“Michael Frierson’s text is a masterful summation of far-ranging thoughts from cinema’s major editing theorists. This astonishingly rich resource should be used by anyone tasked with training editors and can be a valuable reference tools for even the most experienced.”

- Betsy A. McLane, Southern Oregon University

Film and Video Editing Theory

offers an Introductory guide to the practices used to create meaning through editing. This book synthesizes the theories of the most prominent film editors and scholars, from Herbert Zettl, Sergei Eisenstein, and Noël Burch to the work of landmark Hollywood editors like Walter Murch and Edward Dmytryk. The book for readers, whether one is debating if a flashback reveals too much, if a certain cut clarifies or obscures the space of a scene, or if a shot needs to be trimmed. The book looks beyond technical proficiency in a specific software to ground the reader in a set of craft principles, to explain how certain kinds edits create meaning..