Editing Techniques:
Breaking Bad - Crystal Blue Persuasion Montage
History & Development of Editing:
Editing is one of the core building blocks in film making. It is the process of selecting and preparing already produced material (film, audio, text) to organize and correct it into a finished piece of work.
Originally in film making, before computers and editing software, in order to rearrange the sequence your shots were shown, you would need to cut up the physical film and paste it back together using machines called Moviola's or K.E.M's. But today as technology becomes more widespread available anybody with a decent phone camera and access to a computer can now produce, edit and publish their own material for no cost.
Transitions in editing is how one shot leads onto the other. There are many different types of transitions and some of them are used for specific reasons or have meaning behind them. For example, when a main protagonist has a flashback but he doesn't look any younger or changed, a filmmaker might use a dissolve there because they want the viewer to be aware what they are seeing isn't actually happening right now, but rather they'll be seeing the protagonist remembering what happened. But transitions such as a fade out/fade in may just be used to maintain a smooth sequence. For example if in a war film we had been watching the protagonist fighting on enemy lines going through hell and looking really beat up, but then the fighting ended and the film needed to cut back to him coming home, a transition fading the shot out and fading the new shot in, could be used to show how time has passed for them and that its now moved to a new location.
At 0:58 (pt 1) it fades from a close up of the main characters work in progress to a time lapsed establishing shot of the sun rising over a city and clouds flying past. Since this is a montage and there's no time scale or fixed location as to which the are events happening (could be days, weeks, months) rather than using this shot to establish a setting, they use the time lapse shot of clouds flying by to show the time passing and give the viewer some idea of how long of a time period the events are taking place over.
The best example I could find of the 180 degree rule was the first ten seconds of part one 0:00 - 0:10.
Looking at them now in finer detail, I think Breaking Bad does match cuts on actions really well. In part one at 0:26 you see a medium shot of Walt reaching for a money clip about to flip it over a wedge of cash but just before it gets there it cuts to a close up of the money and you see the money clip go over as if it was all one take.
Then for the first ten seconds of part two, they use a match on action into a fade transition to smoothly change between shots and location without the viewer hardly even noticing. First you see a medium shot of Saul reaching for the bottle and about to pour, then just before the drink comes out it cuts to a close up and is carried on being poured into the glass. They then use a fade transition between shots, to cut to someone filling up a barrel somewhere else at a different time, all whilst keeping the stream of drink in exactly
the same place though, making the change between shots hardly noticeable.
The thing is with eye line match cuts in this montage is that it doesn't use them in the classic way of cutting to where the person is looking or what there doing, but rather it cuts to a very similar looking shot but just in a different time, location and probably with someone different completely. You can see at 0:19 in part two, Todd looks down and reaches for something off screen and then it cuts to his hands (still wearing blue gloves to trick the vierwer) picking a bag of 'finished product' however he's in a different location wearing different clothes so you know more time has passed than the edit is depicting. This is all done on purpose though for the pace of the montage and although it does through you off as a viewer, your still able to understand & appreciate what they're trying to do for purpose of the short sequence.
Visual Analysis
For my visual analysis I chose the 'Crystal Blue Persuasion' montage from Breaking Bad Season 5 (2013). I chose this not only because is it one of my all time favorite sequences in TV, but also because there's also a large variety of shots and events taking place giving me plenty of options on what to write about. Unfortunately the video is split into two parts however it only totals 3:45.
At 0:58 (pt 1) it fades from a close up of the main characters work in progress to a time lapsed establishing shot of the sun rising over a city and clouds flying past. Since this is a montage and there's no time scale or fixed location as to which the are events happening (could be days, weeks, months) rather than using this shot to establish a setting, they use the time lapse shot of clouds flying by to show the time passing and give the viewer some idea of how long of a time period the events are taking place over. 
The best example I could find of the 180 degree rule was the first ten seconds of part one 0:00 - 0:10.
There wasn't anything in the videos I could find that stood out because its a chopped up montage spanning across many different locations so there's no need to maintain that sort of continuity for the viewer however in the first ten seconds you can see the camera starts centered face on with Walter White and then backs away turning right, following him into his tent all whilst maintaining the 180 degree rule.
