Speed Of Editing

Speed of Editing

The speed of editing can have a great impact on the mood that a film is trying to present. For example, if each shot is 3+seconds long, this is done to show character development and for the audience can learn about the characters and their ways of life. We learn about the characters characteristics and their personalities. On the other hand, if there are shots which are a second or maybe even less, they would be used to show fast paced action scenes as it shows the struggle of the characters that would be fighting. It is designed to give the audience the “on the edge of your seat” experience as everything is happening so quickly and the audience have to take it all in very quickly. 

Casino Royale Example

This scene starts off with a few long shots of the building which is designed to build the mood. These shots are pretty long in length and build the mood pretty well. The audience can tell that it is dark and that something doesn’t seem right. We also get shots of Bond which are edited slowly. This is designed so the audience can learn as much about Bond as possible. The audience do learn that he is a very calm and organized spy. He always seems to know what he is doing. Later on in this video, we see a flashback of Bond and a man fighting inside a bathroom. This scene is edited really fast because it shows fast paced action and shows the struggle of both characters. It is designed to put the audience on the edge of their seat and make them wonder about what is going to happen next. We can also tell that Bond can be very violent when needed and knows how to protect himself from potential attacks.

 

Russian Ark Example

 

This video is a trailer to the film “Russian Ark”. The extraordinary thing about this film is that it was shot using one steady camera using only one take. The film lasted 96 minutes and was filmed in one go using no editing at all. The whole film was shot displaying 33 rooms of the museum, which where all filled with over 2,000 actors and 3 orchestras. While this is a very good achievement to film an entire film in one go, the lack of editing in this film is a downfall as the mood stays the same throughout the film and nothing really makes it that amazing. Due to the lack of editing, some people would find this to be boring because of the lack of action.