Editing Analysis Paper
Hunter Brown
Professor McLeoy
Writing Assignment #4
March 22, 2012
The editing style in the movie Reservoir Dogs by writer and director Quentin Tarantino is an example of a film going against the continuity editing style. When considering a movie to be using the continuity style the movie must consistent of a few editing techniques that are trying to envelope the audience into the story, and make them forget that they are watching a movie. Reservoir Dogs goes against continuity style through the use of long takes during dialogue, and the atemporal storyline. The movie being edited in non-sequential order is metaphorical for the bank robbery and how it quickly became disorganized. If the story had been told in sequential order than the film would have a different meaning. Editing the story out of order lends itself to a theme of the movie that people are not as they may seem.
The movie is pushed forward mainly through use of dialogue between characters, and during these conversations Tarantino uses several long takes with a stationary camera with a two or multiple shot. The scene where Mr. White and Mr. Pink are in the kitchen of an abandon warehouse can be used to illustrate this. Some shots within the scene have the characters in long shots, which allows the audience to see the characters full body and their performance. With the characters fully within the frame they can express their emotions, and at the same time the audience can see all of their frantic behavior such as trying several times to get a lighter to light or them pacing back and forth. The long shot establishes the scene and the long take creates a sense of tension because the characters uneasiness can easily be noticed. The dialogue also creates a sense of tension because the conversation between Mr. White and Mr. Pink is about how they think they have a rat inside the group that told the police about their robbery, and with a rat amongst their group they don’t know whom they can trust.
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Professor McLeoy
Writing Assignment #4
March 22, 2012
The editing style in the movie Reservoir Dogs by writer and director Quentin Tarantino is an example of a film going against the continuity editing style. When considering a movie to be using the continuity style the movie must consistent of a few editing techniques that are trying to envelope the audience into the story, and make them forget that they are watching a movie. Reservoir Dogs goes against continuity style through the use of long takes during dialogue, and the atemporal storyline. The movie being edited in non-sequential order is metaphorical for the bank robbery and how it quickly became disorganized. If the story had been told in sequential order than the film would have a different meaning. Editing the story out of order lends itself to a theme of the movie that people are not as they may seem.
The movie is pushed forward mainly through use of dialogue between characters, and during these conversations Tarantino uses several long takes with a stationary camera with a two or multiple shot. The scene where Mr. White and Mr. Pink are in the kitchen of an abandon warehouse can be used to illustrate this. Some shots within the scene have the characters in long shots, which allows the audience to see the characters full body and their performance. With the characters fully within the frame they can express their emotions, and at the same time the audience can see all of their frantic behavior such as trying several times to get a lighter to light or them pacing back and forth. The long shot establishes the scene and the long take creates a sense of tension because the characters uneasiness can easily be noticed. The dialogue also creates a sense of tension because the conversation between Mr. White and Mr. Pink is about how they think they have a rat inside the group that told the police about their robbery, and with a rat amongst their group they don’t know whom they can trust.
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