Research into Editing styles-Miss Georgiou

20-09-13
Vasil Nikolov
Research into Editing

Film editing is part of the process of film making. The term film editing arrives from the process of working with film and involves the use of digital technology to improve the film. Film editing is often referred to as the "invisible art" because when it is well-practised, the viewer can become so engaged, that he or she is not even aware of the editor's work. 

The Film clip, which I have chosen to support my explanations towards  editing techniques is a part of "the Shining".

The first scene in the clip is called a Straight cut. A straight cut has a change of shot from one viewpoint or location to another, this may be done to change the scene. This is why the picture moves from the above To the one below:

Using a straight cut, the director is trying to involve the audience into following where the next event will happen and how it will be implemented. In this case we see how the camera moves from the walking Jack Nicholson holding an axe to a scared woman, trying to run away through the window. This type of editing scene is conventional for a thriller movie as the producer is trying to show to the audience, the next place where the event will evolve.

The next Edit technique is a Shot reverse shot. In this type of shots, the conversation is taking place and it is when one shot quickly follows another. Again for example, the conversation between the woman and her son quickly follows the ramblings of the crazy J.N. In thrillers, it is normal to have similar edit techniques in order to keep their audiences under suspense and create more unsteady images.

Another interesting technique is the Reaction shot. It is counted as a classical thriller technique in which a subject reacts to a previous shot. In the movie, the main heroine, reacts to the hits on the locked door by the hits of the axe, held by J.N. This shows to the audience that the heroine is expressing feelings of fear and that the audience would feel sorry for her as they know that she would sooner or later be killed. This is conventional to a thriller movies as the camera technique emphasises to the feeling 

The next camera editing technique is called a Jump cut. A Jump cut is when the film suddenly focuses on something (an object). In this case, the camera zooms in on the knife, which was located in the sink. The audience would be able to feel excited as they would also be able to share the fear and thinking of the heroine. This is a normal edit technique for the thriller movies as it usually shows the weapons used by the victim/killer.

One of the most important movie technique is the 180 degree rule. When a scene is being shot, the scene has to be shaped in a box. From this box one of the 4 corners is imaginary out of which camera`s one of the walls. This way the audience has the perfect view of the entire situation. 

My final point is that the film shows  the following technique, known as a Timing of shots. This particular technique is created to either slow down or speed up the shot in order to create suspense or add emotional impact. The example is when J.N. started to cut down the door. The audience would freak out as they see J.N tearing down the door at an interestingly different speed. This would be implemented in order to  This technique is usual for a Thriller movie as it would add suspense to the shot.