A film editor’s point of view (POV): exploring ‘planes of meaning’ in film editing/making

A film editor’s point of view (POV): exploring ‘planes of meaning’ in film editing/making

In referring to the process of editing and the role of the film editor, film-editor Ralph Rosenblum states “that outside of the Director and Editor almost no one had any idea what that [film editing practice] contribution was [to a film project] (Rosenblum 1986).

This doctoral research asserts that the creative practice of film editing is an integral part of the whole process of filmmaking (Harbord 2015), where the role of the editor is often invisible to the audience. While this might seem apparent for some film-makers, this research seeks interrogate this notion. Calling upon 40-year practice as a film editor I will examine and reflect upon current film editing practices, the impact of film theory on editing (Eisenstein et al.) my making processes. The result is a 50 minute original documentary that is the creative work that accompanies this Exegesis.

Chiefly, this research explores a concept coined by myself as the researcher: Planes of Meaning, which is theoretically positioned to analyse and guide the documentary-making process. Using this concept, the research interrogates key questions around film editing decisions, aesthetic and experiential processes and the transition from analogue to digital filmmaking. The research findings provide further assertions and a refined model of the Planes of Meaning that may be used by emerging editors who consider themselves as artists.