutting room, an editor may come across situations where one may need to execute a compromise between emotion and continuity. Technicalities and continuity do matter; yet, the mastery of an editor’s skill actually depends on one’s ability to opt for a cut that accentuates the emotive content and force of a particular scene.

For in the end what the audience tend to remember is the emotional force that a particular scene had over them, the extent to which a scene succeeded in playing with their sense of fear and hope, and the power with which it kept them engaged and riveted. If a cut succeeds in honoring these expectations, it is perfect even if it slips a little on the continuity scale. Considering the fact that young editors do come across situations when they feel that their inner conviction invokes them to compromise some fundamental aspects of editing, Murch has been benign to lay down the criteria for dealing with such dilemmas.

He has given a sequential list of criteria in a decreasing order of importance and the sequence in which they could be compromised to come out with an emotionally and rhythmically correct cut. Coming out with a seamless edit is no doubt an art. However, the primary function of editing is to respect the importance of emotion, story and rhythm, which are the essence of a scene. Continuity is really important, but, it stands subservient to the actual emotional flavor of a scene.