An EDL contains events, edits, and entries. An event is a complete element in the EDL such as a shot, dissolve, or wipe. An edit is an individual component that makes up an event, such as an outgoing shot or an incoming shot. An entry is an individual value for any variable in the edit, such as dissolve length, Source In, or Speed.

Every event has a different event number. Some events, such as dissolves and wipes, consist of two edits. The two edits in a dissolve (outgoing and incoming shots) have the same event number.