THE CUTTING EDGE

We watched a documentary about editing called ‘The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing’. This allowed us to get different ideas for our title sequence. The section of the documentary that we watched focused on a variety of scenes from the film ‘Terminator 2: Judgement Day’.

The diegetic sounds of the echoing of the footsteps and breathing is used to build tension and suspense because the audience match their breathing to that of the characters. A fast pace of edit using short fast duration of shots increases tension as the audience are trying to keep up with the fast action and change in shots. Whereas, long duration of shots keep the audience hanging and waiting for what is going to happen next which would result in the building of tension. Even though the film is not a thriller, it uses elements and techniques that would be typical of a thriller.

Lots of close up shots are used which allows the audience to see the fear on the characters face, this suggests that something bad is going to happen as it shows his reaction of events that are occurring or about to. It also means that the audience have a close proximity with the character and so this would be endearing for the audience as they may feel that they have made a connection with the character. Often characters that the audience grow an attachment to end up being killed and this takes them by surprise as they are not expecting it and so this often raises the tension as the audience don’t know who is going to be next.

Cross-cutting has been used to cut from character one to character two and then back to character one again. This suggests that character one is in danger and constantly reminds the audience that danger is closing in on the protagonist. Peaks and valleys is also used to build tension and suspense for the audience as they are left wondering what is going to happen to the protagonist. This is often done using short shot durations and a quick pace of editing as it suggest that it is a scene where lots of action is taking place. By doing this it raises the audience’s heartbeat and keeps them in suspense and builds tension, keeping them engaged.

This documentary also looks at a scene in the film ‘Silence of the Lambs’ where a mysterious male character follows a vulnerable woman in the pitch black. Point of view shots allow the audience to see from the character’s perspective and so this would help to build tension as the audience would feel as if they are in the character’s shoes and in their situation. Low key lighting has been used in order to distort the facial feature and to give a sense of anonymity. This creates a sense of mystery as you don’t see the character’s identity. The male character within the scene has night vision goggles.

A night mode effect has been used to suggest that the female protagonist can’t see and that her senses have been affected and so this builds tension as the audience want her to stay alive as they have formed a connection with the character. We see the female protagonist moving around the room using a pan. This is effective as the audience are able to see the fear through her different facial expressions. By using a pan it implies that someone is watching or following her and this create and builds tension as this appears to be sinister and obsessive behaviour. During the scene the audience are able to hear the diegetic sound of the woman breathing,

Her breathing is not at a steady beat and so this would suggest that she is scared. Because her breathing is not at a steady rate the audience are not able to match their breathing with the characters and so this creates tension as they would feel unnerved by the scene. Also by hearing her breathing we are able to put ourselves in her shoes and so this would build tension as we are feeling her anxiety.   


The use of close up shots means that the audience can connect with the character and feel as if they have a bond with them because they are in a close proximity with the protagonist. We also liked the use of the point of view shot as you are able to see through a character's eyes and step into their shoes. This title sequence has influence our production as we really liked the techniques used in this title sequence.