Monday, 20 January 2014

Editing styles in film

Editing in films

 Editing can change how a film is perceived, editing can make a scene feel very romantic and intimate or very fast paced and scary. The way a film is edited and change the feeling of the film. There are many different types of editing but these can bet categorised under two main styles, fast-paced editing and slow-paced editing. These two types of editing are the main ones used in the film industry.

Fast-paced editing

Fast paced editing tends to include shots which are no longer than 3/4 seconds, the effect the short clips can give can make a scene very tense or fast paced. This type of editing is generally used to show action between characters, for example it can be used to show a gun fight between a group of characters, or to show the speed that cars are going in a chase. This can make the audience be more engaged with the film as they are nervous for the characters.


This clip is from the film 'A good day to die', in this short scene all of the clips are no longer than 3 seconds, this gives the audience the effect that everything is happening very quickly and fast paced, the camera angle is constantly changing to show what is happening. The sound effects which go with the clip are also very loud and stand out from everything else. All of these effects make the scene very dramatic and captures the audiences attention as they don't want to miss anything. If this were edited differently then it could make the scene be perceived differently, for example if this was slow paced editing then this could make the film seem like no one is in a rush and that they weren't in danger which is not how the film is supposed to be.


This clip is from the film '2 fast 2 furious', this is the second film of the fast and furious franchise. In this scene we see Brian and Roman racing against other competitors in order to win a race so they can get a job. All of the shots in this scene are very short, around 3 seconds long and the camera angle is constantly changing so we can see where the action is happening. This gives the effect that the cars are going very fast and dangerously which engages the audience as they are always scared that something such as a car crash could happen. This engaging of the audience enhances their viewing experience which makes it better for them. If this scene were to be done with slow paced editing then it would make it a completely different scene, it would seem as though the cars were going very slowly and that they were not in a rush to get everywhere which would not be how the director would want it to be perceived.


slow paced editing

Slow paced editing usually consists of clips which are longer than 5 seconds, the shots tend to be very slow moving and fluid, nothing within the clips will be fast. The effect that this can have is to make the scene feel romantic or intimate, if the film is a comedy then timing is crucial so a simple difference in the editing time can be vital. Because the clips are slow paced it means the audience has a chance to see the characters emotions and see how they are feeling.


The clip above is from one of the most well-known films ever, titanic. In this scene we see Jack taking Rose to the front of the ship, from here he then tells her to trust him which she does and then they pretend they are flying. In this scene the clips are very prolonged and slow moving which makes it very romantic and intimate, this effect makes the audience engage with them and feel what they are feeling. Because the editing and clips are slow it gives the audience a chance to see how the characters are feeling, for example we can see that rose is happy and also enjoying her time with Jack. This clip can make the audience feel very emotional which shows how much of an impact editing can have. If this scene were to be done with fast editing then it could change it compeltely as it would make it seem like action packed.


In this clip from the film 'Love Actually' we see Mark go to Juliets door and tell her how he feels about her, he does this by holding boards with writing on showing how he feels, at the end Mark walks off but we see Juliet run after her. All of the clips in this scene are very long, and in almost every shot we get to see the characters facial expressions. This shows the audience how the characters are feeling and gives the audience empathy.















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