The rule of six is a theory discussed by Walter Murch in his book 'In the blink of an eye: A perspective on film editing'. There are six factors which he believes help to tell a story using editing. The theorist suggest "a list of priorities. If you have to give up something, don't ever give up emotion before story. Don't give up story before rhythm, don't give up rhythm before eye-trace, don't give up eye-trace before planarity, and don't give up planarity before spacial continuity." (Murch). The editor believes there is a hierarchy in which you should use the rule of six in order to create an edit which will have the best effect on the audience.
Emotion (51%)
Emotion is a very important part of editing, it is important that you are able to reflect the tone of the scene or movie onto the audience. They must feel a connection with the actors in order to understand what they are going through in the movie (Renee). A good example of use of emotion is in 'The Godfather' Murch uses non-diegetic sound to match the tone of the scene in order to put the audience in the head of the actor, he uses close ups of the actors to capture their emotions up close, he also uses cross cutting for example in the restaurant scene he cuts between Michael in the bathroom and the two men in the restaurant, this builds up tension and allows the audience to feel the exact same suspense as the character fearing for his life.
Story (23%)
Story refers to how each shot should further the narrative of the movie, if they do not they make the film unnecessarily long and can confuse the audience. If a shot doesn't help move the plot along then it should be cut (Renee)
Rhythm (10%)
The rhythm of a scene is based upon the emotional tone of the situation, the rhythm of the cuts should match the atmosphere in order to seem in sync, if not your cuts and transitions will appear sloppy to an audience base and will create confusion. The most important thing is to keep the audience engaged in what they are watching, if the editing is choppy and at the wrong pace the audience will lost interest and therefore, stop watching your production. If the tone of your scene is very peaceful and calm, constantly using jump cuts or fast cuts won't match the atmosphere making it seem out of sync. A good way to match the rhythm of the scene is using sound (Renee). The use of non-diegetic sound can help set a pace and it can match the tone of the scene for example, if you was to create an action filled scene with building up tension, you would have fast paced music to match the drama in the scene, in order to build the suspense the music would start off quiet and would gradually get louder as the scene reaches its dramatic climax.
Eye Trace (7%)
This is where the director intentionally draws the viewers eye to a portion of the frame, there are three main methods of directing the eyes of the viewer, motion, position and colour. With motion it can be movement of the camera, performers or even a graphic that moves across the screen. Position refers to placing imagery in areas of the frame where the viewers are already looking in order to easily catch their attention. Colour can be used to capture the eye of the viewer as well and it also suggests a specific message based on the connotations of the colour (Renee). A great example of the use of eye trace can be seen in 'Schindler's List', in this movie they use many methods of eye trace for example the camera follows the character round the room in one scene to suggest we should focus on that specific character. As the character is walking out of the shot in the positioning of this character we see another character this allows the audience to focus on the new character easily in order to continue the narrative. The film is in black and white however, in order to make an audience look at a specific part of the screen they use colour for example in a black and white shot from a roof top in a town, you see a girl in a red dress walking on the streets capturing the viewer's eye.
Two Dimensional Plane on Screen (5%)
Although real life is three dimensional what we see on a screen is two dimensional therefore there are rules in place to help you tell a narrative on a two dimensional plane. This refers to the 180 degree rule which suggests that characters in a scene should remain in the same left/right relationship in order to refrain from disorienting an audience (Renee). To do this you would create an invisible axis on your set, you would only film from one side of the axis in order to keep the character's in the correct position in the audience's eyes. The 180 degree rule can be broken however, if you are going to break the rule there should be a concept behind why you are doing this. If you want to create a tone of disorientation or confusion breaking the rule can help as it will make the audience understand the feelings the characters in the scene may be feeling (Maio). The 180 degree is most famously used in sitcoms, for example it is used in friends all the time, you always see Monica's apartment from one side yet not once in the show have we seen the other side, this is used most commonly to avoid creating the last wall of a set, this means that the cameras can be placed at a further distance to capture better long shots and wide shots
Three Dimensional Space (4%)
This rule is used to make sure the audience understands where everything is in relation to the room it is. When cutting from shot to shot it is important the audience understands how you got to the point, if there is not link then you are breaking continuity and making the scene more confusing for an audience to follow (Renee). For example lets say you have a shot of a man walking out of a house, if you was to cut the shot here, the most logical next shot would be taken outside the house, this keeps the continuity. However, if you was to cut from our first shot to the man in the kitchen, the sequence would make no sense whatsoever. Of course this rule can be broken, continuity isn't always important and nowadays an audience can usually infer what has happened between shots (Maio). A good example of this is in Inception, the films lacks a sense of reality as it reflects a dream state. In one scene the main character is able to walk on walls which is far from reality however, in a dream is plausible therefore, the use of three dimensional space was used creatively to allow the audience to infer that this situation was in fact a dream.
Reference
Renee, V., 2016, 6 'Rules' for Good Cutting According to Oscar Winning Editor Walter Murch (Online)
Available at :
https://nofilmschool.com/2016/11/6-rules-good-cutting-according-oscar-winning-editor-walter-murch#:~:text=Walter%20Murch's%20Rule%20of%20Six&text=%22The%20ideal%20cut%20is%20one,of%20screen%2C%20and%203D%20space.&text=If%20you%20have%20to%20give,give%20up%20emotion%20before%20story.
Maio, A., 2019. The Rule of Six: How to Edit Effectively with Walter Murch's Eye Trace (Online)
Availalble at : https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/walter-murch-rule-of-six/
Murch, W., 1992. In the Blink of an Eye
The Godfather. 1972. (Film) Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Schindler's List. 1993. (Film) Directed by Steven Spielberg
Inception. 2010. (Film) Directed by Christopher Nolan
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