Research Into Editing - Miss Georgiou

Film editing is part of the creative post production process of film making. The term film editing is derived from the traditional process of working with film, but now it increasingly involves the use of digital technology. The film editor works with the raw footage, selecting shots and combining them into sequences to create a finished motion picture. Editing in films is used to have many different effects such as increase tension or increase pace. I will analyse editing in a clip from 'The Human Centipede'.

In this clip the editing technique of a shot reverse shot is used, this is at the beginning when the girls are in need of help as they are tied to the bed. We see the camera cut to one of the girls face and then the shot reverse shot is used as it cuts to the other girls face to show her reaction to the situation. The result of this piece of editing is that it depicts to the audience how the character is feeling towards the situation, as they can see the emotion on their face, and this further advances the story. This piece of editing is often used in thriller films as it can strongly portray a sense of fear among the audience and therefore create tension.

Another editing technique used in this clip is slow timing of shots, this is used when the antagonist walks down the hallway in as he chases the victim. The slow timing shot used here builds suspense as the audience are anticipating the antagonist to find the victim and when he does not appear at first the audience feel relieved as they are led to believe the victim has escaped. But when the antagonist appears they once again fear for the victim, and relationships are therefore made as the audience want the victim to escape. Slow timing of shots is related to thriller films as they can help build suspense at times but also if the timing of shot is faster it can create action in scenes when an attack is taking place.

A reaction shot is another piece of editing used in this clip, this is when one of the girls escapes from the bed and the camera shows the antagonists reaction. This shot shows the audience how desperate the antagonist is to keep his victims hostage as a furious reaction is shown when one of the escapes. This reaction shot also reveals the antagonists intentions and shows hes not planning to let his hostages go. Reaction shots are used to portray to the audience a characters feelings to an event and usually implies an important event has taken place. 

Fast timing of shots is used when the victim escapes, the camera cuts from the character, to her arm getting cut, to her reaction and then to the antagonist at a quick pace. The effect of this is that it creates action and also builds a relationship between the victim and the audience as they can relate to the situation as fast shots have been used to create a sense of chaos. The fast shots also replicate the victims situation; her heart will be racing as she attempts an escape.