EDITING

COLLABORATION Blair Witch Project (1999) Camera close ups and handheld shots create a panicky, submersive feel which can be used during the scene where Ed kills his victim. succession of fast paced shots can disorientate the audience especially in action scenes The Ring (2002) Lighting lots of films are colour graded blue as blue is used for sadness and fear and the majority of horror films have elements of sadness behind them – Ed loses his sister at a young age. So perhaps when in his workshop can have blue-ish light which is adjusted to be stronger in editing. This can be contrasted to the bright hospital of the sterile therapy group. The Strangers (2008) Production Design/Director need to understand which props should be in the clip and what should be revealed later - need to have a full understanding of the director’s intentions for the script, what the audience are supposed to know and when

TECHNIQUES Timing is vital for a horror film as you have to create suspense but not hold too long otherwise the audience will get bored – it’s about finding the right balance. Example: the short horror film ‘Lights Out’ it may be amateur but gets the balance of timing right, you wait long enough till you think nothing will happen and then they shock you or you wait long enough you get more scared anticipating the jump. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adap4rzlM2I Extended un cut clips can cause lots of suspense for the viewer especially cutting it with shots of the characters fumbling with locking doors/escaping areas like in ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ when Sarah Michelle Gellar is escaping the fisherman. Knowing when to cut a horror film can be difficult concerning how to make it most effective. There is a theory proposed in Bobbie O’Steen’s book called Kinesthesis. When the audience watches a film their muscles copy the movements of the actors on the screen. This same thing can work for editors when cutting a film – watching what they’ve previously cut followed by a clip they’re unsure on can help them ‘sense’ where to cut.

understanding the INTENTIONS and the SUBTEXT – knowing what the director wants the audience to know and when TECHNICAL challenges concerning grading and finishing techniques and matching this to the lighting, editing with light CHALLENGES collaborating with sound to edit the sound with the video to make it most effective + technical issues causing suspense and tension accurately with the PACING of shots (long and quick) and cutting appropriately to shock the audience ‘‘the victim’s timing is so poor because the editor’s timing is so right’’ TIME CONSTRAINTS with the edit as the project is more adventurous than things in the past be careful not to lose the audience’s attention with too long cut scenes COLLABORATION with different areas as editing incorporates all the other roles

EMOTIONAL EDITING EXAMPLES CARRIE (1976) Editing for emotion first as specified by Walter Murch as the most important thing is very important in horror films and horror mainly works on the emotion of the characters and how to control the emotions of the audience. Continuity is not as important in horror films as it’s more emotionally based. To control the emotions the editor can use jump cuts to jolt the audience and give them a shock but cut during action to make the editing smoother if there are other things for the audience to focus on. EXAMPLES CARRIE (1976) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiPw2v02nE4 Carrie edits for emotion using a long sequence of Sue realising what her friends are about to do to Carrie, this is also shot in slow motion to really draw it out. At the end of the film there is the use of a long shot of Sue walking to Carrie’s burnt down house before using jump cuts to shock the audience as ‘Carrie’ grabs her arm.

PAN’S LABRYINTH (2006) Pan’s Labryinth makes use of building up tension by revealing the monster and leaving him motionless whilst Ofelia goes about her quest, the long shots coupled with the minimal sound create a tense atmosphere before she eats from the table and he begins to pursue her. The Strangers (2008) The Strangers uses a lot of background action that the characters don’t see but the audience do to help build up tension as the story revolves around three strangers who torment a young couple psychologically. In one particular scene there is a knock at the door which Liv Tyler’s character ignores before the audience are shown there is actually someone in the house with her standing in the shadows. This would need important dialogue between the director and the editor so the editor would know how long the director wanted the audience to know for/give them time to realise what they were seeing.