Further Reading: Cut by Cut 2nd Edition by Gael Chandler

Part One - How To Approach The Footage
Chapter Seven - From Animation To Reality: Editing Different Genres.

This book is really up to date and looks at a number of popular films and TV shows as examples. This is actually quite refreshing because though some of the other books read as part of the reading list are inforamtive and interesting and reference some well known films. The odds that I have watched them in the last year or two are usually quite thin so I find myself having to think back or Google the synopsis as a reminder. With this book however, published in 2012 it's a lot easier for me to read aspects and put it together clearly with the scene, or cut they have in mind.

Page 197 starts the topic of Editing Comedy and this section starts off with the following;
Cutting comedy is similar to performing comedy: It's all in the timing. Sometimes you let the scene "play" (run as filmed): other times you shorten time by accelerating the action to earn the laughs.
This is something that I need to keep in mind when I start editing my comedy piece. Timing. When best to hold on the main conversationalist and when to switch to show the reaction shot. The tricky thing about comedy is that it is not universal. You could watch the same clip with a room full of people and only a third might laugh, whereas the other third might not find it funny at all, the last third not even understanding the joke in the first place. When I am editing the comedy piece it may just be simpler to edit it to my own comedic specifications because you can please them all.

This section talks a lot about the different styles of comedy filming and mostly editing, touch on a paragraph here and there about The Rule of Three, Comedy Styles Today, Multi Cam Editing and Single Cam Comedy to name but a few. Each kept the facts simple with an easy to understand example with the latest in TV (The Office, How I Me Your Mother)

The last word in the section ends on this note; If you can cut comedy, you can cut anything because you understand timing, characters, reaction shots and how to start, build, sustain, and end laughs and therefore scenes. (Page 204)
All of which is true as these are the staples necessities when it comes to editing Drama, Documentary and other genres. Editing comedy might be far from easy but it's a skill that once grasped will be beneficial throughout.


Chandler, G. 2012. Cut By Cut. 2nd Revised Edition. USA. Michael Wiese Productions.