Editing Film

Last week I analyzed a clip from the movie "Miracle" in terms of the effects created by the camera shots and the camera angles. This week I want to re-examine this same scene in terms of editing techniques. While these two lenses of analysis might appear to be covering the same topics, there is an important difference that seperates the two. When editing film one is selecting which camera shots and angles should be used in certain frames and what order these frames should be placed in to evoke certain reactions within the viewer. Therefore, by examining the editing techniques used in the clip that I selected, where team U.S.A. plays the Soviet hockey team for the first time, it is easy to see how the scene is able to create a tense and suspensful feeling that keeps the viewer on the edge of their seat.

The first major editing technique that stands out in this clip is the producer's decision to throw in a shot of a banner being unfurled at the game that says "Soviets, get the puck out of Afghanistan." By doing this the audience is reminded of the political tensions that existed between Soviet Russia and the U.S. during this period in history. As such, the viewer's disdain for the Soviet hockey team immediately rises. After this sign is shown, the producer uses another editing technique to keep the tensions high. The producer edits the film by following a shot of the U.S. players with a shot of the Soviet players. This is most evident when the centers for their respective teams are coming to take the opening face off. We first see the American center, and then we see the Soviet center, and then we go back to the American. This happens several times and the result is that the audience gets drawn into the center of the conflict that exists between these two teams. Shortly thereafter the audience is shown a shot of Herb Brooks and the Soviet head coach talking to their teams at the same time. This further intensifies the conflict as the viewer sees both teams making final preparations for the game and a potential victory.

The last major editing element of this clip is found after play has begun. The producer cuts and edits many different camera shots and angles together in order to provide the illusion of speed. At one instant the viewer is seeing the game from the perspective of the puck, and at the next instant the viewer is focused upon a big check in the corner. Over all of this action the sounds of sticks, skates, and a television broadcaster's voice are impossed and magnified through sound editing techniques. This puts the viewer right in the heart of the action significantly drumming up hose feelings of suspense, speed, and intensity that were previously mentioned.

In all, these various editing techniques and strategies allow the picture to come alive for the viewer. Without them the viewer would be distanced and relatively uninvolved with the action taking place. Instead of being a third person observer to the events that are dipicted, editing allows the viewer to be more like a first person participant in the story itself. For these reasons editing is a vitally important piece to any movie.