Assignment 7: Five Editing Techniques in the Boondocks

Five Editing Techniques Found in "The Boondocks"

Producer: Aaron McGrudder

(No audio included)

LEITMOTIF: A leitmotif shot includes a recurring theme, where in this case the theme was a repeated scene. So in the following clip above, The theme seems to be the ice cream melting. As the ice cream melts it helps the audience realize that a lot of time has passed as Usher and Sarah continue to have pictures and talk (In other words they are flirting) in front of Tom, who is waiting patiently so Sarah and Tom may continue their anniversary dinner.

CONTRAST: A contrast shot includes two differing shots to make the difference between them clearer. In this case, the contrast is a scene  where Tom seems to be enjoying the anniversity  dinner so much he burst out singing to his wife Sarah mistakenly taken her smile as if she is also having a great time, while during this scene the shots taken of Sarah shows that she is embarrassed, bored, cringing and rather be with R&B singer Usher. This contrast highlights their definition of having a great time due to the fact Sarah finds Tom is so boring and really lame, as shown through her reaction and mood in the entire scene, meanwhile Tom is having a hoot by being a straight up loser.

Parallelism: This editing technique bring two different scenes together by highlighting both their differences and the similarities between the two. In this video, Tom is doing some sort of weird musical video sequence as he get flashbacks of being kicked out of the house. These two scenes are similar as they relate to the plot: Tom being kicked out because of his insecurity of Usher and Sarah. They differ however because the Flashback scene shows us actually seeing Tom being kicked while that whole dance sequence was him singing about his hurt feelings.

Symbolism:  A symbolism shot moves from one scene to the next where there is a symbolic connection between the shots. In this case, the symbolic transition lies between the Usher shirt on Tom's daughter, Jasmine, and the actual person Usher himself when he got slapped by Tom. Thus, the symbolism of the shirt panning out to reveal Usher reaction of getting slapped is a clever way of transitioning use with the symbolism technique (had to use a picture because the video kept getting corrupted).

Simultaneity: The Simultaneity editing technique uses two scenes that occurs at the same exact time or around the same time period.Normally, simultaneity is use to build suspense towards the audience. In this case, if these videos ever load you should be able to see that a crazy insecure chick is talking to a friend giving her terrible and illegal advice to deal with her suitors, while the suitor and his two grandchildren are hiding in the bathroom discussing how to get rid of her as she grows more dangerous taking the advice.