Editing a film is a matter of choosing which shots to include, which to put next to which, and what method to use to join the shots together. Much important work is done in the edit suite. The editing of a Film will determine whether or not the film is a success. There are two main sorts of editing:

Continuity (transparency) - continuous action shown in sequence. Hollywood movies tend to go for continuity editing. Actions flow smoothly from one frame to another, and the audience simply follow the dialogue. In contrast to this, the style employed by many art-house films is framed editing, where the audience are continually reminded that they are viewing an artificially created text. Jump cuts, sudden stoppages of sound, etc. are used to intrude upon the actual world. When shots are placed next to each other in a sequence the link between them is known as a transition. The simplest of these is a cut, (a straight splice from one section of film to another). There are many others - fades, dissolves, wipes, plus those offered by digital software.

Montage - a series of seemingly unrelated shots that the audience must work to connect. The director can create a mood or atmosphere by choosing certain shots in a certain order, to build a picture in our minds. We automatically link what is happening in one shot with what happens in those either side of it, as this is what happens in real life. Montage can be used effectively in propaganda, where the filmmaker wants the audience to believe in a certain idea or concept.