Editing

Rationale

After shooting our film and gathering sound and special effects to accompany scenes, we had to put them together in an authentic way. So to gain an understanding of how to make our film seamlessly flow and look professional, we had to analyse and break down existing products. We looked at Cabin in the Woods, Insidious and Paranormal Activity.

Findings

We looked at several different aspects of editing:

• Sound and image relationship.
• Transitions.
• Titling.

We used our favourite of the trailers, Cabin in the Woods:

Sound and image relationship

In all trailers, the relationship between sound and image is extremely important. The sound must compliment the image and add to the audiences experience, and visa versa. We found Cabin in the Woods to have the perfect image and sound relationship. 

 At the beginning of the trailer the scenes are light and have an air of excitement/happiness.

The scenes to the left are accompanied by happy and upbeat music. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YuSg4mts9E)

This upbeat start is done purposefully. It's designed to present a shift in dynamics. The start is happy so that contrasts can be drawn between emotions and sound.

Because the scenes are depicted as 'happy' the music must agree for the images to make sense. We need to get this balance in our film to make a professional piece. 

The scenes to the left are showing a complete shift in dynamics to the previous. They're longer, slower and darker shots. The mise-en-scene has changed to something more fitting for a horror piece. A long with this the sound has also changed. It's changed to a slower more intense piece that compliments the scenes to build up the audiences anticipation. A lot of screeching and sharp noises make up the music score. If the happy music continued then the dark and eery depiction would have less impact on the audience and the trailer would be unsuccessful. 

The titling to the left (which will later be reviewed) is accompained nicely by another sound effect. The loud screeching and bang as a climax is placed exactly when the wording or action occurs. This technique is very effective in putting the audience on edge - something we're aiming to do. The fact that the bang only leads to writing or a fairly regular scene keeps them guessing. We'll try and utilise this technique to make our product as professional as possible.

Transitions

Transitions are a very important aspect of horror trailers. The way that scenes link together is very important in building up the films overall style and 'fear-factor' for the audience. Different genres have different styles of transitions. We have found that horror films generally use 'straight cuts' where scene 'A' is directly followed by scene 'B.' This allows the trailer to build momentum and create an intense piece - this technique is perfect for what we're trying to achieve.
The other main transition is 'fade.' This includes a fade in or a fade out. This technique is often used at the slower part of the trailer - often the beginning. Fading allows two scenes, perhaps completely differently in style, to be joined. It can also cover and even present a time shift; sometimes from day to night. As we're aiming for a slightly slower start to our trailer, but a shift from day to night, this technique could be perfect. 

The images to the left show a jump cut in the trailer of 'Cabin in the Woods.' 

The scenes to the left show a dissolve transition in the 'Cabin in the Woods' trailer. 

Titling
Throughout all trailers, some sort of titling occurs. Often these include quotes, tag lines, film names and release information. This allows for information to be delivered to the audience while continuing the style of the trailer. 'Cabin in the Woods' uses this technique perfectly. They use 4/5 different titling yet introduce them with bangs or screeching - this keeps the audience guessing. The fonts are in cohesion with one another and the style of the film - the same goes for colouring. This is a technique we're going to try and utilise.

The screenshots to the left show the different titling at use in the 'Cabin in the Woods' trailer.












Uses
The three editing techniques we have analysed have all contributed to make a professional looking trailer. We'll try and utilise all three. The jump cuts and transitions are helpful in joining shots and the titling is helpful in presented the films information. As well as the image and audio relationship all three make for a brilliant trailer and we'll try and use every technique.

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