How skillful editing can help create the “oh fuck” moments in films
Film editing has been called “the invisible art” with surprising regularity, but it’s an art form nevertheless, as beautifully demonstrated in a new video from RocketJump Film School entitled “Editing: Creating The ‘OH F**K’ Moment.” For those who don’t have $40,000 or more to spend on actual film school, RocketJump’s YouTube tutorials are a ready, budget-conscious alternative. “Creating The ‘OH F**K’ Moment” is an eight-minute mini-class by director/editor Joey Scoma on the various ways editors can use wide shots, closeups, and cuts to provide the audience with necessary information, advance the story, or ratchet up the tension during a scene. Sometimes, less is more. Scoma contrasts 1961’s West Side Story and 2012’s Step Up Revolution to illustrate how holding on a wide shot during a group dance sequence, thus allowing the audience to choose where to look, may be more satisfying than using a lot of quick cuts that show them where to look. And when a film cuts to a closeup after holding on a wide shot for a while, as in Reservoir Dogs and Dr. Strangelove, it indicates to the audience that something dramatic has happened and that the balance of power within a scene has suddenly shifted. This is the “oh fuck” moment.