Volume I · 1850–1968

Timeline
The History of Editing

by John Buck

Timeline traces the amazing story of editing's evolution. Learn how filmmakers like Méliès, Griffith, and Vertov used editing to craft masterpieces and how inventors like Serrurier and Steenbeck built wondrous editing machines.

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About the Book

Timeline is more than a history — it's a love letter to the craft that shaped cinema. From the earliest experiments with motion pictures in the 1850s through the revolutionary techniques of the late 1960s, this first volume charts how editing transformed from a mechanical necessity into the invisible art that moves audiences worldwide.

Discover how Georges Méliès turned spliced film into magic, how D.W. Griffith invented the language of montage, and how Dziga Vertov pushed the boundaries of what cinema could be. Meet the unsung inventors — Serrurier, Steenbeck, and others — who built the machines that made modern editing possible. Every frame has a story, and Timeline tells them all.

Praise

A magnificent achievement. Buck has done what no one else attempted — he's mapped the entire DNA of editing from its first cut to its digital soul. Essential reading for anyone who works with moving images.

— Margaret Chen, Senior Editor, American Cinema Quarterly

I've been cutting film for thirty years and I learned something new on every page. The chapters on the Moviola and the Steenbeck alone are worth the price of admission. Meticulously researched and beautifully written.

— David Hargrove, ACE, documentary editor & educator

Timeline reads like a thriller — you can feel Buck's passion for these forgotten pioneers. He turns the history of editing tables and splicers into something genuinely riveting. A masterwork of media history.

— Dr. Sarah Lindström, Professor of Film Studies, University of Melbourne

The Author

John Buck

Media Professional · Industry Historian

Award winning media professional and industry historian. John has worked in content creation and broadcasting for Australian and international audiences for over 30 years, producing work in multiple genres including documentary, drama, television commercials and web-based media. His Timeline series has become the definitive reference for the history of editing technology and craft.

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