Providing and withholding information

Providing and withholding information

An editor has the power to take information from the video files and add them later to create a surprise or twist in the story. This is to make a storyline seem like it is going one way and then turns it around.

This withheld information may not be viewed at the same time by the audience and the characters, meaning the characters might see something the audience won't. But when this hidden information is bought back in at the end then the story will make sense again.

Murder mysteries are good at withholding information until the killer is revealed. Although in some mystery tv shows, the audience is allowed to view the killer from the beginning. This gives the audience the upper hand to the detective.

M.Night Shyamalan's movies are typically like this, revealing twists at the end.

An example of providing information-

Alfred Hitchcock: "There's two people having breakfast and there's a bomb under the table. It it explodes, that's a surprise. But if it doesn't..."