Pillow Talk and Fringe

How are the sequences from ‘Pillow Talk’ and ‘Fringe’ different? Discuss differences in pace, style of editing as well as the effect the editing has on meaning and audience.

The two extracts I am looking at are Pillow Talk and Fringe they are both extremely different due to the editing and camera movements that help make them unique. Pillow talk is a film that was made in 1959 and starred Rock Hodson and Doris Day and Fringe was a television series filmed in 2008.

The most obvious difference is the pace of the two extracts its very noticeable that Fringe has a much faster pace and more shots and faster cuts this is due to it being a serious topic compared to Pillow Talk. The cuts are very fast and at the beginning of the extract can only last for 2 seconds as the pace gets faster makes it seem more intense and dramatic for the audience. Its a harder extract for the audience to watch in the sense that you have to concentrate due to the pace of it and how it only allows shot clips of information for the audience to pick up on. Whereas Pillow has much longer shots and straight cuts aren’t the only camera movement that is used. It has an average of 12 seconds for each shot. As the shots are much longer its helps the audience gain more background information and even watching the extract alone you can understand what’s going on due to the shots being longer and less complex. The film is based on romance and could be perceived as a chick flick so the pace is slower and makes it more relaxed an easy watch.  A wipe is also used in Pillow talk which cuts across the screen to show what two people are doing at the same time this is used mainly when they are on the phone, this its age as an older production.

In Fringe the extract starts with extreme close ups which only shows part of the face. This effect increases drama and is used to show more emotion of the character. It also helps the audience see the expression clearer and due to him being so close makes it personal. The negative of using extreme close up at the beginning of the extract is that it doesn’t allow the audience to know where the shot is located therefore makes it more confusing. Pillow Talk uses more medium shots and long shots to begin with this helps see the characters easier and can establish the shot you can also see what they are wearing which might help the audience in what the film could be based on or helping understand characters personality. When the two main characters talk on the phone it becomes a close up to show the emotion clearer it’s also a more intense shot as they argue. Nearer the end when they are out to dinner the shot is a close up the whole time to show its an intense scene and so the audience can see expression and focus on what they are saying.

The way the shots help perceive the characters is very important and in Fringe due to the fast pace and extreme close up and fast cuts it makes it seem less like it flows its more precise and ordered. This makes the characters seem very serious and high powered. This happens from shot one down to five where the two men are having confrontation and extreme close up are used and the shots last for 2 seconds makes it seem more serious and is reflected in the shots. Whereas  Pillow Talk seems more relaxed and an easy watch compared with Fringe. The characters in Pillow talk seem more realistic and are quite stereotypical of a couple at that time as Doris Day is very girly and has fashionable curly hair at that time and Rock Hodson is very smart with a comb over. The editing of this scene helps portray a character in a certain way they want the audience to see them.  For example in shot 11 to 13 the audience sympathises with Doris Day’s character as she asked why he doesn’t find her attractive and the camera movement stays on her on a close up to cleary see her reaction and emotion.

Fringe comes across as being a more modern extract due to the high pace cuts and modern backgrounds of computers and high authority business men involved in the shots. It also comes across as being aimed at an older generation as its more complex and sophisticated probably more aimed at men as it involves business meetings and less girly influences that a women would take interest in. Compared to Pillow Talk which was set in the 1950s which the audience can gather from the clothes and style of hair and the music used also helps give it away as its more relaxed jazz. Pillow Talk is probably aimed at girls as many of them would have looked up to Doris Day as an icon so would of therefore would immediately see it just because she is in it. Overall Pillow Talk is a more classier film whereas Fringe is action and more serious.

Both Pillow Talk and Fringe are completely different in the way they are edited and cut to create an image that would fit in with the film. The camera movements in both help give a clearer understanding of what the extracts based on and what the characters personalities are like. Both extracts are complete opposites and are targeted at different audiences.