The document analyzes editing techniques used in the car crash scene of a film. It discusses how the conversation before the crash establishes a sense of calm and safety. The crash itself uses rapid, short camera cuts over a few seconds to show the van impact, a pole impaling the driver, and an aerial shot revealing another pole through where the passenger sat. These shocking cuts are intended to horrify the audience and make the scene highly impactful.

1. Editing Analysis
The Descent Car Crash Scene
Caleb Knowles

2. The Conversation
This conversation sequence is shown within a
slow-moving and calm setting with a normal
conversation between Sarah, Annabelle and
Paul to make us feel somewhat relaxed and
“safe” and unaware of what is about to
happen.
The conversation itself contains a variety of
cuts between the three characters within the
car, to show that all of them play a part in this
sequence. The cuts keep occurring whenever
there is a new conversation being spawned
between Sarah and either Annabelle and
Paul.
At the end of the conversation sequence, the
camera cuts again to an over-the-shoulder
shot of Sarah and Paul to let us see the van
approaching. Right after Paul’s ironic “I’m
fine”, the car begins to veer right towards the
van and we immediately know something
bad is about to happen which makes us
naturally increase our heart rate and we feel
uneasy.

3. The Crash
From a slow-moving and calm setting, the pace of the entire chapter switches (as Paul says his ironic line; “I’m fine”) to a fast-paced
shocking scene as Paul is impaled through his face. Again, during this scene there are a variety of camera cuts that are only a second
or two long each to keep us, as an audience, in horror as we first see the crash itself, and then the metallic poles that fly out from the
roof of the van heading towards the driver’s seat, where Paul is currently positioned.
Within seconds, three major cuts occur that give us the largest shock effect of this scene as we first watch the metal poles shoot straight
through the window, and then we cut to the backseat of the car as we see the pole heading straight towards Paul, and then we cut
again directly behind Paul’s seat to see the once-clean metal pole covered in blood and chunks of a human head sticking out where
Paul’s head was once positioned.
The crash scene as a whole is horrifying and shocking but these three cuts are definitely have the most impact on an audience, mainly
due to the thought of having a metallic pole fly through one’s face makes our imagination wander which would only increase the true
horrifying effect of this scene. As Paul’s impalement, the camera cuts again almost instantly to reveal an aerial shot of the crash scene,
and we see a second pole that went straight through the middle of the car, in the exact position where Annabelle was sitting, which
only makes matters worse as we then begin to wonder: “Is she ok?” which is to be revealed in the next scene where Sarah wakes up in
the hospital. This scene then ends with the aerial shot zooming out and then fading to black, announcing the sudden end of this scene.