Walter Murch on Editing

Walter Murch's six rules for when to make an edit are based on emotion, story, rhythm, eye-trace, the two-dimensional plane of screen, and the three-dimensional space of action. Emotion deals with having a cut that is true to what the editor wants the viewer to feel, story ensures that the cut advances what's happening in the plot, and the rule of rhythm is based on cutting at a place that makes rhythmic sense. For the ones of lesser importance, eye-trace is essentially paying attention to how the cut affects the audience's focus, the two-dimensional plane of screen is based on the 180 degree rule and whether the axis is followed properly, and the three-dimensional space of action is when a cut stays true to physical and spatial relationships. In my opinion, cutting on emotion and story are so important because when not done properly, it's easily recognizable and distracts from the essence of the film. Also, a cut that doesn't pay attention to story could easily confuse the audience, as suddenly something happens that has no relation to what has been happening, and the viewer doesn't know what to make of it.