Why aren't moviegoers completely thrown for a loop when they see an edited film? I guess you could say it's because they don't really see it—the editing, anyway.

But this was a huge gamble made by filmmakers in the early days of cinema, who were blazing the trail of post-production and experimenting with continuity (a concept that didn't even exist back then), shot size, and angle.


This video from CineFix takes us on a tour of all that is editing, from its birth during the silent era to the development of the montage theory by a bunch of innovative Soviets.

One thing to take away from this, other than the bountiful facts about cinematic history, is the two major editing concepts: continuity editing and montage editing. Continuity editing is structural—it's meant to get you from point A to point B without wondering where you are. Soviet montage, on the other hand, works to elicit an emotional response from the audience.

These videos give great examples of each:

(Note: This video shows the different "methods" of montage developed by Eisenstein: metric, tonal, rhythmic, and intelligent.)

If you're new to theories on editing, we highly suggest reading Sergei Eisenstein's essays and books, which explain in great detail his theories on montage.

Source: CineFix