Editing: Collateral

At the beginning the weighting of the shot completely focusses on Tom Cruise.  Then it switches to focussing on Jason.  A shot reverse shot is used to show they are walking towards each other which builds suspense.  Then as they bump into each other there is a low shot which focusses the audience on the case, telling us there is something important inside it.  This also allows the audience tithing of whats in the suitcase and also using just picture to tell the story, this means the audience must 'write' in the details of why they swapped cases.  Then there is a point of view angle of Cruise which shows his eye movements, showing he's very aware and looking around, making him seem suspicious.  Then it cross cuts to a different story where there is a montage.  This shows a man doing a crossword which establishes his character as being smart focusses and this is also shown by the focus of him touching his glasses.  This defines him as different to the men around him and as being intelligent. Also it cuts to him doing his job at night, creating a feel of danger.  There is a shot where he he gets in the cab there is a point of view and the sound stops, showing he is a very self-dependant person and that he's in his own world.  We then see he's professional as he cleans his car very meticulously unlike the men around him and it is contrasting by the cab drivers squabbling.  In the background there is drilling, chatting, cars trying to start up and screwing sounds creating the setting of a car garage.  There is a tense actiony music which has a very repetitive beat that gives a suspenseful feeling as if something is going to happen.  It also makes the scene feel quite unimportant as the music becomes monotonous, so when the music stop this allows the audience to be drawn into the scene.