Creating Meaning Through Editing

 A huge part of editing that occurs before the actual 'editing' even starts that is often overlooked is shot selection. When editing 'Lucid Elucidations', I am going to try my best to keep in mind the intended meaning the film is supposed to hold and how the camera angles are supposed to indicate what was going on, so I do not want to deviate much from showing the long shots and over the shoulder/tracking shots unless it makes sense or is necessary, as we want to be able to convey the message that Lionel is being watched and followed. I will only be really including those into the film while editing. Along with this, the whole title sequence is one long situation occurring, so I will need to make use of match on action shots as the scene needs to fluently flow from one shot to the next without jarring the viewer. I will use sound in various ways to also create meaning. In the beginning, we have decided to include music from the start up until the first jumpscare when Lionel encounters the dummy. The song we have decided to use is 'Psycho' by Lucas King, as it is a soft piano song which helps to serve many purposes in the beginning. For one, it is easing for the viewers to hear, which lowers their suspicion of anything occurring, but is also ominous and eerie because it is higher pitched and sounds peaceful at first, providing a contrast to the dark and unsettling setting.

Lucas King: 'Psycho'

  Along with the music, I am going to add musical stings when creepy things occur, both small and large. For example, I am going to add softer musical stings to emphasize realizations, rather than drawing fear, such as the part when Lionel will walk through the curtain where he sees the shadow through but nothing will be there. I will then add loud and shocking musical stings at the more intense actions, such as when Lionel is attacked at the end. This will add to the shock and scare factor and will be what the tension builds up to.

 I am not really going to add any special transitions or effects until the end, as I want to keep the realism factor high. Adding a transition would make it feel less real, and not to mention in a film where the whole thing is practically match on action shots, transitions would not be a good idea. At the end however, when Lionel is attacked, I want to add pauses in between the shots of him dropping the laptop, the laptop hitting the floor, and the screen shown close up. This will greatly emphasize the chaos and shock of the event, jarring the viewer and almost making it seem surreal, This will be paired with slow pacing all the way up until this point, with Lionel slowly exploring his surroundings and slowly building tension, and then this faced paced, hard hitting ending will happpen and I think that will make it so much better.