Originally Posted by Hollie_Louise:
“But if she didn't do it she couldn't get an edit that showed her flashing at a housemate and generally acting like the knobhead she always does on Geordie Shore. You can't edit somebody to do something if they haven't done it.”
No, but you can edit it in a manner so people perceive and respond to a scene or shot differently.
The end scene was what the rest of the show was built around. The viewer didn't go into that end scene in a neutral state. They had been preconditioned to feel a certain way as the end scene began, which then colours the perception and reaction to what is shown.
Bear and Marnie, particularly bear, were edited throughout the show to be perceived as the baddie during the end scene, and Saira edited to look the victim.
One such way that was done is that Saira was earlier shown upset in the diary room, and the other two not shown when they could just as easily have been. Saira would also have been in there a while, so there were choices of what snippets of her diary room chat to show and not show. Same with Bear and Marnie, in which case it was chosen to show none of their diary room chat. Decisions made to subconsciously mark Saira out as a victim in the viewers mind.
Showing little snippets of conversations Bear had out of all the conversations he, and the other housemates, would have had. There was probably lots of little snippets from Lewis, Marnie, Boom and Saira which could also have been played into the story in different ways depending on the story's needs.
When they were all sat on the sofa watching Biggins - The option was there to focus and mark out any one of the people on the couch, and lots of things that were said. The editor chose to focus the viewer's attention on what Bear said and inserted a close up of bear's expression in response to something. An expression that was likely not in response to that exact moment but chosen as the best shot to advance the story being told.
There were inserts of numerous other close ups throughout the show to subconsciously mark out the main characters of this particular story in the viewer's mind.
Boom, or whatever he's called, played just as big a part in the table discussion and dare at the end. But he was cast as a minor character by the edit, so was edited differently to Bear throughout the show. One way the edit de-emphasised him in the viewer's mind was by showing a lot of his comments in wide group shots or entirely off camera, and giving him fewer close ups through the show. Another way to de-emphasise him is by not showing any other snippets of conversations he may have had. Another is by choosing to show him trying to make right in the bedroom with Saira, (Maybe Bear also chatted to her in the bedroom to try and make up, but he was being marked as the baddie so it was edited out as it didn't advance the narrative).
If Boom was edited with the same techniques used on Bear, he could easily have been perceived as the baddie. And Bear's part in what happened could also just as easily have been de-emphasised using the techniques that were applied to Boom.
It could have been edited differently so the viewer's response to that end scene was different. Using the same end scene as the basis, the edit could have structured the show in a way to show Saira as the baddie, and the victims being Marnie and Bear, with the end scene then being perceived by the audience as the victory of the victims over Saira, and the viewer applauding their actions.
Say earlier scenes of Marnie and Bear being shown in the diary room being upset at the way Saira has been talking to them throughout the 3 days, instead of the scene of Saira in there crying. Maybe later show Bear and Marnie doing something fun and inserting a close up of Saira with a certain expression on her face in response etc. Showing different reaction close ups of Bear to condition the viewer differently. Different snippets of conversations. And so on.
Now it's entirely likely what was shown was an accurate reflection of the gist of what went on, with the editing techniques used purely to enhance the drama and storytelling. That's what I'd expect to be the case on this kind of show, with a little artistic licence thrown in such as choosing better expressions from another time to advance the story using close ups. But you're really relying on the ethics of the storytellers to accurately reflect the gist of what went on. It's just as easy to use the techniques to twist what happened.
So no, you can't edit someone doing something they don't do, (although that's not strictly true with the technology these days), but you can edit in and around it to change the viewer's perception of what they do.
