As I discussed each example, I gave the time stamps for them.
For this blog, I analyzed a scene from No Good Deed, a thriller film directed by Sam Miller and written by Aimeé Lagos. The movie is about a woman who fights to survive after an escaped convict targets her in a pursuit of revenge. The scene that I analyzed is the final fight scene between the woman Terri, and the convict, Colin.
The cuts in this scene are made in accordance with continuity editing. All of them come together to create a seamless flow of events. They clearly tell the story and do not leave anything to audience interpretation.
To begin with, there are many shots that fit together sequentially. For example, the first shot of the scene is Colin looking for Terri in an empty room and the next logical shot is Terri hiding from Colin (0:00-0:07). In addition, in the next series of cuts, Terri stabs Colin, Colin elbows her, and she falls, letting go off the knife she had. The expected shots would show Terri and the knife on the floor, and that is exactly what the viewer sees (0:09-0:13). A second sequence of shots shows Colin pointing a gun at Terri, then in the next few shots Terri gets up and tackles him, and lastly there is a stand-alone shot of the gun falling under a table. The next thing the viewer expects to see is someone reaching for the gun; thus the next shot shows Terri reaching for the gun (0:14-0:36). Another sequence of shots first shows Colin choking Terri, next Terri looking over, and then a shot with keys on the floor. The viewer expects to see Terri do something with the keys and she does. She takes the keys and stabs Colin (0:36-0:44). Moreover, there are match action cuts as Terri attempts to tiptoe away from Colin. The shots vary between medium, wide, and close-up as she struggles to get away. The shots show the progression of action as Terri attempts to get away (1:23-1:29).
Continuity editing is additionally displayed through point of view shots. There are many point of view shots between Terri and Colin (0:15-0:23) as they fight. When two people are fighting, it is often helpful to see what is happening from both sides. These quick cuts between P.O.V. shots demonstrate the perspective as well as back and forth struggle between the two characters. Secondly, there are two specific point of view shots that display what happened as Terri shoots Colin until he falls out of the window. One shot is from the ground outside looking up at the window. The other shot is Terri’s point of view looking down out of the window at Colin. Both of these shots display that Colin fell out of the window a certain distance (2:02-2:07).
The content of the shots are all similar to each other; as they relate to a one-on-one fight scene between two characters. However, there was that one uniquely different shot where Terri’s daughter walks in as Colin is choking Terri on the floor. This shot was specifically placed there to prolong the rest of the scene. As Colin is distracted by the little girl, Terri kicks Colin, and the fight for her life begins again. Furthermore, in thriller films there are several scenes where escape seems impossible and viewers are on the edge of their seats. So, this was good timing. As the viewer anxiously waited for Terri to escape Colin’s grasp somehow, the shot with her daughter led to her get away (0:24-0:27).
In terms of composition, I noticed that the setting of this scene is a house. Consequently, many of the shots have furniture in them. The creators of the movie use this to their advantage. Many of the shots include the area where Terri is getting weapons to fight back. For example, after Terri falls to the floor in one shot, there is a shot of her on the floor next to a fireplace. Because the fireplace is in this shot, it makes sense that in the next few shots, she picks something up from the fireplace and hits Colin with it (1:03-1:11).
Overall, the timing, rhythm, and pace of the shots were rapid. This helps create suspense, tension, intensity, and a constant flow of events; which thrillers are known for.
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