Editing: blog task

This scene of Finnick's death has a fast-paced edit that reflects and adds the adrenaline of the action happening. The jump cuts of the Mutts keep the viewers’ attention on edge as as the scenes progress the viewer doesn’t know what to look out for-this is also reflected in the characters actions and facial expressions. The scene consists of continuity editing so we see the series of events follow each other: for example, Katniss getting up after hearing a noise to the cautious walk down the sewer. The pace of the editing also follows the pace of the characters reactions, e.g. Peeta’s slow realisation that Katniss had left for somewhere uses a slow-paced edit. This creates anticipation for the audience as there is a gradual tension built. The pace of the fight scene, however, is quick in order to portray the characters quick thinking and reacting; there are a lot of jump cuts to perhaps show how the Mutts could catch the characters off guard, portraying the amount of danger they are in. It also adds a degree of urgency to their actions.

The cuts on action are used often in this scene, particularly when the characters had to fight or shoot the Mutts- every time a bullet or arrow was fired, the shot would cut to the subject being fired at instead of staying on the character, to perhaps show how fast the characters have to think and how powerful they are to be causing such riot in a matter of seconds. It is important in the fast-paced scenes that we see the action happen quickly because a common audience pleasure is the adrenaline: seeing a shot being fired and seeing the impact a few seconds after instead of immediately after affects the audience’s perception of the scene greatly.

There is also a use of cut-aways in the scene that add to the visual while the characters aren’t speaking: they almost tell the story without words. When the characters need to obtain a weapon, or kill a Mutt, they tend to not say because technically they don’t have the time to. The cut-aways help the audience to understand what the character is looking at or thinking about, or about to kill when the character doesn’t say with words. For example, when Katniss sees the Mutt on top of Peeta, she doesn’t say what she sees but the audience sees it on the screen when she looks up.

The director has also used some cross cuts briefly between the characters conversations, to establish who is talking to who. It also allows the audience to see the characters emotion while speaking as there are some close ups that allow us to read the characters expression of their face. This is useful for the audience because the length of time a shot a character’s face can determine whether they are angry, confused, contemplating, depending on the situation. It also adds a level of tension to the scene as again, the audience doesn’t know what to expect.

The director has frequently used whip-pans to show the fast-paced action and the speed at which they have to move, creating even more realism as it is as though the audience is there following the characters around. Because the Mutts are inhuman, the whip-pans also enhances the paranormal element of the film as the humans move at a regular and expected pace whereas the mutts can move much quicker- this is captured in the whip pans.

Finally, there are frequent uses of L-cuts in this scene when we hear shots being fired while the cut changes, or when we hear the Mutts approaching while the shots change from character to character, or more specifically when Finnick is about to fall and then the cut changes to him falling, all while hearing Katniss’s cries for him. When he finally falls into the water with the Mutts, we hear him yell while Katniss whispers to herself which is a powerful image to the audience as it shows that she has to make a decision while hearing her friend on the brink of death. This adds to the character and teaches the audience her values, while creating an emotional and gripping scene all the while.