In 1901 Edwin s. Porter started using continuity editing. This consisted of attaching scenes which were shot at different locations and different times. This was the first instance of continuity editing. Continuity editing gives the movie much more sense and continuity. When shots are added together, a story can be told. This was a revolution in the film making world as all editors after that time, made the use of continuity editing. The movie would be too boring to
watch if it consisted of only one shot. Porter used to work as a projectionist at the Eden Musée and this is what led him to the idea of continuity editing. He came up with the first principles of editing and he established the editing language. Parallel editing or cross cutting is another technique that was invented by him. This consists of switching between 2 scenes happening in different places which have a relation. Usually the characters or scenes collide together in the end. This technique adds a lot of suspense to the viewer and it gives information in a different way, allowing the viewer to reflect on what is going to happen. This can be seen clearly in the movie “The Silence of the Lambs (1991)”.
Edwin s. porter also experimented with different camera angles, and realized that certain angles and shots used at certain times give a different effect (long shots etc). Due to these techniques, he made films which had much more sense and sophistication and carried out a story or information. In “Life of an American Fireman” (1903), porter used newsreel footage of a fire which happened that time to tell the story of the victims and the rescuers. It was one of the first American narrative films.
Géorges Méliès was a French film maker and a magician and he experimented with motion pictures to create certain effects. He was the first film maker to film fictional narratives. He was one of the spectators of the cinematograph that was created by the Lumiere brothers. When he saw the outcome, he knew that they had much more possibilities. He started and discovered basic camera tricks which are used still used nowadays. These include stop motion, slow motion, multiple exposures, overlapping dissolves, fade-out, jump cut and superimposition. The jump cut