Research: Editing (Miss B)

Editing

Films are joined together at certain points. The length of the shot determines the pace of the film, and helps to create a particular mood in which the audience responds to.

Trailers connect the audience to the film. They use a mixture of editing styles, techniques and ranges of speed to create appeal & appropriately advertise.

An edit is the cut between one shot and the next. The moods that edits create vary on the different styles and techniques used. For example, slow-paced editing is when the shots change at slow intervals. This can create tension and build up to a series of super fast edits which reflect a bizarre or unexpected event within the scene. An edit in slow-motion can cause a similar kind of effect. This is when a shot has been slowed down against time, making everything (obviously) appear extremely slow; likewise a shot can be sped up during action/fighting. Both could also be used for romance scenes, long conversation scenes and so forth. Other edits include:

• Straight cut | When one shot moves into another. This is a simple edits and avoids confusion within the audience.
• Fade to black | When one shot moves into another and there is a black filter in between.
• Wipe out | When the shot slides into another.
• Dissolve | When one shot disintegrates into another.
• Reaction shot | Any shot (often used as a cutaway) in which a subject reacts to a previous shot.
• Montage | Speed of editing in which the shots are quickly juxtaposed together to create excitement (or any other kind of extreme emotion).
• 180 degree rule | A 'pretend' line drawn between two or more actors. Shooting on the other side of the line will confuse the audience - if actors are facing each other, you cannot have both of the actors appearing on the left side.
• Shot reverse shot | Mostly used during fast conversation; one shot quickly follows another.
• Jump cut | A drastic camera movement that is noticeable to the eye, often described as jumps. 

http://youtu.be/LWxSBbBX4fs

In this scene of Scream, the woman is on the phone to an anonymous caller who is in fact the killer; at around 1:32 is an example of a straight cut, from her face looking outside to the camera directed outside, as if we as her looking out. (Point of view) the pace of the editing is not quite fast but not quite as slow as before - when she was in a calm conversation, which changed drastically. This in-the-middle speed of shots gives the audience time to think about what could happen in the next one, the tension being built up by the simple view of her pool, a massive contrast to what the audience knows is about to happen. In thrillers such as Scream, or any other slashers, events are highly predictable but sharp edits such as the straight cut keep the audience on edge nonetheless. 

Conclusion | Learning these edits are very helpful in my own filming. I think that all the different kinds mentioned here should play a part. Looking out for how these edits look in thriller videos also gives me an idea of how to perform them, such as which way to move the camera. The 180 degree rule is very important regardless of the plot or genre. Jump cuts seem really effective in thriller-specific films so I would include a few of those. I also need to pay attention to which shots should appear lesser than the others; a straight cut is normal and unnoticeable so can be used quite often, but a Fade To Black is significant and would disrupt the flow of the narrative if constantly seen. On the other hand, a straight cut shouldn't be over-used either because it might become boring and cause the audience to disengage with the characters.