research into editing styles

Research into editing styles.

I will be discussing the editing styles used in the thriller genre. I have chosen to analyse The Orphan- Esther’s death. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDWTQajOiuw. I have chosen to analyse this scene as the editing styles are important in making it as intense a scene as it is. 

The first editing style is a montage, this editing style is used as the fight in the scene starts, and it puts shots together very quickly. This use of a montage builds up suspense and excitement for the audience. The quick editing styles as the character Esther runs over to attack the other character, the quick editing styles help build a relationship with the characters as you can see in detail what is happening, and what relationships the characters have. This style is effective in creating excitement amongst the audience; this style of editing is relevant for the thriller genre because thriller films rely on suspense and excitement for the film to be enjoyable. That is also why I feel this style of editing is used.

A shot reverse shot is used in this scene after the mum comes out of the frozen lake and the girl jumps up and holds onto her, this shot shows the girls face while she is speaking, then it cuts quickly to the mum and then cuts to the little girl who is watching while standing up. This shot is good as it builds anticipation and suspense for the scene and the audience feel excited after the intense fight scene and want to see what will happen to the mum. I think this editing style is used to show the emotions of the three characters in the scene and to show the audience what the situation is and what the relationship between the characters is at this point. The editing style is effective at creating suspense and excitement in the scene. This editing style is relevant in the thriller genre as the quick shots of the characters give the audience enough of an idea of what is happening in the scene and the relationships of the characters, which is important in the thriller genre as suspense is helped if the audience know what the relationship with the characters is like.

The editing style of linking shots is used when the mum is under water, the linking of shots show her under the water then they quickly jump to the trying to break the ice from under the water and when the mum get out of the lake. This relates well to the thriller genre as it builds up suspense in the scene to see if the women will be able to get out of the water, or if see will drown. This use of editing styles helps build the relationship with the characters for the audience as they want her to survive and not drown under the ice. I feel the linking of shots is used because they help build the suspense for the audience and make the audience more engaged, which is typical of the thriller genre as the suspense is the focus for the films.

The kuleshov effect is used to give a meaning that the trouble with the girl has ended and that she was killed. The audience can see this third meaning form the two shots of the women kicking the girl in the face and the girl not moving and sinking into the bottom of the lake, the final shot is of the girl staring lifelessly into the camera and the women and her daughter walking away. I feel this editing style is used to make the audience decide if the girl is dead or not, but the final shot does make it quite clear, I feel the editing style is also used to make the audience glad that the girl could have been killed so she doesn’t try to kill the other characters any longer. This is relevant to the thriller genre as the editing style makes the audience involved in the scene as they are not fully shown what the outcome is but they can decide if it is the end, which is a convention of the thriller genre.

Summary.
Overall this clip has given me inspiration of what different types of editing styles would be effective in my  thriller film and how to use the editing styles to create more suspense in the thriller film. These types of editing are very effective in thriller films as they effectively and simply create suspense and they are used to effect the audience in many ways. Each editing style does a specific job that creates a relationship with the characters and the audience.