Elliptical editing is a film technique that reduces natural time to prevent viewers from seeing non-essential shots. It leaves parts of an event out to take up less recording time. For example, walking to the shop may take 15 minutes, but including only key parts like putting on shoes and snippets of walking makes the journey seem shorter. This allows the narrative to progress with enough activity without dull parts. The technique will be important for the student's 5-minute crime genre film by cutting out long periods of walking to pack more action into the short time.