Planning Editing

Introduction

Editing styles are important to include within a thriller film as they create shock, suspense and surprise. These are conventional to the thriller genre as they keep the audience engaged and also help to create enigmas. They also help the audience build a relationship with the characters as the editing styles help show the characters emotions so that the audience can relate.

The first editing style we will be using is the kuleshov shot. This will be used when the antagonist stabs the victim, however the audience don't see the murder making it a kuleshov shot. The audience will first see a shot of the victim screaming, then the antagonist holding the knife covered in blood and then back to the victim laying dead on the floor. This shows that she has been killed and it is obvious by there being blood everywhere. By using this shot, we can show the victims facial expressions which will be scared, worried and frightened. This is conventional to the thriller genre because it helps the audience build up a relationship with the victim as they feel sorry for her as she is only young and innocent. We can also show that she is peaceful once she has been killed. This tells the audience that she is in a safe place and she isn't scared anymore. This will build up tension for the audience as they don't know why the antagonist has killed her. This is conventional to the thriller genre as it creates an enigma keeping the audience engaged in the rest of the film. This will help the audience build up a relationship with the victim as they will feel sorry for her because they could see how much pain she went through during the stabbing. This is also conventional to the thriller genre because it shocks the audience as they don't expect the antagonist to actually kill her. The audience may have thought that he will only torture her then let her go. By having a shocked reaction from the audience, it means that they are questioning what has happened and why he actually killed her keeping them engaged in the film.

The second editing style that we will be using is the reaction shot. This will be used when the antagonist scrapes the knife along the wall then the camera turns onto the victim crying on the floor. This foreshadows that the knife is going to be the weapon used when he hurts her. This creates tension as it tells the audience that something bad is going to happen. It also shows the female victims facial expressions which are that she is frightened. This means that she doesn't know what he is going to do to her which helps the audience build up a relationship with her as they also think the same question and are worried for her safety. This is conventional to the thriller genre as it builds up suspense because no one knows what will happen next. The use of a reaction shot also tells the audience that he is out to hurt her and that she knows whats happening. This helps the the audience build up a relationship with the victim as they are scared for her which is conventional to the thriller genre.

Another editing style that we will be using is a fade out/fade in shot. This will be used when she gets knocked out and the camera fades out to black. Then the camera will fade back in to a black room where the antagonist has taken her and where he will end up killing her. This shows that she is unconscious and that the antagonist has hurt her. It also shows the audience that they have moved to a different location which the audience may think is abandoned as they don't expect the antagonist to take his victim somewhere obvious. This helps the audience build up a relationship with the victim as they are scared for what is going to happen to her as they know he has taken her somewhere she doesn't recognise. This is conventional to the thriller genre as the audience don't know what is going to happen next creating an enigma. By using this shot, it creates an enigma for the audience as they don't know whether she has died as soon as it fades to black. This is conventional to the thriller genre because it builds up suspense. Once they realise that she has woken up, it surprises the audience as they thought she had died. This will make the audience wonder if the antagonist actually wants to kill the victim, building up tension and keeping the audience engaged in the rest of the film which is conventional to the thriller genre.

The final editing style we will use is the timing shot. Slow editing will be used when the victim is walking through the alley looking at the photos hung up of her. By it being, it shows the audience that the victim has noticed something. This creates tension as the victim and the audience know something bad is going to happen keeping the audience engaged in the rest of the film which is conventional to the thriller genre. Then when the antagonist grabs her, it will speed up. This also shows that something bad is going to happen which helps the audience build a relationship with the victim as they sympathise for her. It also shows that it has become more intense and frightening for the audience to watch. This is conventional to the thriller genre as it builds up suspense by it suddenly becoming more dangerous. This means that the audience are questioning what is going to happen next which creates an enigma and keeps the audience engaged in the rest of the thriller. By it speeding up, it shows that the antagonist is there and he is about to hurt the victim which scares the audience.

Conclusion

I found this planning of editing styles useful as it helped me to understand where shock, surprise and suspense will be found in the thriller sequence. This planning of editing styles will help us create a conventional opening sequence as the editing styles we have decided to use create different responses from the audience. For example, the timing shot makes the audience wonder what is going to happen next keeping them engaged in the film.