I’m a little behind when it comes to talking about the movies we’ve been watching. A few weeks ago we watched Enemy of the State. I was sick that day (as I was most of the week), so I attempted to watch it from home – on Netflix – between bouts of feeling ill.

I’ve always been a fan of action films, especially the post-apocalyptic kind, but this was an exception for me. Maybe it was my short attention span that particular day, but I found the film dull and repetitive and I barely finished it.

I also happened to still be sick the following day, during which we apparently discussed editing in relation to the film. I’m going to have to just try and think about this with what small amount of editing we learnt in year 12 Media.

In a lot of scenes quick cuts back and forth are used to heighten the pace of the film and to add tension. This is done several times in The Enemy of the State, particularly chase scenes and fight scenes. Cutting back and forth helps create a sense of urgency, where the audience have little time to settle on a shot/angle before it changes to the next.

The film also utilised establishing shots to demonstrate the surveillance of Will Smith’s character throughout. By using these long shots we’re privy to the POV of the people trying to catch Smith’s character. Even though I personally didn’t enjoy the film, I thought these two uses of editing were really integral.