Editing Analysis

Media Editing Analysis: The Strangers

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrCZ-X66KKQ

Editing helps to create pace for the scene, add to the suspense and create an illusion of danger even if there isn't any.

The first editing point that I looked at was the slow editing that is being used at the beginning of the clip. We see the main female character Kristen, walk slowly to the door to see who is knocking. The slow editing helps to show how hesitant she is to go to check the door and shows her fear of the unknown person behind it. This is a common convention for a female in a thriller movie because they are normally seen as the weaker gender and are usually the victims.

Kristen looking out of the window

Kristen locking the door

After the slow editing, I analysed a reaction shot, which happens after Kristen locks the door. After locking the door, she moves away from it and then decides to go look out the window to see if the person at the door had gone. This is showing the audience that even though Kristen is hesitant and scared whilst walking up to the window, she is still intrigued and feels the need to make sure that they have gone. This is conventional because the victim will always try to check that everything is ok to reassure themselves everything is ok, which in turn helps the audience connect with the victim. This is because the audience will feel pity for the victim and will be hoping that the person has disappeared, not just to make everything good for the victim but to also give themselves a breather from the many climaxes that you would expect from a thriller movie.

Kristen looking at the door

Kristen trying to fix the smoke alarm

A linking shot was the last shot that I looked at. We see this happen through most of the clip as whatever Kristen does, it all links back to the door and who is outside. Through every action she does, the audience will get reminded by the door, from a sound of the person knocking or from Kristen turning towards it and the audience getting an image of it. This keeps the audience’s attention on the door and creates a focus around it. In this clip, the door is a representation of the fear that Kristen has, which makes the linking shot a conventional one. You would expect a thriller movie to have a heavy focus on fear and they are using the door to channel the fear of the unknown into the audience. Another conventional part of this clip, is that we see the fear from Kristen for whoever is behind the door. Her fear has taken over her so much that she can't even complete the task of turning the smoke alarm off without getting scared and turning to the door once again. This shows that she is the weaker character and this can cause the audience to have empathy for Kristen. They can see that she is scared and as she is the weak female character, they would expect that she is going to get hurt in some way. This can create a connection between the audience and Kristen, which is very conventional as in most thriller films, the audience will connect with the females victims more than anyone else in this genre of films.

From my analysis of ‘The Strangers’ clip, I have learnt that the way a film is edited can have a massive impact on the whole scene. It can create a sense of danger or safety, which can help to trick the audience and this causes the climaxes to be even scarier and thriller like. It also helps the audience connect/disconnect with the characters and helps us understand the characters feeling. This has helped me in my decision of what style of editing I can use so that my own thriller clip will fit into the genre more.