Editing, initially, never happened. Everything was filmed and it was just that. Until in 1895 when the Lumiere Brothers invented a Cinematographe, which is a device that recorded, captured and projected motion picture.
But onforth came Edwin S. Porter in 1901 who had the idea that films didn't have to be one long still and used footage to tell a story.
Through the use of storytelling in, a man named D.W. Griffiths made a film in 1908 called "For Love of Gold" which featured the first ever continuity cut when a scene had finished.
Griffiths also happened to be the man that marked the realisation that different camera angles and the pace of the editing can portray the mood and the story and that the film's story doesn't have to be solely dependant on the actors and their performance.
From here on, analogue editing was introduced, this was done on a machine called the Moviola
This was an editing table where you cut and reattached film, as everything was filmed on reels. The edits had to be precise as a muck up would determine reconsideration of a reshoot.
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Editing also varies in style. Bad editing is good editing in a way. People will be watching a bad film or a not a very well executed film for the fact that it has been edited that way, therefore engaging with the audience through poor editing.
Good editing is a mix between, being so good it's unnoticeable and being so good that it helps with the pacing, mood of the film and for bringing in the audience to the story that is being shown through editing.
Editing to withhold or provides information allows the audience to be more involved in the film. It makes the audience want to watch to either piece together the information that has been provided or find out the information that is being withheld to get the bigger picture of the story.
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From the Moviola as technology started getting better through time, cameras have been more adaptable to computers and computers and their software have became bigger and stronger. With the likes of Adobe Premiere Pro.
