Racism and Social Injustice in To Kill a Mockingbird, a Film by Robert Mulligan

The 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird, based on the novel of the same name by Harper Lee, follows Scout in a classic bildungsroman narrative, allowing racism and social injustice to be explored through the eyes of a six year old girl who experiences these issues for herself through her own perspective. The editing patterns create these ideas, showing how racism and social injustice are relevant to the time period, and portray the significance of the story being told from the perspective of a six year old girl rather than from one of the adults in the narrative.

Within the film, fades are used to exit a scene and transition to the next one, showing how events are meant to blend together. This technique adds an element of suspense and mystery to the story as well as showing that there was a distortion of time, which was common of the French New Wave Cinema (Make A Wave).

There was a break from the conventional editing patterns of action and reaction when Scout and Atticus are talking about how Jem needs to come out of the treehouse, and there are several cuts to Jem, who is not seen in frame, but still the editing cuts to him in the treehouse, as though he is showing his face. Rather, only his voice is heard. The idea that the voice does not have to come with a face shows the power of the editor to convey that this is a somewhat less important character to the story, as his face does not need to be seen onscreen for his voice to be heard or even listened to by other characters in the scene.

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The Kuleshov Effect is where a character has a completely static expression, often a blank one, and this expression is intercut with various images to make the blank, static face appear as though it is relaying emotion to the audience (The Cutting Edge). In To Kill A Mockingbird, this is shown when Boo Radley interacts with Scout and the others in the room. The camera focuses in on Boo Radley, showing a stale expression. Then the editing allows the viewer to perceive Boo Radley's expression as sad because there is a shot of Jem laying on the bed, with a broken arm. Then there is a cut to Scout's face, and Boo Radley's face, when cut to again, seems to be displaying a warm kindness and understanding. What remains as a stale expression on Boo Radley's face appears to change because of the use of the Kuleshov effect.

To Kill A Mockingbird makes use of sound to enhance the atmosphere, often using background noises of the scenery. This relates to the idea of New French Wave Cinema, where sound would be recorded on set and not re-done (Price). In a scene where Jem and Scout are in front of Atticus' car as Atticus is about to shoot a rabid dog, the sound of the car engine is amplified and sounds as it would if the audience were standing right beside it, enhancing the perception of the narrative world as real or true to life.

This idea is enhanced by dialogue being drowned out at points by background noise, such as when Scout, Jem, and Dill are sneaking around to find Boo Radley and the sound of the atmosphere overtakes them talking to each other. The mixing of the sound tracks to make sure that the noises of cars, air, steps, or doors closing are louder than the dialogue was done by paying careful attention to the levels of the multiple sound tracks.

The editing follows characters as they move from one location to another, but often not following Scout as she runs off. The editing emphasizes people either leaving without her or coming toward her. People are seen as leaving without Scout when she, Dill, and Jem are going to Boo Radley's house and Jem and Dill are followed as they run ahead of Scout, with Scout shouting for them to wait for her. Scout is seen as being followed when she runs out of the dinner which she has invited Dill to, and the onscreen movement follows Atticus as he goes to the porch swing to find her, only showing Scout on the swing, not her pursuit toward it.

In this instance, the continuity editing is used to show that, although the same character is not being followed who was leaving, that there is a consistency in the theme of leaving and being followed. This theme is extended further in the plot with Mayella accusing Tom of raping her when she was not raped by him, but is actually unable to leave her home situation, knowing she'll be followed. In the instance of the court scene, there is a change in the editing to show Mayella trying to run from the courtroom but having people hold her back from leaving. The difference here is that both Mayella's leaving and people's reaction are showed. The continuity editing in all three instances shows that all of the events take place within relatively the same space, enhancing the telling of the story.

In the movie adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird, editing patterns by Aaron Stell create continuity patterns that create the illusion that the camera is invisible, adding to the audience's belief that the story is more real. This editing style better portrays the beloved novel by staying true to the idea that there is a six year old narrator whose view of the world is not very tainted. By using editing to create fluidity of time rather than distortion of it shows that the editor was staying true to the original narrative style that it was a cut and dry telling with observations straight from the gut rather than heavily influenced by society.

Works Cited

1. Make a Wave - French New Wave. "Characteristics of French New Wave Films." Blogger. Published 13 August 2012. Accessed 12 November 2016. http://makeawavefrenchnewwave.blogspot.com/2012/08/characteristics-of-french-new-wave-films.html
2. Price, Joshua. "10 Ways the French New Wave Changed Cinema Forever." Taste of Cinema. Published 10 November 2015. Accessed 12 November 2016.
3. http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2015/10-ways-the-french-new-wave-changed-cinema-forever/
4. The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing. Directed by Wendy Apple, cinematography by
5. John Bailey, editing by Daniel Loewenthal and Tim Tobin, A.C.E., 2004.
6. To Kill a Mockingbird. Directed by Robert Mulligan, cinematography by Russell Harlan, editingby Aaron Stell, Universal International Pictures, 1962.

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