Research: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly editing

When researching films whose editing stuck out to me, someone in class presented a scene from  'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly'. I remembered the first time I watched the film I felt this scene last such a long time but through analysing the editing properly, it is a cleverly edited scene. It begins with Clint Eastwood walking over and placing a stone on the ground, when the camera quickly zooms in on the stone when some non-diegetic music begins to play; banjo/western style music. We see each character in a close up shot before a long shot of all of the characters stood within in the frame; facing each other before the duel. This scene uses a variety of close up, mid shots and long shots in order to emphasise the characters' movements and expressions. As we see them in close up frames, we see their eyes hardly blinking and no expressions as they sternly watch each other to check who makes the first move.

A lot of the shots are held for long periods of time, such as the long shot that shows each of them slowly moving around in a triangle so that they can keep their eyes on each other without making any sudden movements. At these points, the music also gets louder and this creates suspense and tension for the audience, anticipating who will begin the duel. By this point, the song features trumpets that begin to play high pitched and this emphasises the tension building up.

Halfway through the scene, the camera is behind each of the characters' shoulders so that the audience are given a slight perspective of their view of the other rivals. At this point, the music has gone quiet with only slight noises. Similarly to the music at the beginning of the scene, it repeats and gradually gets louder. By this point, they are all stood still looking over at each other and the camera films them in tight close up frames to build up suspense and make the audience feel slightly on edge. The sound of piano keys is also played in the music, getting quicker and louder alongside trumpets.

The audience then see extreme close ups of their eyes while the music is much louder and Clint Eastwood is very slowly reaching for his gun. The tension is built up very strong as the shots change from mid and long shots to very tight close ups and high pitched music. These shots are sped up so the audience anticipate that something is about to happen very soon and as the first shot gets fired, this is filmed as a long shot so we see the scene from an 'outsiders' perspective. As Lee Van Cleef tries to stand up after being shot, his face is filmed at a close up angle which causes the audience to feel a sense of empathy as we watch him attempt to stand up. However, Eastwood shoots him again in a very effortless manner.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwdypLFy8Pk