Research: Editing - Miss Begum

What is editing

Editing is the process of manipulating and rearranging video shots to create a good scene. Editing can be used in different ways depending on the scene you’re working on. For example an action scene will have fast paced editing and a talking scene will have slow editing.

Some Key terms

·         Straight cut: a cut from one moving shot to another this is used to keep the scene active and not keep the audience bored.

·         Montage: multiple shots to show a period of time passing

·         Shot reverse shot: shot from one person to another (commonly used in conversations).

·         Reaction shot: shot to show the facial reaction of a person, this is normally used when a close up or a medium close up is used in order to show the face of the character.

·         Slow editing: slow editing is when the scene slows down to emphasise the moment.

·         Fade to black: when the scene goes black then goes to another scene. This is sometimes used to show a bit of time passing or it will be at the same time but it goes to a different location with different characters.

·         Wipe: when one scene moves to the other without going black. This is normally used in sitcoms and comedies.

 Editing examples

In the shower scene of the movie psycho past paced editing is used when the stabber comes in and stabs the women to death. This is used in order to show that there are a lot of things happening at once and that it is hard to follow. This makes the audience have a physiological response to the scene as they could jump or scream from fear

Another example of editing is when reaction shot is used in the purge anarchy. This is used in order to show the fear of the character. This creates a psychological effect for the viewer and the feel pity for the character.

Conclusion

After completing my research I realised how important editing is to the thriller genre and how it’s used to create an effect on the audience. From using fast paced editing to show multiple things happening at once to using a fade to black in order to show scene changing. This will help me do the editing in my own thriller trailer.