CHAPTER 17 Editing the Production Editing Opportunities As we examine editing techniques, you will see how they significantly contribute to the success of the production: You can join together a series of separately recorded takes or sequences to create a continuous smooth-flowing story line--even where none originally existed. Through editing, you can omit action that would be irrelevant or distracting. You can seamlessly cut in retakes to replace unsatisfactory material--to correct or improve performance; to overcome camera, lighting, or sound faults; or to improve ineffective production treatment. You can increase or reduce the overall duration of the program--by adjusting the duration of sequences, introducing cutaway shots, altering playing speed, or repeating strategic parts of an action sequence. Library material (stock shots) can be introduced and blended with the program material--to establish location, for effects, or to introduce illustrations. When a subject is just about to move out of shot, you can cut to a new viewpoint and show the action continuing, apparently uninterrupted. (Even where it is possible to shoot action in one continuous take, the director may want to change the camera view- point or interrupt the flow of the action for dramatic impact.) By cutting between shots recorded at quite different times or places, you can imply relationships that did not exist. Editing allows you to instantly shift the audience's center of interest, redirecting their