Research into editing styles

Editing is one of the most important parts of film making. It plays a big part in creating the surprise, shock and suspense that thrillers are known for. The clip I have analysed is from The Human Centipede, it shows a girl attempting to escape from the antagonist in a very suspenseful scene.

Shot Reverse Shot - This occurs near the start of the scene where the sequence cuts betweens the females facial expressions, it makes it obvious that they have both just woken up and shows how they share the same fear and are both just as confused. We see both characters squirming trying to escape and the audience can see how panicked they are. The audience sympathise with them and hope they are both able to escape. This is typical for a thriller as females are often in danger and the antagonist is usually male and presented as more powerful. Shot reverse shots are a common way to show which character feels like they are in control of the situation.

Reaction Shot - A reaction shot is used after one of the females gets injected with chemicals. We see her crying about wanting her mother. This shot is used to show how much pain she is in and the fact that she is being tortured. This makes the audience think about how horrible it must be to end up in that kind of situation and we sympathise with her, afterwards we see that the other female is trying to escape and the audience are in suspense and hope that the same thing doesn't happen to the second female. It becomes even more important that she escapes. Females attempting to escape from the antagonist is common in thriller films even though they rarely succeed in escaping. Reaction shots are a common way of showing how much pain and fear the antagonist is capable of causing.

The Timing of Shots is a very important part of editing. After one of the females escapes from the bed the editing becomes faster paced as she tries to run away. The faster pace of the shots allow the audience to feel the adrenaline she must be feeling as she tries desperately to escape, the audience share her fear and panic and hope she is able to get away. When she stops running and locks herself in a room the editing slows down again creating suspense. It is conventional for thriller films to use the timing of shots to control the pace of the film which allows them to stop it becoming boring and stale as well as allowing the film to go from slow, tension building scenes to fast paced adrenaline-inducing scenes.

After showing how scared she is inside the room we get a Jump Cut to the antagonist outside the room. This quick change is used to juxtapose the different characters body language and there is a large contrast between the woman inside who is trembling in fear to the antagonist who appears angry and menacing. This shows the audience how the antagonist is much more powerful than the female and makes the audience fear for her safety. This is conventional for thrillers as the more powerful they can make the antagonist appear the more the audience get invested in the film as they worry more for other characters and hope the villain can be stopped. 

My research will help me plan my own thriller as I have learnt how I can change the timing of shots to create either tension or adrenaline. I also learnt that jump cuts can be used to juxtapose the body language between several characters and I may be able to use this in my own thriller to make the antagonist appear more powerful.