Post-Classical Editing/ MTV Style Editing

Post-Classical is a style of film editing which is evident in modern film editing. It is a style of editing made up of: shorter shot lengths, faster cuts between shots, and containing more jump shots and close-ups than classical editing styl that existed before the sixties. 

David Bordwell  has said since the 90s, US studios have entered a "post-classical" state of filmmaking. Although it's argued that it has changed cinema into an incoherent narrative. However, film maintains many of the classical principles of filmmaking. This style of filmmaking is often referred to as "MTV Style" editing. Since the 1930s, the average length of a shot in a film would be between 5 and 8s. In the 80s, double digit shot lengths literally didn't exist. For example, the film top gun had an average shot length of 3-4 seconds. Prior to 2006, however, mainly action movies were known for containing fast-cutting between loads of different shots. Michael Bay action films are excellent examples of this type of editing, eg. Armaggeddon.

The quick cuts from post-classical editing is said to have been influenced by music videos, in particularly MTV, leading to the "new" generation becoming totally accustomed to it. MTV is said to have influenced films of the next generation through its overuse of quick cuts involved in music videos and the rise of reality-TV. However, this is something not all filmmakers agree upon. Filmmaker Alexander Payne argues that MTV hadn't influenced the use of fast-cutting on the new generation of filmmakers. He uses the film The Wild Bunch as an example, as it's known for its usage of fast-cutting in action scenes.

However, it can't be denied that it has influenced the pace of editing and shot lengths in modern cinema. The films of director Edgar Wright can be used as paradigms. They all have extremely fast-paced scenes, used with lots of tight fast-cutting/quick cuts. These are not only employed in action scenes, but even in dialogue-y/conversation scenes. One could argue though, that this is simply his own auteur-style of film editing.

Filmmaker Joseph Kahn parodies the shrinking attention span of the audience and influence of MTV in his feature film "Detention". He parodies it through the character's quick-cut dialogue and the almost-AHD editing style adopted throughout the film. He emphasises this by throwing in over-the-top plot elements into it too.
,