Editing and Special/Visual Effects: Behind the Silver Screen: A Modern History of Filmmaking

Most moviegoers think of editing and special effects as distinct components of the filmmaking process. We might even conceive of them as polar opposites, since effective film editing is often subtle and almost invisible, whereas special effects frequently call attention to themselves. Yet, film editors and visual effects artists have worked hand-in-hand from the dawn of cinema to the present day. Editing and Special/Visual Effects brings together a diverse range of film scholars who trace how the arts of editing and effects have evolved in tandem. Collectively, the contributors demonstrate how these two crafts have been integral to cinematic history, starting with the “trick films” of the early silent era, which astounded audiences by splicing in or editing out key frames, all the way up to cutting-edge effects technologies and concealed edits used to create the illusions. Throughout, readers learn about a variety of filmmaking techniques, from classic Hollywood’s rear projection and matte shots to the fast cuts and wall-to-wall CGI of the contemporary blockbuster. In addition to providing a rich historical overview, Editing and Special/Visual Effects supplies multiple perspectives on these twinned crafts, introducing readers to the analog and digital tools used in each craft, showing the impact of changes in the film industry, and giving the reader a new appreciation for the processes of artistic collaboration they involve.

Charlie Keil is Principal of Innis Collegeand a professor in the History Departmentof the University of Toronto. His booksinclude Early American Cinema in Transitionand the co-edited collections, AmericanCinema's Transitional Era and AmericanCinema of the 1910s.Kristen Whissel is a professor of filmand media at the University of California,Berkeley. She is the author of SpectacularDigital Effects: CGI and ContemporaryCinema and of Picturing AmericanModernity: Traffic, Technology and the SilentCinema. She is guest editor of two specialissues of film Criticism journal, on digitaleffects and on 3D.