Parallel editing (cross cutting) is the technique of
alternating two or more scenes that often happen simultaneously but in
different locations. If the scenes are simultaneous, they occasionally
culminate in a single place, where the relevant parties confront each other.
Film Historian’s Insight
Also known as cross cutting,
parallel editing gained prominence with Edwin S. Porter in his acclaimed movie
The Great Train Robbery (1903). In this early picture, cross cutting is used to
show what occurs in two different places but not much else. Though Porter
didn’t use the technique to its full potential, he was responsible for
introducing the concept to the American cinema, allowing others to build on it.
In The Lonedale Operator
(1911), D. W. Griffith further develops the technique by using parallel editing
to provoke suspense. This picture tells the story of a young girl who
substitutes her dad as a train station’s telegraph operator during payroll day.
When robbers try ransacking the place, the young girls locks herself in the
telegraph room, where she asks for help. Cross cutting shows the three relevant
parties to the plot: (1) the frightened girl, (2) the robbers trying to break
in, and (3) the approaching posse.
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