CLIP ANALYSIS PAPER ASSIGNMENT
CLIPS FOR ANALYSIS （choose one）
 
A: I, Tonya – bunny to Jeff sequence
 
B: Perks of Being a Wallflower – Charlie’s crisis sequence
 
You will write about one of these clips, not the entire film, but you must watch the complete film for the clip you choose to analyze.
 
DON’T ： Don’t describe details about the story line，Do not tell the story of the clip or list actions. the audients of your paper also watched the film, so focus specifically on the editing! Please don’t analyze the characters and their motives
 
Your paper Must satisfy:

1. FILM CLIP EDITING ANALYSIS: Focus specifically on the editing within a clip from the class website, chosen from the list below, using the terms and concepts discussed in class.

 

2. Please describe in your paper the editing style and techniques, referencing specific shots and their juxtaposition, in relation to story and character, and the effect of these editing choices upon you, the audience.

 

3. Please write in standard essay format, with an introduction and a conclusion. This will help you tie in the meaning and effect of the editing choices, rather than just listing them.

 

4. Please use character names, not actors. Also, please be specific to the film you are analyzing.

 

5. Using your answers to the above questions as “research”( see below), please describe in your paper the editing style and technique in relation to these questions:

 
Why do you think the editing team chose to approach the scene in this way?
How do the choices affect our view of the characters and the conflicts?
How does it make us feel? Do we have an emotional or visceral reaction? How does the editing serve the story – i.e. the narrative intent?
 
 
Important！ Follow these steps
 
This is a personal analysis. Everything you write about should be found within the clip or the film from which it is taken, and its effect on you, the audience. It is not a research paper..
 
You can structure your paper following the sequential order of the clip or by linking types of editing/shots, or by contrasting the editing within different scenes. It partly depends upon which film clip you are analyzing, partly a matter of choice. If in doubt, work sequentially.
 
Editing is about choices made in post-production, after the film has been shot. It includes the progression of shots, what we see in the shots and how we transition from one shot to another.
 
It’s also a question of how information is revealed, what the audience knows when – any surprises in the clip? Misdirection? And most of all, it’s about how it makes you, the audience, feel – what is the effect of the editing?
 
Be sure to give references to specific shots and edits used, as well as the overall structure of the scene. Please use character names, not actors. Also, please be specific to the film you are analyzing.
 
Editing is all about the details. Close-ups generally show more emotion – but why are they used in this scene, and what is the emotion that you, the audience, are feeling when we cut to a specific CU?
 
You do not need to mention every shot, nor cover every part of the clip. Choose to write with specificity on the sequences that you find most intriguing and which clearly have strong editing choices, or to contrast specific choices in one scene with another.
 
Do not tell the story of the clip or list actions – i.e. don’t say “she comes into the room”, say something like “we follow__________ in a medium over-the-shoulder hand-held shot, experiencing her world in a form of jittery subjective POV, then cut to a MCU inside the room as she opens the door and enters, which feels as if we are inside waiting”. And you might want to say how that hand-held shot “feels” – why was it chosen, instead of a dolly shot?
 
Please don’t analyze the characters and their motives unless it’s tied into how they are revealed by the choice of shots. And there’s no need to discuss what’s not in the clip – don’t mention the 180-degree rule unless it’s broken, no need to write about dissolves if there aren’t any.
 
You can use I/me though it’s preferable to use we/us or the viewer/the audience. It also helps steer you away from making inappropriate value judgements – the greatest film, best editing etc.
 
Remember, this paper is to focus specifically on editing, with its primary emphasis on picture editing. Only write about sound or music if they are used in an unusual manner. Lighting, costumes, performance and color palettes are not editing choices, so please do not write about them.
 
 
 
SOME EDITING QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER FOR SCENE ANALYSIS
What shots are used – and why?
Does the scene use traditional continuity editing – moving in from wide shot to close ups?
Or is there more non-traditional coverage?
How many camera angles? Are they matched?
Does the camera move? Lens move? Camera Mount move? Subject move? Are there Moving Masters?
How do these movements feel, and what is the effect on you the audience?
Is there a subjective POV? Do we see through a character’s eyes?
Are there jump cuts? What does this tell us about the character?
Are there other types of transitions besides cuts? If so, why?
Is there intercutting between different locations? Different points in time?
What is the pacing of the edits? Does it vary within the scene?
Does the editing compress or stretch out time, and does this change within the scenes?
Are there flashbacks, or flash-forwards?  What is their effect on our view of the present?
Are there unusual changes in aspect ratios? Why?
Are there edits that take you completely by surprise?
 
 
 
Using your answers to the above questions as “research”, please describe in your paper the editing style and technique in relation to these questions:
 
Why do you think the editing team chose to approach the scene in this way?
How do the choices affect our view of the characters and the conflicts?
How does it make us feel? Do we have an emotional or visceral reaction? How does the editing serve the story – i.e. the narrative intent?