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Ken Dancyger

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The Technique of Film and Video Editing: History, Theory, and Practice 6th Edition, Kindle Edition

by Ken Dancyger (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.5 37 ratings

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This updated sixth edition of The Technique of Film and Video Editing provides a detailed, precise look at the artistic and aesthetic principles and practices of editing for both picture and sound. Ken Dancyger puts into context the storytelling choices an editor will have to make against a background of theory, history, and practice across a range of genres, including action, comedy, drama, documentary and experimental forms, featuring analysis of dozens of classic and contemporary films.

This new sixth edition includes new chapters on the influence of other media on the editing form, on the importance of surprise in editing, on the contributions of Robert Altman to the art of editing and on the experimental documentary. This edition also includes expanded coverage in technology, creative sound, point of view, and the long take. New case studies explore Whiplash (2014), Room (2015), Lincoln (2012), Tangerine (2015), The Beaches of Agnès (2008), American Sniper (2014), Son of Saul (2015), The Revenant (2015), and many more.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Ken Dancyger continues to update and improve this latest edition for what is already the ‘gold standard’ of books on editing. He knows good storytelling and how editing is integral to the process. He places this in historical context with theory and practice. If you are a student of editing, you should read this book."

―Scott Arundale, Editor; Author of Modern Post: Workflows and Techniques of Digital Filmmakers

"Ken's additions to his book show all of us who love and study the craft of editing, a real understanding of the importance and stimulating impact editing has in helping tell a story, create mood, and shape characters."

―Samuel D. Pollard, Academy Award Nominee, Emmy Award-winning Editor, Eyes on the Prize (1990), 4 Little Girls (1997), When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts (2006), ACORN and the Firestorm (2017)

"From D.W. Griffith to MTV, from silent movies to action films, Dancyger explores not only history, techniques, and the social aspects of film and video, but he also looks at how technology has affected film and video making and editing. This isn't a quick read, but definitely worthwhile if you want to gain an understanding of what it takes to be an excellent director and editor."

―Theano Nikitas, Camcorder & Computer Video

"Dancyger's book is an excellent introduction to the art of manipulating moving pictures and sound for students, amateurs, hobbyists and professionals alike."

―Videomaker.com

About the Author

Ken Dancyger is a Professor of Film and Television at Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, as well as the author of numerous books on screenwriting, editing, and production, including Alternative Scriptwriting (with Jeff Rush) and Writing the Short Film (with Patricia Cooper), The Director’s Idea and Global Scriptwriting, all published by Routledge/Focal Press. Ken also conducts scriptwriting and editing workshops internationally.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07K4TXF94
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Routledge; 6th edition (December 7, 2018)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 7, 2018
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 10037 KB
Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Up to 4 simultaneous devices, per publisher limits
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 537 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #1,518,081 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #494 in Screenwriting (Kindle Store)
- #1,564 in Screenwriting (Books)
- #1,794 in Video (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
4.5 37 ratings

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Michael M

Video editing text

Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2024

Verified Purchase

Excellent basic video editing test

Reviewed in the United States on July 14, 2015

Verified Purchase

As described, Quality and Shipment.

Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2011

Verified Purchase

I bought this book for a class and I find it to be a great resource. It doesn't teach you how to edit but goes into what successful editing is. It goes into the topics of filmaking including how sound and visuals add to and often create a movie's overall experience. It's a bit of a dry read but I find it very useful that he gives examples from movies. I only wish this book came with a CD of these scenes instead of still shots.

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B. Meyer

More history than technique

Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2023

Verified Purchase

I bought this book in the hope of using it as a textbook for an editing class I teach. I was disappointed. It's good, interesting writing. Dancyger provides some interesting historical perspective and insights. But there are also entire sections where he talks about a film without really getting into the editing technique. It was at times baffling. I've been a fan of some of his other books, but this one felt mistitled.

Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2008

Verified Purchase

The Technique of Film and Video doesn't really know what it wants to be.

It over emphasis on editing history and early theory would simply overwhelm first time editing students and outright bore those familiar with the craft.

As a film student, I know the importance of film editing, but this entry fails to generate any interest for the technique and the practical implications for film editing.

It's been said not to judge a book by its cover, and this one is no different. A screen capture of "Brokeback Mountain" does nothing to offset the heavy emphasis on film pre-1960.

Just my two cents.

9 people found this helpful

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Becky H.

Great deal

Reviewed in the United States on May 25, 2015

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Great deal just wish we could have had it shipped under Amazon Prime.

Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2011

Verified Purchase

This book has some good insight but it seems more like a book about how to review movies. Kinda dry read!I used this bok for my editing class and learned absolutely very little about how to edit. I learned more reading Walter Murch's "In The Blink of an Eye" than this!

One person found this helpful

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Conrad J. Obregon

Not as Advertised

Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2019

It’s easy to describe what a film or video editor does, although the simple description doesn’t mean good editing is easy or less artful. The editor receives clips from the director; selects from the collection; assembles them in order; determines where to start and stop within the selected clips; and creates transitions between the selected clips. In many cases the editor also adds sound and adjusts color. All of this is done in service of creating the most effective combination to express a vision. It’s difficult to determine how well an editor has done this job without seeing all of the clips that have been presented to him. This book purports to explain the technique.

The author begins with a discussion of what purports to be a history of editing, and then proceeds to the goals of editing, editing technique for different genres, and the principles of editing. Dancyger uses the technique of summarizing hundreds of movies individually and then explaining how the structure of each movie helped to create a vision. I found the book to be quite absorbing because it clarified my own ideas of what I thought many of the movies that I had seen were saying through their structure. Unfortunately, I didn’t learn very much about editing. That was because the author never provided a deep enough explanation to understand how a particular editing decision helped to express a vision.

For example the author might say of a particular movie, that close-ups revealed the character of one of the persona. There were few discussions of how a particular close-up did this. Moreover, it might just as well be that the particular clip was the result of the work of the director and camera man. (The author suggested that a good director insured the capture of long, medium and close shot of every scene, a premise that I don’t easily accept. A look at a Hitchcock story board convinces me otherwise.)

In fact, the author’s habit of identifying every picture with its director, and mentioning only a few famous editors, like those who became directors, or whose fame as editors is legendary, like Thelma Schoonmaker or Walter Murch, only showed how generic Dancyger’s advice was. I learned a lot about how movies revealed a vision but not much about how to be a better editor.

I suppose one can learn more by going back and watching some of the movies discussed and then analyzing the movie’s editing in terms of the author’s analysis. In fact this book stirred me to re-view many movies and plan to review more.

In this day and age with the internet, we have an opportunity to see edits demonstrated more effectively with guidance of an author. In fact that is exactly what Michael Frierson does in another book from the same publisher, “Film and Video Editing Theory”.

I was particularly disappointed by the chapters on “Non Linear Editing and Digital Technology”. I am fascinated by the way that technology affects art. For example it was in the 15th century that the introduction of smalt for blue pigments changed painting by allowing for more vivid blues. Shouldn’t the introduction of nonlinear editors like Avid and Premiere Pro have led to changes in the art of movie making? However Dancyger chooses to shift his discussion to nonlinear story telling which has a longer history and is not a technological development.

I enjoyed this book, but it really didn’t teach me very much about film and video editing.

Note: The publisher provided me with a review copy of this book at no charge. Also note, this is a review of the 6th edition, not any earlier edition.

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