Analysis of Text

'In the Blink of an Eye'

In the Blink of an Eye is a book from 1995 written by Walter Murch. The book explores the nature of filmmaking with regards to post production, and how the edit of a film can change the narrative dramatically. Murch believes that through the edit a film can either come to life, or make no logical sense, which therefore highlights the importance of ensuring that an edit is practical and works within the time scale set. He states that "The ideal cut is one which incorporates all six rules" and you cannot sacrifice emotion for story just like you cannot sacrifice story for rhythm and so on. 

Throughout the book Murch states his six rules of post production that he believes are essential in order to create the best film from the footage. Murch believes that there are many films with in the footage and it is the role of the editor to ensure that the best one is cut. The first of his six rules is emotion and how the primary source of a story comes from the emotional engagement the audience has with the characters. He believes that if the audience don't have understanding or any emotional involvement within any part of a character then it loses their interest. Murch divided his rules by percentage of importance, of which emotion is 51% significant in the edit. 

His second rule focuses on the progression of the story (23%), Murch states that the story must continue to make sense throughout, and if it loses its way, the audience will lose interest. The construction of how the story is cut is essential in order for the narrative to make sense so that it not only conveys the emotion but it also keeps the viewer engaged and interested in the rest of the film.  

His third rule is about how the rhythm (10%) is explored through the cutting. For example if the pace of the editing is slow in a chase scene, the narrative will have no suspense or sense of urgency which in turn loses the emotional engagement of the viewer, and doesn't excel to the nature of the story that it should. The rhythm of the edit will pull together the emotion and the story to ensure that it flows in a way that is best consumed for either a positive or negative audience response. Murch refers to the rhythm as the glue which helps enhance the emotion and narrative. 

Murch's fourth rule regarding post production is the eye trace (7%) which focuses on where on screen the director is wanting the audience to look. This could be linked with where on the screen a character is framed, how the colour grading can change the direction of the eye on screen, or simply how a prop is used to signify something to the audience regarding the narrative. This includes cutting to movement because it maintains the rhythm of the piece and keeps constant eye trace thus higher levels of engagement from the audience. 

The fifth rule Walter Murch believes has importance regarding editing is the two dimensional place on screen (5%). This rule ensures that continuity is maintained via the 180 degree axis which keeps track of the space the scene has with regards to its characters and the set design. 

His sixth rule regards the three dimensional space on screen (4%) which takes into consideration the imaginary camera line set at 180 degrees. This rule is usually one for cinematography but takes place in the edit also. It is important to ensure that the edit doesn't disorientate the viewer by using shots from both sides of the 180 degree line. Unless a disorientated audience is what the director is looking for, Murch believes this rule ensures the situation reflects normality for the viewers. An example of where this rule is manipulated on purpose to disorientate its viewers is 'The Shining' whereby the movement of the camera and the way the film is cut creates no architectural sense of the set due to the constant reverse-angle wide shots that are cut throughout. 

Through the progression of the project I propose to ensure that I incorporate all six rules across both the to minute and five minute film to create the most effective narrative possible with the shots i'm provided with.