Planning Editing - Miss Georgiou

Planning Editing

Editing styles are important to include in a film as they can help to convey feelings of shock, surprise and suspense by allowing the audience to follow the narrative through coherent visuals while also making them jump at times by making them see something they didn't expect through something like a jump cut. This also helps to engage with the audience as they are shown things through editing that can aid regular cinematography and allow the shots to become quicker, to indicate a fast-paced sequence, or a kuleshov effect to allow the audience to make connections on their own. The editing also helps for the audience too build a relationship to the film as the editing can be used to show them more in-depth details about the narrative and characters that might not be able to be picked up on through the other micro-elements or dialogue heard.

We have decided to use a reaction shot to distract the audience from the plot twist we will use. This will be shown when the killer raises his weapon to attack the victim and the audience see a close up of the victims face as she looks surprised. This will tell the audience that the victim has been taken off guard by the killer, as he has been able to stay hidden from her, and so it appears that the killer has the upper hand and that the victim will not be able to overpower him due to her not expecting the attack. This also aids the plot twist as the audience are left thinking that the victim is weak yet at the end of the sequence it is revealed that she is the killer, taking the audience by surprise. This makes our thriller film conventional as the audience expect to see the killer take the victim by surprise when her guard is down, making it easier for the killer, while also having the victim look surprised due to the sudden attack and her unknowing of the event. This will create surprise for the audience as they do not expect the attack to be made in public and are unsure of when the killer is going to strike as this has not been revealed to the audience, while the audience have become to grow unsure as to whether he will attack or not as he has only been shown as stalking previously. The audience also begin to feel sympathy for the victim as she is unaware of the attack and has been taken by surprise which, coupled with the her not knowing about the attack, leaves her at a disadvantage which could end in her dying.

We have decided to use a kuleshov effect to introduce characters in a more interesting and engaging style. The audience will see this when the killer is planning out his killing and who he will be targeting, the audience see shots of the planning board and crossed out women and then a shot of a knife. This tells the audience that the man planning is the killer as they can assume the women that he is crossing out are people that he has murdered with the knife shown, even though the audience as not seen him kill anyone yet, which fuels the plot twist in that he plans to kill the victim who is actually the killer and the people he cross off are her targets, not his. This is conventional as the audience expect to be shown early in the narrative who the killer is and how he operates so the audience and victims can recognize who has been killed by him, while the audience can become more familiar with the killer and their history as a murderer. This creates shock in the audience when they see the knife as they are left wondering what these pictures of people mean and why he is crossing them out but when they are shown the knife all of sudden they are shocked to find out he is the killer and these people are his targets. This is also makes the audience dislike the killer as they find out he has killed many people that didn't deserve it while they are also made to feel curious as they are shown that he is a killer and is targeting the victim yet they do not know what he has planned for her as of yet.

We have decided to use a shot reverse shot to show a power balance between the killer and the victim. The audience will see this when the victim speaks to the killer at school when he is disguised in order to get closer to her, without her knowing he is the killer. This will show the audience a power balance as the victim and killer are able to speak face to face with neither having any clear dominance over the other, suggesting that when the killer comes to attack her, she will be able to beat him. This will make our thriller film conventional as the audience expect to see the killer and victim come face to face at some point and, after a fight, the victim should come out on top with the meeting of the two also being conventional as the audience expect to see the killer to be someone the victim knows either directly or indirectly which is revealed to the audience through the narrative of the film. This will create shock in the audience as they do not expect to see the killer and victim meet face-to-face due to the killer's desire to kill the victim and that it is a big risk to potentially expose his identity to her while also creating suspense as the audience don't know what the killer's actions will be at this point, whether he will kill the victim now or will leave it to later. This makes the audience see the victim as being inattentive as she can not see that the killer is someone she knows who is acting quite shifty, and that she is in a lot of danger just by being near him.

We have decided to use a montage to show the killer as targeting a specific person after killing others.  The audience will see various shots of the killer highlighting pictures of the victim, as well as crossed out pictures of other girls. This will tell the audience that he is an experienced killer and that the victim will have a hard time outsmarting and overpowering the killer as he is has experienced doing this and has killed other women, while also showing the killer has the advantage as he has being planning this attack and has chosen his target beforehand. This will make the sequence conventional as the audience expect to see an experienced killer that knows how to kill someone and dispose of the body so they are not caught, making it harder for the victim and police to catch up with the killer, while the audience also expect to see a central victim that is being targeted. This will create suspense in the audience as they want to know why the killer is crossing off people and circling one person and what it means, while also wanting to know who this person is and why she is so important to the killer. The audience can also see that the killer is organised and methodical as he has taken the time to plan out his actions which tells the audience that the victim will have a harder time overcoming the killer as he has planned out everything he needs to do and she will not expect him to come, while the police will not be able to track him easily due to his tracks being covered through his good planning skills.

By planning our editing styles we can make a consistent and enjoyable narrative as the audience are treated to a variety of different techniques that will help them to understand what is going on in the film. By using these editing styles the audience can understand more of what we want them to see through the use of subtle editing styles that they will not notice completely but will help to see what we see and what we want them to know about the narrative and characters of the film, like a shot reverse shot showing a power balance between the victim and the killer so that they begin to think that the victim can overpower the killer, hinting at the plot twist later on.