American History X Editing Techniques

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The movie American History X directed by Tony Kaye follows the story of a family who lost their firefighter father while he was trying to extinguish a fire in a drug lab ran by black men, the eldest son Derek decided that all black people are responsible for his fathers death and that they don’t deserve to be in the country, he then goes on to become a high up member in the venice beach white power gang effectively making him a neo-nazi. He is sent to jail for murdering two black men who were stealing his car, while he is in jail be endures some tough times which ultimately lead him to realise his mistake and attempt to steer his brother Danny off the same path Derek went down. In the first scene we are shown the graphic sequence of Derek curb …show more content…

The first example of editing in the scene is that we start the scene with a gray scale filter, the director does this to convey to us that this scene is a flashback, this involves the viewer in the story and also eases any confusion that may be present by having flashbacks in color as some viewers might be left wondering if it is or isn’t a flashback at that moment. The director then uses cutting to quickly change from close ups of all the family members being visually upset while Derek shoots the black men stealing his car, the director does this to show us that his family doesn’t approve of his actions and that they are being emotionally affected. Cutting like this is also used in an earlier scene in which Derek fights with his family about her mothers Jewish boyfriend, It is used for the same reason as this scene to show the emotional effect Dereks action have on his family, the reason the director does this is to make the audience feel the same emotions that Derek’s family does. Editing is also used in form of a slow motion when Derek curbstomps the black man. It is used in this scene to show the massive effect of this action by making it more dramatic and combining it with a non-diegetic dramatic soundtrack, The director does this to convey to the viewers that this momentous action is a large turning point for Derek as after this he will be forced to answer for all of the things he has done over the years of his involvement with the white power

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