Comparison of editing: Interstellar and The Lego Movie

     Interstellar opens with close-up clips of various people talking in an interview-like situation, suggesting a documentary like style. It often cuts between these close-ups of people to establishing shots of the things they were talking about, such as the crops and the dust storms, which helps to set the scene for the viewer and helps them understand what the characters may be thinking. Interstellar has quite a sci-fi/action kind of genre and although interview style shots aren't exactly conventional, they're not unheard of amongst the genre and can be very useful to set the scene and give the viewer some insight on the situation.

     There are then some close up shots of a man inside a plane. There are quite abrupt jump cuts between these shots to give the idea of confusion and panic as the plane seems to be about to crash. Using these shots helps the audience understand the characters emotions as when jump cuts are used it is hard to keep track of what is what and so they'll feel the same confusion as the character.

     The beginning of Lego Movie has many establishing shots and mid shots which help to set the scene for the audience. This is important for films like the Lego Movie because there might be younger children watching it and so it's less confusing if they can see what's happening and also because it makes it easier to show off the Lego stylisation of the film, as everything is made of Lego pieces and they live in a Lego world.

     A lot of mid shots are used when focussing on the character rather than long shots as Lego characters are obviously going to have a lot less facial expression than real human actors and so using a mid shot allows their limited range of facial expression and gesture to be seen at the same time to help show how the character is feeling.

     There are quite a few high angle and birds eye view shots at the beginning of the movie, which are also used to set the scene, such as the cars driving through the city, to emphasise the methodicalness of the characters lifestyles and how everything is done in such a basic way.

     Because the films are of two very different genres, there is quite a difference in what is used. For example, there is a lack of interviews in Lego Movie (although there are some later in the film, however, they weren't used for establishing). Just as there is a lack of birds eye views in Interstellar. This is because Interstellar has more of a drama genre than Lego Movie, and so doesn't show everything at once to keep some mystery about what is happening, where as Lego Movie is more about action and is more of a child's movie and so keeps things simple by establishing the scene in an obvious way immediately so the viewers can focus more on the plot than where they are.