Task Ten – Understanding Pace

In this task I will be explaining how pace of editing can be used to create a range of effects such as Engaging the viewer, Speed of Editing, Cross Cutting, Cutaways, Creating Pace and Development.

When it comes to the pace of editing, engaging the viewer is what it was made for. Obviously, every film needs to be able to tell a story in order to interest the audience. It is essential as the attention of a viewer must be captured during the film’s running time. Story-telling goes hand-in-hand with editing – if the edit does not contain pace of editing, then telling the story becomes difficult. Than the audience start to loss interest of the movie, which could course them to tell their friends or give a review of the movie, which audiences will read and not what the film. A way to make sure that the audience don’t loss hope in the movie, is by using pace editing techniques such as Speed of Editing, Cross Cutting and etc.

Speed of Editing

In a film each scene may last a matter of seconds or could continue for minutes but the length of each sequence establishes the pace of the film moving the action along. By using Speeding Editing the audience can determine the mood of what is taking place on screen. If the audience wants to feel anxiety and suspense then they would watch action movie, reason being is that the editing would be fast, with each scene lasting a number of seconds create a fast paste movement throughout the movie. An example of this would be the Bourne Ultimatum where everything is fast paste because of the Speed of Editing. If the audience wanted something with a relaxed mood, it would be a romantic comedy. The reason being is because the scenes last longer and change less frequently, creating a nice and smooth paste. An example of this would be the Sleepless in Seattle where everything is in fluctuating as the scenes change. Scenes at the beginning of the film must be long enough for us to be able to understand where we are and what is going on. As the film progresses it slow introduces the main character and scenes may become shorter as the editing cuts between telling two or more storyline as the same time.

Cross Cutting

Another technique in Pace of Editing is Cross cutting, it is used because it can create ranges of effects in editing. Also it is used to establish action occurring at the same time in two different locations. In a cross cut, the camera will cut away from one action to another action, which can suggest simultaneity of these two action but this is not always the case. An example of this would be in the movie “Inception”. In movie we see two action scenes happing at the same time, creating the effect of tension that something could go wrong as the camera switch between both scenes. This is all so used in horror movies to create tension for the characters. 

Cutaways

Another technique in Pace of Editing is Cutaways, it is used because it can reveal detail to the audience without detracting from the narrative or the action. The most common use of a cutaway shot in dramatic films is to adjust the pace of the main action to conceal the deletion of some unwanted part of the main shot, or to allow the joining of parts of two version of that shot. An example of cutaways would be in the movie Godfather. The cutaway is in the early part of the film, where Michael is telling Kay about his father’s relationship with singer Johnny Fontaine, It happens right after Michael says, “That’s a true story.”

Development Drama

The last technique in Pace of Editing is Development Drama. The way footage is edited can determine the intensity of the shots in a film where drama is key. When creating and developing drama, the films depends on a few things such as the camera shots. In drama films, they uses a lot of reaction shots, this is to signify how one or more characters act to a situation that has occurred. They also use long-winded shots as they want to build up tension and create a sense of danger by doing this. Developing drama all comes down to emotion and how the characters react and deal with the situation. An example of where drama is used and built up, is in a film called “The Lovely Bones”. The element of the film is murder, and we see the character go through an emotional roller coaster. To deepen their emotions, reactions shots are used throughout because it’s the torture of not knowing who the killed the girl in the film or what happened prior to this when she didn't come home. It’s the emotion and build up these events that therefore develop the drama.