Parallel Editing

Ariana Montagnino

Non-Linear Editing

Alex Bordino

17 February 2015

Parallel editing, or cross cutting, is when the scenes of a film cut back and forth to two different events in two different locations happening at the same time. This is an editing technique designed to relate two separate scenes and express continuity. This technique is evident in Edwin S. Porter’s The Great Train Robbery (1903), shown when the criminals are robbing the people on the train, it cuts to the little girl finding the man tied up in the train station, then back to the robbers, then to policemen being informed of the robbery happening. then back to the robbers, and then to the police on horses in search of the robbers, ultimately climaxing at the point where the police find the robbers and the two different scenes converge. These events are assumed to be at the same time because of the way the scenes are cut and stylized. 

This is also shown in the television show Fringe. In the Youtube clip linked below, it first shows two of the characters outside deciding if they should use an amber-like substance to limit damage from a parallel universe (ironic) inside of the building, and then cuts to the people who are inside of the building dealing with a grieving widow and the spirit of her dead husband, which is meant to show that both events are happening simultaneously. After the show cuts back to the people outside, it is as if little to no time has passed since their first scene, and they make their decision to not use the amber. The technique of parallel editing is very impactful to the flow of a story.