Research: Editing- Ms Begum

Editing is one of the most important features within the creation of a film, it is used to enhance the impact of a film and grab the audiences attention through their emotional responses. The editing within a trailer is used solely to give the audience an insight on what they will be watching and to set the atmosphere of the film. Furthermore editing is responsible for the way the audience feels during and after the film; for example: slow-paced editing may be used within a dramatic scene in order to calm down the atmosphere of the scene. Editing has a huge impact on a films atmosphere and the audiences response to the film. For example, where there is fast editing the audience may feel a sense of thrill, and where there is slow paced editing, the audience may feel empathy or relaxed depending on the scene.

Film Editing
-is used to put together two separate scenes to form a sequence or a full scene. For example the video below shows how easy it is to edit something.

Speed of editing
-Films are merged together at specific points depending on what the director wants to get out of the scene, this then determines the pace the film will travel at and also helps determine the mood/atmosphere of that particular scene.
The speed of the editing informs the audience of what kind of editing there is for example, fast pace editing determines the atmosphere which could be a chase scene.


Fade to black
-This is when one slide/shot moves into another one leaving a black filter in between both shots as they merge together. In the clip of the ending scene of the film Insidious we see the woman standing looking at the camera as she has discovered something, then her husband touches her on her shoulder and she turns around and screams. At this point the screen then fades to black, this in turn creates suspense among the audience as they feel a need to know what happens to the wife next. When there is a fade to black during a scene, it helps to create suspense among the audience as they don't know what will happen next or what will pop up on the screen.

                                               

Straight Cut
-This is when one shot moves into another without confusing the audience at all. This is used to help the audience follow the narrative easily. Also it prevents confusion as it is a subtle and simple change; this makes it easy to follow. When using straight cuts within a scene, it helps the audience to feel as though the film is real instead of thinking that the characters are all actors and the film is make believe.

                             


Wipe Cut-This is when two separate shots collide by sliding into one another. Most wipe cuts form as a shape as the two shots collide which is usually a long line that slides across the frame. When a wipe cut is used within a scene it can have many effects on the audience, for example they may feel that they are reading a comic as such, or they may get detached from the film; however the normal reaction is that the last scene leads on to another so the audience may feel that the scene they see after the wipe cut is leading on from the last.

Dissolve
This is when one shot disintegrates into another. This creates a smooth change between the two scenes without confusing the audience. When this is used within a scene the audience may feel as though it is showing where the character is at a different time of the day, for example in the scene below we see a character walking and then it dissolves and the character is seen walking up to a desk, from this the audience feel as though it is just cutting out the long walking scene showing him getting to the destination.

Reaction shots
-Any shot which uses a cutaway to move from the main scene in order to make the persons reactions to a previous shot the main subject.
Reaction shots allow the audience to see how a person reacts to something using their facial expressions or body language, without reaction shots a persons reaction towards something wouldn't be as effective. Within this trailer we see many reaction shots from the hulk in the film 'the Avengers'

 

Montage
a Montage is the speed of editing, the shots edited out are juxtaposed together to create excitement- This is usually featured within a trailer. When the audience see a montage, they get a sense of thrill and tension, however all these images/ scenes shown in a montage it doesn't confuse the audience.

180 Degree Rule
When a scene is filmed on either the left or the right side of a character(s) conversation. The camera cannot be placed on both sides as it would look as if the two people were facing the same direction which would confuse the audience. In this scene of Batman the Dark Knight we see the camera circling all three characters in the scene in order to follow the 180 degree rule without confusing the audience at all. Also by doing this in the scene it signifies the relationship between the three as if they were one.

  

Slow editing
is when different clips/shots are placed together at a slower pace, this is used to create suspense and capture action.

Fast editing
This is where clips are merged together at a fast pace, this is used to create suspense and thrill. This is most used within fighting scenes as it makes the fighting look more realistic and it keeps the audience intrigued in the scene.

Shot reverse shot
this is used when a conversation is taking place- one shot follows another very quickly, from this we are able to see the facial expressions of each character. This stops the audience from getting confused and they understand where each character stands within the conversation.

                                                                   

Jump Cut
A jump cut is a camera movement that is easily noticeable to the eye. For e.g. the shot below shows the official trailer of the film entitled Jumper. In this film the main character has the ability to jump almost to anywhere he pleases; however it isn't done by physically jumping high and landing, it is that the person is able to visualize himself being somewhere and then physically end up there in a matter of seconds.  Jump cuts can be used to tell the audience that two scenes link together in some way. 
        

                                                                     
Conclusion:
From this lesson i have learned about how to use different editing techniques and i have seen how they should look, in my own thriller i am planning to use a montage, fast editing and maybe the dissolve technique. Furthermore i plan to edit my thriller with adobe after effects, this will allow me to add in things such as a fade to black or a straight cut. When using these i know i will have to understand when and how to use these effectively. When creating my own thriller I plan to use the fade to black, a montage, reaction shot and fast editing. These will help me to create suspense, tension and thrill effectively among the audience.