Editing Session 3

Apocalypse Now

During our third editing session, we covered 'Apocalypse Now' and the related documentary 'A Million Feet Of Film'.

'Apocalypse Now', is renowned for its achievement through the budget, artistic ambition, technical innovation and more. The amount of film that was printed rose to 1,250,000 feet, which accounts to 230 hours worth of footage. Given the film's length, this accounts to a massive 95 minutes worth of film for every minute shown on-screen.

The documentary we watched on 'Apocalypse Now', 'A Million Feet Of Film', featured all the common editing techniques that are highly effective.

Whenever the narrator/voice over/person being interviewed says something of interest of importance, the film cuts back to him talking on-screen, subconsciously telling the audience that we should be listening to what he/she has to say, and not focusing too much on the other imagery. The concept of discussing something and then showing it visually on-screen to the audience also occurs.

From the use of soundtrack/sound effects, the timing of the voice over and imagery all contribute to create a piece that maintains the audience's constant attention.

Hannah And Her Sisters

The film begins with the titles 'God she's beautiful...', the soundtrack jazzy, uplifting soundtrack continues to play and then we cut straight to a shot of the woman the titles appear to be talking about. Michael Cane (a recognisable voice amongst millions), then begins the voiceover/thought track that repeats the line 'God she's beautiful'... the camera remains stationary, but pans around the room as the unknown woman socialises with guests. The soundtrack that begins whilst the titles are rolling which then continues as the visuals unfold helps establish a pace for the audience.

Within a short amount of time, many characters are established and a large amount of information is channeled to the audience. The audience know the character's lifestyles, their jobs, their history, who's doing what, who is attracted to who, what personal problems they're having, as well as some of their many characteristics.

Michael Cane, performing the voice-over, at points appears to be having an argument with himself, it's as if he has an alter-ego, as like Gollum in 'The Lord Of The Rings'. However in this case, it comes across to the audience as humour and comedy.

Throughout the first minute of the film, the camera remains on
Leigh, as Michael continues to 'fantasise' over her. This use of
editing, allows the audience to build an emotional connection
with her.

"Stop it you idiot, she's your wife's sister. But, I can't help it, I'm consumed by her."

Michael then appears on-screen when he talks about himself almost swooning over her as she brushed past her in the corridor. By cutting to the pair, we further gain a connection/bond with the two characters.

Subtly, the non-diegetic soundtrack fades out and a diegetic "soundtrack" begins, as a man begins to play the piano. The sound continues and stands as an "atmos" that helps drive the narrative forward.

The introduction as a whole, with the sound, the actors on-screen, the hecticness of the scene, the voice-over etc all help make the audience feel as if they're there, as well as creating that vital attachment to the characters.