In-camera editing is a technique where, instead of

editing Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written language, written, Image editing, visual, Audio engineer, audible, or Film editing, cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing p ...

the shots in a film into sequence after shooting, the

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

cinematographer The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the recording of a film, television production, music video or other live-action piece. The cinematographer is the chief of the camera ...

instead shoots the sequences in strict order. The resulting "edit" is therefore already complete when the film is developed. The process takes a lot of planning so that the shots are filmed in the precise order they will be presented. However, some of this time can be reclaimed, as there is no editing, cutting out or reordering scenes later on. When the last scene is filmed by the director or cinematographer, the production is completely finished. A benefit of the technique, largely now irrelevant due to the rise of

digital video Digital video is an electronic representation of moving visual images (video) in the form of encoded digital data. This is in contrast to analog video, which represents moving visual images in the form of analog signals. Digital video comprises ...

, is a reduction in the cost of the production. When the cost of film was a significant fraction of the budget, filmmakers used this technique to optimize film usage. Because of its apparent simplicity, in-camera editing is also popular with new students who may lack experience with editing, or who want to skip the editing step. It can also be a very educational process because of time and organizational skills that are required. The discipline required to plan out each shot is a useful

pedagogical Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

technique. Many introductory video production courses cover the topic of in-camera editing for this very purpose. The technique may also be used to limit directing and editing interference in a production (often on the part of producers or financiers) because the film exists only as shot, with no options for editing. Any subsequent editing would require costly reshoots and pick-ups. Finally, if the filmmaker does not have access to

film editing Film editing is both a creative and a technical part of the post-production process of filmmaking. The term is derived from the traditional process of working with film stock, film which increasingly involves the use Digital cinema, of digital ...

equipment (notably, a

non-linear editing system Non-linear editing (NLE) is a form of offline editing for audio, video, and image editing. In offline editing, the original content is not modified in the course of editing. In non-linear editing, edits are specified and modified by speciali ...

), then in-camera editing may be the only available option.

Notable uses of in-camera editing

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...

used the technique, notably in ''

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''.

Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French and Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as ...

also made use of it in his film '' Breathless''.Gergely, Gabor. “EBSCOhost: Jean-Luc Godard’s Film Essays of the 1960s: The Virtues and Limitations of ...” Studies in French Cinema 8, no. 2 (2008): 111–121. doi:10.1386/sfc.8.2.111_1. Both of these directors helped to create in-camera editing in films and led to the technological advancement of in-camera editing.

References

{{Film editing Film and video technology Television terminology