Unit 1: A1: Technical Features (Camera, Sound, Editing)

Editing Techniques: City Of God

The on-going and frantic fast cut editing or jump cuts in the opening and beginning scenes which are typically found in films for example Atrocious B movies which want to show fast pace scenes or upbeat intensity. In the case of City of God, this is used to already capture the attention of the audience and already builds up that intrigue whilst also creating a intense atmosphere for instance, the scenes from the clip below, due its constant movement and consistency in hype and heart thumping movements which carry on for a while, it enables the Audience or viewers to feel obliged to have that urge within them to have to keep and whilst also ensuring that their focus is maintained so that they are able to piece a story together.

The chicken chase shown leaves in audience with not only moments of sweat and consistent heart rhythms depending on the level of emotion caused by wondering whether the chicken will be able to survive/escape from the gang or not as shown through the jump cuts between the gang and the hectic chicken chase. The roughness and rockiness of these edits may also denote the rough life in the ‘Favelas’ or Slums of Rio which is often unseen by the public eye as Brazil is usually shown by its good aspects however most important it may also portray or leave the following message to the audience that you have to chase or act for what you want in life in the same way that the gang chase the runaway chicken which is what they want.


Camera Language: Sherlock Homes

Sound techniques: Jaws (1975)

Diegetic sound effects in Jaws consist of people screaming, a child singing, the sound of the waves, a person calling at the dog and people splashing in the background, the diegetic sound in this film is as shown and all these forms shown in the clip allow the audience to be able to connect to the scene on a personal level due to the fact that everything which is hear by the characters is also heard by the audience but furthermore, the use of diegetic sound adds a sense of realism which is a use of gratification which not only allows us to escape our reality but also feel more at one with the film as we know and understand that the sounds are real and not made up therefore bring the scene to life much more but also bringing the film more closer to home in a sense.

In addition, the fact that diegetic sounds add a sense of realism is also essential in this scene and in this film due to the fact that they are not too fake or out of the ordinary and are average sounds which are natural to this setting for instance, in a pool setting, the audience would expect to hear people splashing in the pool or the sound of waves. This offers the audience a sense of identification as they are able to familiarise themselves with these surrounds as they may have probably been in similar settings or even simply the fact that they sounds are similar to sounds which can be acquired from the world they live in too.

On the other hand, there is also a touch of non-diegetic sound in the opening scene of Jaws which may also be classified as a score which is a background song or film music which is written specifically for the purposes of accompanying a film. The ‘Jaws’ theme tune is played, it is quite evident that this sound is not heard by the characters as if this was the case, they may have reacted and been inclined to get out of the water quickly. This in itself builds up tension as well as frustration as the audience know what’s going on due to the indication through the Score(Jaws theme tune) which may lead some to become frustrated as the characters actions at this point oppose the situation and often ignore or do not realise what is about to be thrown their way.