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Rule of Six: Things Every Editor Should Know for a Great Cut: Walter Murch.

A highly respected force in the world of cinematic storytelling, he has pioneered numerous techniques in sound design and film editing that are still used today. He is the only person to ever win an Oscar for both Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing on the same film. But more important is the mindset he brings as a philosopher to these larges.

In his famous book, ‘In The Blink Of An Eye‘, he shares some of his insights on film editing and, more accurately, how the human brain reacts to moving images that are rearranged in time.

1. Emotion – 51%
2. Story – 23%
3. Rhythm – 10%
4. Eye-trace – 7%
5. Two-dimensional plane of screen – 5%
6. Three-dimensional space of action – 4%

"...top three things on the list–emotion, story, rhythm–are extremely tightly connected. The forces that bind them together are like the bonds between the protons and neutrons in the nucleus of the atom. Those are, by far, the tightest bonds and the forces connecting the lower three grow progressively weaker as you go down the list.
Most of the time you will be able to satisfy all six criteria: the three-dimensional space and the two-dimensional plane of the screen and the eye-trace, and the rhythm and story and emotion will all fall into place. And, of course, you should always aim for this, if possible–never accept less when more is available to you.
What I’m suggesting is a list of priorities. If you have to give up something, don’t ever give up emotion before story. Don’t give up story before rhythm, don’t give up rhythm before eye-trace, don’t give up eye-trace before planarity, and don’t give up planarity before spatial continuity."

Source: Soundsnap Blog