Do The Right Thing Editing and Aesthetics Analysis

Editing in Do The Right Thing

 With reference to a sequence from Do the Right Thing, analyse how editing has been used to create aesthetic effects                                     [10]

In Spike Lee's 1989 film 'Do The Right Thing', editing is used frequently to enhance the mise-en-scene and political messaging within. For example, one key aspect of the film's environment is that the characters are faced with the burden of going about their day on the hottest day of the year, with the opening montage showing characters trying to cool off. Although the opening first shows the smooth-talking DJ, Mister Senor Love Daddy, talking through the radio about the 100-degree weather and intense heat for the coming day, the spectator wouldn't have felt the effects of it without the editing showing it, which would lessen the significance that the heat plays in the movie. During the opening montage, we are shown a shot of one person taking cold showers which cuts to another person sticking their face in ice-cold water to another person putting their head in a freezer, and the camera cutting to newspaper headlines titled, '98° record breaker' and 'baked apple'. The camera pans across these headings until cutting to a close up of a high thermometer, which affirms the heat to the spectator. The bright red colour in this shot also aesthetically shows meaning in the sense that it is a symbolically violent and tense colour, suggesting that the heat agitates the characters - relating to the heat's significance within the film in accentuating the climax - before their cooling off is shown and thus justified. The duration of this montage lengthens the aesthetics within the shots; the pace of each shot slows as they relax in their cold environments, emphasising the contrast of muted colour and low-key lighting such as in the closeup of someone showering which suggests a calmer attitude in comparison to Mister Senor Love Daddy's striking announcement of the intense heat previously. 

Another example of montage in the film is shown through the breaking of the fourth wall, where a character from each member of the contrasting racial groups - Puerto-Rican, Korean, Italian-American, African-American, and a white police officer - shout racial slurs at the camera, directly involving the spectator who until this point has been present within the underlying racial and cultural prejudices yet uninvolved. One example of how editing in this montage creates aesthetic effects is through the continuity of the mise-en-scene. For example, each character is stationary in the middle of the frame while the camera dollies in to a close up as they shout racial epithets, with each cutting in a graphic match, so although the editing is very noticeable to the spectator from the abrupt nature of the dialogue that makes the pace seem slow despite the shots lasting roughly 10 seconds, there is a strong familiarity between the shots and composition of character placement. This is because of the mise-en-scene; each character is within their own cultural environment that is now recognisable to the audience. However, it is interesting to see that although they are shouting tailored slurs that target another race/culture, there is strong solidarity shown through the colours. The intense heat of the neighbourhood is shown through a lack of cool colours (blue, green) in costume and set design, however here it serves to bring the community together despite their juxtaposed beliefs. This is strengthened as this colour palette rule within the film is broken at the appearance of a police officer within this montage. This order of shots is important in showing a stark divide between the police force and the community, which is shown in full motion at the climax. For example, in this montage, the police officer is wearing his pale blue uniform as he sits comfortably on the edge of his police car - even his stance differs from the previous community members. This separation is crucial in telling the spectator who the outsider is, and ironically emphasises the police's role within the film; blue represents calmness and peace, however, the officers in the film fail to act cool and often ignite violence within the community, such as in the climax. This political messaging from Lee suggests that he views the police as an unstable, corrupt force that needs to be challenged which is expressed in the film's outspoken anthem 'Fight The Power'.