Walter Murch “Rule of Six” Hierarchy
Within Murch’s book In the blink of an eye: A perspective on film
editing he discusses something he calls the ‘Rule of Six‘. Six elements
to building the story within the edit, which he describes as a list of
priorities:
“What I’m suggesting is a list of priorities. If you have to give up
something, don’t ever give up emotion before story. Don’t give up
story before rhythm, don’t give up rhythm before eye-trace, don’t give
up eye-trace before planarity, and don’t give up planarity before
spatial continuity.”
These priorities can be used as a formative plan for your edit or a
guideline to follow that ensures your edit keeps your audience
invested in the film.
“The ideal cut is one that satisfies all the following six criteria at once.”
Within Murch’s book In the blink of an eye: A perspective on film
editing he discusses something he calls the ‘Rule of Six‘. Six elements
to building the story within the edit, which he describes as a list of
priorities:
“What I’m suggesting is a list of priorities. If you have to give up
something, don’t ever give up emotion before story. Don’t give up
story before rhythm, don’t give up rhythm before eye-trace, don’t give
up eye-trace before planarity, and don’t give up planarity before
spatial continuity.”
These priorities can be used as a formative plan for your edit or a
guideline to follow that ensures your edit keeps your audience
invested in the film.
“The ideal cut is one that satisfies all the following six criteria at once.”
