Research: Editing Techniques in Psychological Thrillers

The genre of Ridley, I would class under psychological thriller, and with this comes certain codes and conventions that need to be met. Although it is usually my aim to try and distort as many "rules" as possible, one still needs to have a basic understanding.
A lot of psychological thriller require the audience to have a degree of suspense the entire was through, as though they are holding their breathe waiting for something to happen. It is the job of me and the editor to create this suspense.

Editing for suspense is a simple technique. It's about understanding what the audience wants to see, and then not giving it to them right away. If you were editing a movie in which a group of friends decide to spend the night in a haunted mansion, you wouldn't show the ghosts right away, you would build up to the moment of reveal.
-VIDEO EDITING TIP: BUILDING SUSPENSE [Last Accessed 03/06/14]
http://www.videomaker.com/videonews/2010/12/video-editing-tip-building-suspense
In terms of Ridley the suspense comes from what Ridley is going to do in the end; Make his own choices or continue to be bullied by Jeffrey. We can achieve the suspence by creating moments within the film that make it seem that Ridley is leaning one way or the other, only to snatch the moment back from the audience, and prolong the decision until the climactic point in the film.

I started to look at trailers that have been recut to be a different genre to analayse the importance of when to cut and how shots can be fit together to give an alternative interpretation. This was also a good method for exploring the importance of a good sound design.








Of course editing a trailer is different from editing a full movie, but the art is the same; Taking certain clips to display a certain story, the story that I as a director want the audience to see, feel and believe. It is up to me to decide If I want the audience to sympathise with the characters, to feel nothing for them, or to make them feel like they are an arms length away from the action and events.