The purposes of editing

- To compress a sound recording to fit a specific time

- For recorded speech to be at the legal sound and be able to be aired
- To make sure all inappropriate language is censored or removed
- To eliminate alternate takes, repetitive and boring material
- To change the meaning of the audio and the chronological order
- To create impact by adding sound effects
Cutting audio to fit a time frame

This video has been cut and edited to fit the time
schedule. Most television programs have to fit a 30
minute mark, for example They have to split the
program into two parts both around the 12 minute mark,
this is to fit advertisements in the middle of the
program. To do this they have to cut the audio, to create
time. Cutting audio includes removing time when
nobody is talking. If done well the audience won’t
notice. In this episode of emmerdale a lot of this audio
has been cut down to meet the correct amount of time,
while still achieving a sad, emotional scene

In emmerdale the show is 30 minutes long but has to fit

in advertisements, therefore making it about 24 minutes
long
To remove unfocused, repetitive, flawed or irrelevant content from
audio
This is a full interview but it is cut to eliminate the boring
parts of the interview, it removes all the repetitive parts
of the clip. The uncut full interview would be unengaging
and boring to watch so this version has been cut to
make it more interesting. In this interview they have cut
some of Thom Yorke’s answers that were repetitive or
not entertaining to those watching, they have cut to the
next question or to the next interesting point. Without
this being cut the full interview would be long, boring
repetitive and not interesting to watch at all. This is a
one of the most effective types of sound editing, without
this type of sound editing the interview as a whole the
interview would suffer greatly from it.
To make recorded speech legal
This video is extremely quiet and doesn’t match the legal
standards and wouldn’t pass the QC, editing this sound is
essential and necessary as if it wasn't edited it wouldn't
be allowed to be aired. There are certain audio levels that
you cannot go over or under if you want to go on
television. This is an essential part of sound editing as it
allows people to easily hear the show they are viewing.
People with disabilities might not be able to view this
video properly due to the lack of volume within it, this
however could be solved with subtitiles but the volume
still needs to pass QC standards.
To ensure any in decent or inappropriate language is edited out

Some shows have different ratings and have

different amounts of inappropriate language that
can be aired on television. In this clip. Certain
words in this clip has been censored so the show
can be aired during the day. The original clip of
this has many inappropriate language that could
not be aired in the middle of the day. The
watershed ends at 9pm, protecting young people
from hearing it
To create meaning
In this interview the filmmaker has edited the audio to
create alternate meaning. In this documentary,
Bowling for columbine, Marilyn Manson is Interviewed
and is asked his opinion on the columbine school
shooting, and how the mainstream media had
portrayed Manson as being one of the causes or an
influence if the school shooting and how true those
claims are. Manson talks about how there is a
misconception surrounding him being him responsible
for the shooting that occured. And a lot of political
figures blame him directly for the attack and are fear
mongering. This interview has been edited to fit the
agenda of the director Michael Moore, the interview
has been edited heavily and the full thing is not
shown.
To add impact with sound effects and/or music

In this clip of eastenders the scene is very tense, and

to create tension in this scene with sound editing
music and sound effects are used. When the
conversation tension ramps up music begins to play. A
thudding sound effect is also used to create tension.
The false ambiance created here makes the scene
seem more exciting while not changing too much.
John Grierson’s ‘Drifters’
In John Grierson's Film ‘drifters’ he uses sound editing for a
multitude of reasons. The film is a factual documentary so
the sound needs to be natural, this means there is a limited
amount of sound they can use. They won’t be able to use
lots of things like foley so the music they use has to display
the emotions of what’s going on on screen. The tempo of
the music matches the actions on screen, this is to create
tension within this documentary and show the intensity of
the fishing. They John Grierson also uses the music to
replace sound effects, he uses a chrescendo while there is
stream on screen, the mirroring of the steam is to create
the feeling of intensity without the use of sound effects. The
music of the documentary ramps up and gets more intense
as it goes along to show the intensity if the fishing. The
beginning of the documentary is the men walking towards
the sea, as they reach the sea the music gets faster, this is
again to show the intensity of fishing.
Tattooed tears
Tattooed Tears is a key example of factual content. The
documentary was made by Nick Broomfield, who has a
Unique approach to documentaries. He keeps his
material authentic and keeps his content factual. He
doesn’t use sound effects or music to manipulate the
audience. All of this documentary is authentic and
genuine, and it has a high focus on authenticity. A lot of
documentaries use foley to add drama or to create a
narative, Tattooed Tears doesn’t use foley to have the
opposite effect, to create the feeling of authenticity. The
Film is all diegetic, there is no sounds or music that have
been added in post production. There is a part within the
film where they are walking while talking, and the sound
of them talking is echoing. While they are talking there are
sounds of other people yelling and banging on objects
that also echo. This shows that all the sound in this is
diegetic and authentic, meaning it is all filmed on the
location.
Jamie Oliver Channel 4 interview
This interview with Jamie Oliver is a key example of
factual editing. The Interview itself has not been cut
for timing or to create an agenda, the interview is
organic, original and factual. The structure of the
interview follows primarily Jamie Oliver, there is
minimal time spent on the interviewer as the viewer is
there to see the opinions of Jamie Oliver not the
interviewer. They follow this structure to make the
interview interesting to the viewer. The interview
hasn’t been cut so that the viewer can see that Jamie
Oliver’s words aren’t being twisted or manipulated,
and so they know that the opinions are genuine. The
questions he is being asked are very broad and he is
not pressed for answers as the intention of this
interview is not to promote a narrative but to show the
opinions of Jamie Oliver. They could have changed
the order of this interview to create a narrative that is
separate to this.
Editing for fictional content: Kat and Zoe
In this scene of eastenders it is edited for fictional
content. The music starts off diegetic then becomes
less diegetic and louder as the situation becomes
more tense. This is to make the audience feel more
tension then if it just started off non diegetic.
Throughout the scene there are sound effects added
like wind noises to make the scene seem more
realistic. The speaking has been edited to make it
sound better, normally you wouldn't have this high
level of quality in the sound if you filmed outside. They
have achieved this by dubbing the scenes in post
production so the scenes sound right and dont have
bad audio. The sound has also been enhanced to
have a stronger effect on the audience
Eastenders - Janine pushes Barry off a cliff
In this clip, they filmed in a very windy mountains with not a
lot of noise, so naturally the scene doesn’t have a lot of
sounds except ambience. For example trees, birds and more
loudly wind and echos. They filmed it in a windy environment
so the sound quality was not great, therefore in post
production they added ADR to the scene, this is so the
characters can be heard clearly. This also means the wind
sound effect was also added afterwards, this is to add
atmosphere in the scene. Without the wind sound effect it
would be less tense. Without the ADR and the wind sound
effect the scene wouldn’t have been heard clearly and would
have lost most, if not all of its power. Throughout the scene
there is no music. This adds to the tension of the scene
because the music can’t hint to what happens next. Without
the music the scene feels real and the impact feels greater.
As barry falls there is added sound effects of him hitting the
ground, this would have been added in post to create a
greater impact with every time he hits the ground. Once he is
lying on the ground, dying, there is nothing but the sound of
wind and talking. This adds impact to Barry’s death