Editing controls the film's heartbeat. Fast cutting during action raises the audience's pulse; long, held shots in dramatic scenes slow it down. The shift between these rhythms creates the emotional dynamics of the viewing experience.

Edgar Wright cuts on beats of music or dialogue like a drummer, as in Hot Fuzz and Baby Driver. Terrence Malick's editors assemble films from hundreds of hours of footage into dreamlike flows. Both extremes prove that editing is a creative art, not a technical process.