Task Ten: Understanding Pace

Task Ten: Understanding Pace

Editors use the speed of editing to help determine the mood of what is taking place on screen.

Editors change the pace of editing to suit different genres, such as an action film will have fast editing and quick sharp scenes with shots changing frequently to make sure that the scenes look action packed. Scenes can vary from seconds to minutes, the time each scene lasts set the pace of editing.

The Bourne Ultimatum

The Bourne Ultimatum is a action film which uses a lot of fast and action packed scenes to interest the viewer and make it seem like a lot is happening on screen.

If an editor wanted to promote a relaxed mood, then the scenes will be generally quieter, longer and will not change (shots) as frequent as other genres. The Notebook below shows a scene on a boat that

The Notebook

Films do not need to have any editing at all, a film called Russian Ark was filmed in one take using a digital camera. The acting could not be cut, paused and the acting also needed split-second timing otherwise it would mess up the shot. A negative of this kind of film is that it is extremely difficult and time consuming.



A trailer for a film needs to pack in a lot of detail into a short amount of time, roughly averaging around 2-3 minutes. Due to having only 2-3 minutes to pack scenes from a film around 2 hours long, the editing will be extremely fast and is usually accompanied by fast pace music which also helps set the pace.

The Hunger Games Trailer

Psycho

The shower scene from Psycho is a great example of speed of editing, at the start of the clip, the scenes are very long and the build up is quite slow. The reason that it starts slow is to put emphasis on the main character which is the girl getting the shower. When the killer strikes, the scenes speed up and the shots are shot and sharp to also emphasize the action. Starting the scene slow is very effective as it builds up to something very intense which also puts the audience in suspense and to let them know something big is going to happen, it also creates a story which gives the audience emotion towards the girl and gives purpose.



To cross-cut is to edit together two sequences that the audience need to know are connected in some way. Something is happening at the same time in different locations. Cross-cutting is very effective as it lets the audience know that two things are happening at once, meaning that the two shots are linked together and can have a dramatic effect on the audience as cross-cutting can also let the audience know information that characters don't know.