The clip 'Cutting It' follows a recently married couple as they await the results of the wife's medical tests. Scenes show their loving relationship in the taxi on the way to the hospital. At the hospital, cuts between the inside and outside build tension as the husband waits outside. When the wife emerges smiling through tears, the meaning is ambiguous. As she excitedly crosses the street to tell him the news, she is suddenly hit by a passing bus. The husband desperately runs to her injured body, embracing her as she appears to have died.

1. Cutting It Analysis<br />The clip ‘Cutting It’ illustrates how a recently married couple are awaiting on results on whether the female character (on what seems to the audience) will have a life threatening illness or not – if the results are positive the female character states it would be ‘the perfect day’. However, when exiting the hospital (with the audience still not knowing whether it is good or bad news) to tell the male character of the results she steps out in to the road and is obscured by a passing bus. <br />The scene begins with an establishing shot with two characters travelling in a taxi; an urban setting is visible as traffic can be seen through the car window signifying the city location. There is a mid-shot two-shot with the female character leaning on the male character to represent the loving and intimate relationship between the two characters. When the two characters are having a conversation a medium close-up shot is used to emphasise the seriousness of the conversation - this is followed with a close up of the clasped hands which signifies forgiveness and togetherness however, it also draws the audience’s attention to the female's wedding ring indicating marriage. When the characters are having a conversation about future plans, motivated close-ups illustrate how the male character mysteriously is unwilling to participate in the conversation, the mystery continues when he asks where they are going, but the female responds with a long stare towards the window. The scene then cuts to a wide-shot of a street scene with an ambulance crossing from left to right; signifying the location they are going to is a hospital. As the ambulance exists the frame, the black taxi enters the frame from right to left; the camera then goes into a medium shot as the male character questions the reason for the destination. Once the female character explains the visit, big close-ups and two-shots are used to emphasise the seriousness of the visit; the dialogue then reveals the characters have just got married and she is hoping for good news - this creates tension amongst the audience as they are unsure whether the overall situation will be negative or positive for the couple. The Consultant’s Office is shot from a high angle which could possibly suggest the idea of God looking down on the characters – while in the consultant office there are cuts between the inside and outside, which helps build tension as the audience get the feeling that they are waiting for the news with the male character. Outside there is a wide shot of the man waiting playing with his ring – there is an extreme close up of the ring which is identical to the woman’s which signifies once more the marriage between the couple. Once it has cut back to the interior location an over the shoulder shot of the consultant closing a book labelled ‘confidential’ is followed with a mid shot of the female character on the other side smiling through tears – as a result producing two emotions therefore, this confuses the audience further as they are still unsure whether the news is good or bad. It then cuts to a mid-shot of the male character stirring his coffee in which he then rises as he sees the female character emerge from the gate. She pauses in a mid-shot to call ‘Guess what’ the mid-shot of his reaction illustrate his wandering facial expression but he gives a slight smile which signifies the news could possibly good, however it cuts back to a long shot of the female character who then is instantly hit by a passing bus. The accident is hidden by another passing vehicle so the audience at the moment are unaware about the outcome – it cuts to a slow motion long shot of the man running across the road to the now visible injured women, a hand held camera used to represent his point of view highlights the realism of the situation and creates a more panicked atmosphere. Close-up shots of the man’s face illustrate his distraught reaction, when the women supposedly dies a similar high angle shot is used illustrating the man embracing the female character – the high angle shot links back to idea of God looking over the couple.<br />The scene begins with slow opening shots to establish the loving and intimate relationship between the two characters. However, the cuts speed up through the shot-reverse-shot when they discuss past events to emphasise the intensity of the discussion. Once the taxi pulls up outside the destination the audience are positioned as an observer on the couple’s conversation, fasts cuts are again used during the conversation with more emphasis on the female character signifying her importance in the scene. As the results of the consultation are being awaited the editing from inside to outside become more frequent and emotive (complimented with diegetic music track) to heighten the dramatic tension. The focus on the female characters facial expressions prolongs this anticipation as she smiles through tears. This is then in contrast with the final scene as rapid cross-cutting is used to build up emotional impact and tension for the audience. The slow motion of the man running across the street to the wounded female increases the intensity of the situation – the slow motion is then shattered with a sudden return to real time of passing traffic again to reinforce the realism and panicked situation. <br />At the beginning of the scene naturalistic soundscape again reinforces the realism of the scene this is illustrated through the sound of the traffic as they are in a city location and the sound of the engine from the taxi. Throughout a lot of the scene music is not used as they want the audience to focus more on the dialogue between the two characters. However, once the female character enters the hospital slow emotive music begins to play as a female voice can be heard singing about being ‘free’ and ‘remembering’ – these directly reflect the woman’s feelings about the current situation as she wants to feel ‘free’ of continuously being in the ‘unknown’ (these two could reflect the man’s feelings). The music begins to fade when the female character emerges from the gate – the slow saddened atmosphere is interrupted with loud street noise this is to possibly foreshadow the panicked atmosphere to come. The audience do not actually see the female character getting hit by the car, therefore sound is used instead of action. The sound produced is a loud squealing of car brakes followed by the reverberating of shattering glass to indicate the accident has happened. After the accident the slow motion long shot of the man running across the road is accompanied by a muffled heartbeat which could hold two meanings; the first one being the injured character’s heart to represent she is running out of time and she may die – or the second one which is the male characters heartbeat to signify his panic. Again this is interrupted by the sound of a car horn bringing the male character (and the audience) back into real time. In the closing moments instrumental music is heard with the sound of a piano to create a sympathetic atmosphere amongst the audience as the scene fades to black. <br />As the characters are in a taxi suggests to the audience right from the beginning that they are travelling towards a certain destination – the taxi itself is black which foreshadows negative events to come. The idea that the characters are smartly dressed links in with the repetitive focus on the wedding rings as the audience make the connection that they were smartly dressed due to them being involved in a marriage – the clothes could also represent the status the characters have in society. The ambulance seen departing from the hospital foreshadows negative events to come that there could possibly be some sort of accident later on. The woman is presented in warm lighting which signifies her positivity to the upcoming consultation it also highlights her importance to the audience – suggesting that this positive light will soon be gone. The consultation room itself has very dim lighting and it seems as if darkness is surrounding the female character as even the consultant is wearing dark clothing – this illustrates the depressing atmosphere around the character and foreshadows her approaching involvement in negativity. Although it may not have been done deliberate the red, black and white markings are all connotations of danger, death and heaven therefore all linking to the current event. Finally, the last shot illustrates scattered flowers around the woman’s body this connotates a funeral it also reinforces the pathos (sadness) of the closing shot. <br />