Editing

Chapter 5 covers editing, paying particular attention on Average Shot Lengths (ASLs) and the influential role that the TV commercial has played in how they have decreased in Hollywood feature filmmaking. This chapter also explores the ways in which the TV commercial has approached cutting on camera movement, or, in not using any editing, letting a single image remain onscreen for the entire running time, a practice associated with 19th century cinema and reinvigorated for product sales. The chapter also examines the TV commercial’s ability to eschew standard Hollywood editing practices, opting for decidedly non-classical approaches, as in the exclusive use of close-ups to tell a story.