In studio week 3, we focused on editing.

We went on to watch clips from The Great Train Robbery from 1903, then The Assassination of Jesse James and we were asked what the differences between them were.
The stand-outs were obviously editing styles in the way a narrative was formed and captured.

The 1903 movie was shot straight on and captured the scene from start to finish without any cuts.
Cinematography was limited and characters weren’t identified as protagonists or heroins – they were ‘goodies’ and ‘badies’ shot from a length away.

The close up of Brad Pitt, teamed with the atmospheric smoke and lighting as he waited for the train lights to come to a halt amidst the forest was mesmerising.

The lighting was high in contrast and the track (pun intended) was smooth as it passed by him and focused on the headlights.

The readings ‘Blood in The Gutter’ played to the same tune as the lectorial.
We as editors make a decision to cut and edit parts of a whole together to create scenes and make an audience feel something, or not.

We are the puppet masters and if we pull the right strings and set up the right shots, we can give people a sense that something is coming, impending doom, or a happily ever after. Filmmakers realised the power of the mind long ago – then they realised the power they could have over the mind and therein lies one of the many parts of a whole successful movie – how creative is the film maker/director in making the audience feel something.