HOW TO BEGIN YOUR EDIT
So up until this point, we have only discussed things that come into play later on in your edit. But what about the beginning? How do you start your video off in a way that draws the viewer in while giving them enough context to kind of figure out what is going on? This is where the theory of deductive and inductive openings comes in really handy.
DEDUCTIVE OPENINGS
Deductive openings are more classic and more traditional in cinema. They were born out of the fact that when motion pictures were originally being produced back in the day, viewers were not as visually literate as we are now because of the amount of visual media that we consume on a daily basis. Therefore, these original viewers had to be navigated through a space very carefully in order to get the context that they needed before they landed up very close to what was going on in a scene.
As a case study for a deductive opening, we’re going to look at the opening of a film called Hunt for the Wilderpeople, an amazing piece of cinema from director Taika Waititi.
The opening sequence of this film starts with this expansive, soaring drone shot, capturing the wilderness. It’s incredibly appropriate in this particular film, considering the relationship between the people in the movie to this vast open expanse of outdoors. It then cuts to a closer shot of a car driving along the road before moving in for these very intimate close-ups that examine what is going on inside the car. They use these to introduce the characters to us that are gonna be key players in this movie.
INDUCTIVE OPENINGS
Inductive openings are a slightly more modern addition to cinema because we are visually literate enough these days to start with a close-up and then gradually move out to a wide shot that reveals that context. They can also be a little bit harder to pull off because your viewer needs to be navigated quite carefully through that space.
As a case study for this type of opening, let’s look at this film called Brick, crafted by director Rian Johnson. Brick fades up to reveal the main character’s feet in a close-up and then transitions to another close-up of his face. We can see from these shots that he’s obviously looking at something quite intently, but we don’t know what it is. That’s one of the reasons that an inductive opening is so effective. It has the sense of mystery and allure that kind of just pulls you in because we don’t have that full context yet. It’s only when we smash cut to that wide shot that we actually see what our main character is looking at, which in this case happens to be the lifeless body of his ex-girlfriend.
Hopefully, after looking at these two examples of a deductive and an inductive opening, you have a better idea of what they are and when they would be appropriate to use in a given video edit.
While it is true that video editing is a technical vocation, editing itself is actually less about tools and more about story. In order to become a more intentional editor, you need to start thinking critically about your shots, their order, when you choose to cut and other factors that impact your storytelling.