Storytelling
Storytelling is a vital element in film making, it is the overriding part of the whole production which makes it the thing which needs the most attention, I think. Editing is said to be another way of storytelling a film, as you can change the narrative and play with the sequence as you wish.
The example, I will talk about is from the children's film 'Horrid Henry the Movie' which is about a young boy called Henry, otherwise known as 'horrid henry' who gets into mischief and ends up having to save his school. There are many times in the film where there is a use of direct address and Henry is talking to the audience, however I am going to be explaining using one example why it is an effective editing technique and the audience's benefit.
Firstly, when a character talks directly to the camera, this is rarely seen in films, perhaps more often in documentaries but not as much in films. This is because the whole purpose of a film is that it is not supposed to be interactive in that sense, and the characters are supposed to act in the story, not verbally tell it to us. Therefore, when using it, it has to be done pretty well for it to be effective, this example is good for direct address because of the films target audience and the characters.
I think the target audience for this film would probably be people between the ages of 7-25 , all races and ethnicity's and a socio economic of D's-B's. The fact that children are predominately the ones who will watch this type of movie means that by having a child directly address them, they can feel relatable and comfortable watching.
When Henry talks he is either asking questions, making statements or just having a conversation with the audience which to me is effective as it allows for the audience to feel welcome and interested, it is also an interactive way of watching something. This is effective also for storytelling because it changes the normal way of a film putting across a story to its audience, where in this case we have the normal way with characters acting and not looking into the camera mixed with the direct address which occurs often throughout this way the audience are kept engaged.
Engaging the viewer
This is another way of making your film stand out and gain viewers, it is important to engage your audience as much as possible to make sure that you don't lose their interest or attention. One way you could engage your viewer is by having a musical or series of songs, this is therefore useful because you can use quick cuts to cut to the beat. The example I will use is from the 2014 film 'Annie' which was a remake of the original, this is a film which includes many songs and the editing is done effectively to go with it. The techniques used in this film help to convey the story effectively to the viewer, and engage them. The way the viewers are engaged as a technique is done through using camera language, sound and lighting and not for getting the eat the film is cut and edited.
Development of drama in a film with editing is significant when showing for instance bad and good (conflict). The theorist Levi-Strauss, came up with the theory of 'Binary opposites' which means that every film needs a good and bad character in order for the audience to stay engaged. This means that the purpose of editing to develop drama is done to engage an audience through for instance having two opposite characters.
This is an example of development of drama, from the film, 'Scream 4' where at first the cuts are slow as the atmosphere is calm and the characters as relaxing. The cuts then speed up faster and faster as the climax is built. Many techniques are used in this scene, such as a point of view shot where it is corresponding with what the other character on the phone is saying. This cut helps build up the atmosphere and more importantly, allows the audience to feel as though they're in the room too and experiencing everything as the camera is acting as their eyes.
Relationship to Genre
A film genre is simply a category which the film is placed in according to the narrative/characters or generally what the film makes us feel/ think etc. For instance a horror genre in a film would make us feel frightened. The purpose of relating the genre to the film, can me done easily with editing. By this I mean, for example, if the film was an action film then we would expect the editing to be at pace , because there is a lot happening in an action sequence that holding still on one shot will take that sense of urge, this is why quick editing cuts in action movies get us as an audience excited.
Editing, as it has developed has changed the way in which it tells the story of the film, the clip below shows how a horror film is editing to relate to the genre.
Creating motivation can be done very effectively and successfully using many editing styles. Not only this but also lighting and sound is a key to create any specific emotion from your audience, this is good when trying to motivate them into doing something.
The example which best displays this seen in the film 'The Pursuit of Happiness'' where Will Smith is talking to his son (character not real life). The scene convey's many aesthetics which
Firstly, the audience feel emotions such as happiness through the music we hear which is quite calm and slow in pace, it reminds me a bit of resilience and feeling as though their is success somewhere for you. The character is portrayed as a caring father who watches over his child and looks out for him, guiding him to success. A father watching this may feel motivated because he can personally identify with the father character, also he may want to either improve his relationship with his child or start again. I think it is truly motivating in terms of the music and if the scene didn't have this element it would take away from the intended feeling the producers want from the audience.
An eye-line match is also used where the camera is at the same level as the Jaden Smith character
whilst he talks with his father and the camera is seen at the same level as the Will Smith. Through these high and low angel shots an eye-line match is created to show two things; the first being authority, this means that the camera is at a high angle to show the vulnerability of the child and how he has many years to come for which he needs the support and motivation from his father.
The low angle makes the father character look superior to the child where it an This editing technique is useful when trying to represent the character, in this instance the father character is represented as an aspiration person for the child because of this we feel motivated as well.
Combining shots into sequences
This technique is similar to shot variation in the sense that many shots are put into a sequence and together make up the scene. The example I will be looking at is this famous scene from the film 'No Country For Old Men', where the shots that are combined into the sequence make up 14 mins worth of footage. Firstly, at 0:06 we see a long shot showing all three characters, where two are in the far corner in the background and one is much closer to the screen showing more of him than the other two. Following this at 2:21 we see three medium close-ups of each character, one by one. This sets the context for what is about to happen, which works well as the audience are made aware of what may potentially happen next.
Creating pace
Creating pace through editing can sometimes be a challenge, but for some of the world's most successful films, this challenge seems to be overcome quite easily. The film 'Mission Impossible 2' shows this editing purpose being used effectively.
0:23 there are a total of 10 different shot types being used to convey a build up of plot and action. We can see from these first 23 seconds , that there is something which will happen, even though the characters didn't speak at all. An audience would find this interesting to watch as they would grow more excited, having experienced this build up through a number of fast pace 2-3 second shots.
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