Editing Analysis: Natural Born Killers

FILMP/MEDP 160

MIRANDA/Lucas

Spring 2010

BLOG POST #2: Editing Analysis

The editing in the movie Natural Born Killers(1994) is by far some of the coolest, mind boggling, and entreating editing I have seen in my

The editing in the movie Natural Born Killers(1994) is by far some of the coolest, mind boggling, and intriguing editing I have seen in my lifetime. I don't watch a lot of movies and although I am about 16 years late in seeing this movie I loved it! In my opinion the entire movie is unique, but the editing is what makes this movie something viewers will never forget. I think the editors did an excellent job displaying continuity through parallel editing, shot selections, shot angles and montage. I can talk about the entire movie for hours and I could build the argument that this movie beholds a little of each editing technique such as montage (using flashbacks of Mallary Knox '[Juliette Lewis] childhood for example), continuity, impressionistic (the continuous use of random flashes of demonistic images within scenes, and the way the editors toy around with the colors of shots), and also a verbally-driven style documentary approach (the reporter Wayne Gale [Robert Downing Jr.] who is broadcasting a live interview of the prison riot scene), but for now Im only going to focus on the prison riot scene in the movie, the goriest scene of them all!

The scene starts off when the interview with Mickey Knox comes to a break and the prisoners begin rioting. The scene consists of low angles and high angles, wide shots, close ups, extreme close ups of Mickey, the warden, and the prison guards. Than after the warden receives news of the riot we are taken to a quick preview of the riot that is occurring and then taken back to the place where Mickey Knox is being interviewed as he begins to toy with the prison guards. As Mickey begins killing the people in the room the shots are switched from black to white from killer to victim and so on so forth. Every shot switches within one to two seconds sometimes even less. As each bullet is fired the shot is changed. The camera is handheld providing more to the feeling of chaos. Than once again our setting is changed to the cell of Mallory Knox where she is being visited/harassed by the detective where the pattern of black to white, frequent change in shots, and expressionistic images are continued throughout the scene.

This style of editing works well with this scene because it is continuos throughout the movie. As tensions rise and violence strikes the editors mess with the colors of the shots, changing them from color to black and white to all red or all blue. The composition in each shot is all over the place, we are taken to extreme close ups, and crazy side-ways angles and this all works well for this movie and this scene in particular. It seems as if the editors were trying to quickly show what is going on from top to bottom left to right as quickly as possible. The movement between shot to shot is so fast and the cuts are so obvious, which is great because it builds on the feeling of chaos and destruction this scene is trying to express. There is no wrong or right place to cut for this movie, the cinematographers, editors, etc. were breaking all the rules and doing it profoundly! I think this scene contributes to the feel of the movie because it is consistent with the rest of the style of editing throughout the movie. Time and space are nonexistent in this scene, the fact that we are taken from one place to another and another and another isn't hard to follow at all thanks to the continuity of the editing. The editors are throwing all kinds of different images at the viewers and somehow it all just makes sense and goes together, nothing comes off as awkward or out of place as a result of the continuous editing techniques used throughout the entire film.

I wish I could embed the scene but turns out I would only be able to embed the entire movie, if this helps the scene I am talking about begins at around 1:22:00:00.