Looking through the montage I'm pretty sure there's no shot reverse shots anywhere in it. This is because there is no dialogue taking place between characters so there's no need for the camera to keep snapping back to each perspective. But for an example is here a whole 1:40 of shot reverse shots from the bar shootout scene in Quentin Tarantino's 'Inglorious Bastards' (2:10 - 3:50):
Looking at them now in finer detail, I think Breaking Bad does match cuts on actions really well. In part one at 0:26 you see a medium shot of Walt reaching for a money clip about to flip it over a wedge of cash but just before it gets there it cuts to a close up of the money and you see the money clip go over as if it was all one take.
the same place though, making the change between shots hardly noticeable.
The thing is with eye line match cuts in this montage is that it doesn't use them in the classic way of cutting to where the person is looking or what there doing, but rather it cuts to a very similar looking shot but just in a different time, location and probably with someone different completely. You can see at 0:19 in part two, Todd looks down and reaches for something off screen and then it cuts to his hands (still wearing blue gloves to trick the vierwer) picking a bag of 'finished product' however he's in a different location wearing different clothes so you know more time has passed than the edit is depicting. This is all done on purpose though for the pace of the montage and although it does through you off as a viewer, your still able to understand & appreciate what they're trying to do for purpose of the short sequence.
Identification with Main Protagonist/Other Characters
Breaking Bad is actually known for its use & love of POV shots. They seem to use them whenever possible but they do them really well, so after watching the show for a little while you don't even really notice anymore. Straight away at 0:17 in part one you see a medium shot of Walt pouring chemicals into a big metal vat but then it cuts to a worms eye view in the bottom of the vat and the chemicals get poured directly onto the camera shot.
Then in 0:53 of part two you see a medium shot of Walt & Todd piling money and drugs on what you know as a viewer to be a solid normal able, but it cuts to a worms eye POV looking up through a glass table so your able to see the money literally being stacked until the whole view is almost taken up. What would of taken a few takes, multiple resources and quite a bit of time to film, all whizzes past in a couple of seconds without you hardly noticing.
To try get you to identify with Walt and almost be able to empathize with the long repetitive and monotonous processes he's about to cycle through, the very first opening shot of the whole montage is a close up of Walt quickly swinging into frame and just having a moment to sigh and catch a breath before going back to work. I believe this was chosen as the first shot to try put us in his shoes more and show the lengths hes about to go to & the amount of work hes about to endure.
At 1:14 in part two, as the repetitive music starts slows down for a second and seems like it might be coming to a stop, they show time lapsed shots of Walt falling asleep and taking a break in the chair. This is another technique done on purpose to try make is feel more in touch with the main character as the viewer, because as soon as the music resumes and goes back to its normal pace it cuts back to Walt working again and the montage carries on playing out.
Breaking Bad is actually known for its use & love of POV shots. They seem to use them whenever possible but they do them really well, so after watching the show for a little while you don't even really notice anymore. Straight away at 0:17 in part one you see a medium shot of Walt pouring chemicals into a big metal vat but then it cuts to a worms eye view in the bottom of the vat and the chemicals get poured directly onto the camera shot.
Then in 0:53 of part two you see a medium shot of Walt & Todd piling money and drugs on what you know as a viewer to be a solid normal able, but it cuts to a worms eye POV looking up through a glass table so your able to see the money literally being stacked until the whole view is almost taken up. What would of taken a few takes, multiple resources and quite a bit of time to film, all whizzes past in a couple of seconds without you hardly noticing.
To try get you to identify with Walt and almost be able to empathize with the long repetitive and monotonous processes he's about to cycle through, the very first opening shot of the whole montage is a close up of Walt quickly swinging into frame and just having a moment to sigh and catch a breath before going back to work. I believe this was chosen as the first shot to try put us in his shoes more and show the lengths hes about to go to & the amount of work hes about to endure.
At 1:14 in part two, as the repetitive music starts slows down for a second and seems like it might be coming to a stop, they show time lapsed shots of Walt falling asleep and taking a break in the chair. This is another technique done on purpose to try make is feel more in touch with the main character as the viewer, because as soon as the music resumes and goes back to its normal pace it cuts back to Walt working again and the montage carries on playing out.
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