Up-to-date Problematic of Editing: Evolution of Eisenstein's Vertical Editing

Abstract

Sergei Eisenstein is the first one to mention vertical editing. According to him, the relationship of visual elements of shot and the relationship of shot and sound indicate the vertical editing. This is a viewpoint based on Eisenstein's theory claiming that editing exists in every single cell of cinema. However, vertical editing is not considered as a tool for creating cinematic meaning by Eisenstein. According to him, horizontal editing, based on the relationships of the shots, is still the main factor for creating meaning. After all, every editing technique ranging from Eisenstein's editing based on dialectical logic to the basic editing principals of classical narrative film making focuses on this horizontal process. However, because the prevalence of digital editing in film making and development of new digital editing software products including the capabilities of the compositing software products entirely based on a vertical logic and developed for implementing and combining the visual effects, the area of responsibility of the film editor started to change and spread. This, in a sense, indicates the evolution of Eisenstein's vertical editing. In this review our aim is to put forth the changes that editing suffered through the transition from analog to digital. Our bibliography is consisted of Eisenstein's books next to articles citing vertical editing and the opinions of film editors dealt with vertical editing. Other than these, for the technical analyzing we've chosen the most commonly used editing software 'Final Cut'. With our study we represented that vertical editing is in the horizontal editing process. Thus we came to the conclusion that vertical editing is an important tool for creating meaning in film editing. Another conclusion was the fact that the changes in the editing concept also changed the film editors basic area of responsibility. Thus the evolution of Eisenstein's notion of vertical editing came to light. We also concluded that this evolvement, having some positive impact on the existence of the independent filmmakers, also has some issues about professional liabilities of the