Editing

I’ve chosen to analyze the short film “Mama” from 2008 which inspired Guillermo Del Toro to make a feature film about. This three minute film is incredibly well done and the editing really complements the tone and makes it a very haunting piece for such a short piece. The film begins with the image of a sleeping girl in the foreground, and someone entering the room in the background. This immediately sets the unsettling imagery of the piece, as the viewer cannot totally make out what is going on in the back, but something is clearly off. The viewer realized that the person entering the room is backwards.
As the two children explore the house, the dramatic lighting and dark colors effectively makes the scene creepier and horror movie like. The long takes with panning tracking shots and silence create a scary sense of space. As the camera moves around the house, a claustrophobic setting is created and the audience anticipates something bad will happen.
This mounting tension is further heightened by the mysterious off screen sounds. The way the camera pans from one girl to another emphasizes the relationship between them and the immediacy of the situation. At 2:35, the focus is adjusted so that the foreground becomes heightened as the frightening creature comes into view. Keeping the camera from the point of view of the girls, the encroachment of “Mama” is slightly out of view and terrifying.
Overall, this short is incredibly well done. The camera is not invisible, but that adds to the mastery of the visuals. The longs takes draw out the suspense, and the manipulations of focus and point of view work to build the tone.