Editing

Stranger Analysis- Editing

 

The way a film is edited is very important to the conventions of a film. Using certain editing techniques in thrillers allows the audience to feel suspense and to really engage in the film. Every decision made within the editing process has a dramamtic impact on the look and feel of a film. The editing techniques can speed up the narrative, making the film fast paced and exciting, or slow it down dramatically to create suspense and tension.

The first edit the audience sees in the clip is slow editing. This is where the clips are juxtaposed together at a slower pace, which creates suspense and tension. In the clip, the female character is walking towards the door very slowly and hesitantly. Her hesitance shows she's frightened and apprehensive about opening the door, which in turn makes the audience apprehensive as they too wonder who or what could be behind the boor.  This is conventional to a thriller because the female character is scared and weak. This is very convnetional to thriller's as female's are typically viewed as weaker and more vulnerable than men, so the audience would instantly feel sympathy and fear for the character, consequently causing the audience to form a bond with her, which makes them feel more enaged in the film. Another convention of this clip would be the fact that the danger is unknown, which creates fear and an enigma, which builds up the tension and suspense within the film, casuing the audience to feel on edge and more involved.

Another editing technique used was the reaction shot. This is where a subject reacts to a previous shot. In the clip, the character locks the door, walks away, and then decides to look out of the window. This shows her reacting to the previous shot of the knocking on the door. Her reaction shows she quickly became worried and scared and feels the need to check to see if she really is alone. This gives the audience a feeling that’s something bad is going to happen, leading the aduience into feeling a sense of foreboding. This is conventional to a thriller because it builds suspense, fear and creates an enigma, causing the audience to feel more engaged in the film as they wonder about the fate of the character and fear the potential dangers.

The last editing technique I analysed from this clip was the linking shot. This is where a number of shots are linked together to create emotional impact. The audience sees the character, then the door, then the character again. This shows that there's a link between the character and what's behind the door. Due to the fact that what's behind the door is unknown, the character and audience alike cannot tell how much danger the character is in. The creates tension and fear and builds the anxiety of the audience. Everything the character does links back to the door. This is conventional to a thriller film because the constant reference to the door shoes the audience that the door, or rather who or what is behind it, is an important object in the film and it also builds the audience fear of what's behind the door. This fear and suspense is something that an audience would expect to feel and see in a thriller film.
 

Overall, through analysing this particular clip, I have learned the how important editing is in thriller films. Without these subtle edits, the audience would have a harder time engaging in the films they would not know when to feel tense and scared: the editing helps guide the audience’s feelings and emotions towards the film and characters. My analysis shows that without editing, the thriller would not be quite as suspenseful and tense.

URL of the clip I used: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWslT_EqKrc