Thriller Genre: Editing

All films have a form of post filming editing that creates a convention of the genre.
Thriller genre films tend to use this to create odd or quick actions that would gain an audiences attention and grip them further into scenes.

One of these is Jump cuts.

Jump Cuts

A jump cut is described as a transition between shots that breaks a continuity or of natural motion. These jump cuts are used to create a un natural break between shots that allows the audiences view to be distorted or convey action within the scenes. According to some sources, this can also be sued to create a visual of an audiences mental state or show what looks like a supernatural phenomena. If a jump cuts is used to above a person and shows  close ups, it con convey a characters weakness within the scene or can be shown to convey strong emotions. when example of jump cuts can be seen in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"


Not just the use of jump cuts, but thriller films like to make the use of graphic matches, match on actions, and parallel editing.

Graphic match
A Graphic match is an important technique within the history of thriller film, used many a time by Alfred Hitchcock in films such as "Psycho" it has led to being a very classic and yet not so commonly used feature.
Graphic matches are used to connect two points in time and space, this thus links two scenes together, which may be unrelated, this provides for a smother transition between scenes by linking two items or objects of similar size, textures and looks. This is most famously done within the Shower scene in "Psycho".


Match on Actions
Match on actions are used in all genre types, these are used to help continuity such as opening a door and passing through it. If a film does not contain this, the audience can be disorientated and distracted. The use of this match on action is more specifically used in certain scenes to build up to action as films tend to keep on focus of each individual move that an actor does, this helps to supply a slow build up of tension and suspense that will be supplied via the thriller format. This type of match on action can be seen in the short "Dr Who" clip below

Parallel Editing
There is a more common trope to use parallel editing within thrillers, this is a technique in which two or more characters are shown doing something at the same time in different spatial locations, this usually signifies that each others actions have an importance to each other. this could be of a team in an action thriller or even that of antagonists and protagonists, where we as a viewer get a third person view of them both showing us that they do not know the impact of each others actions that we will get an insight into.